PPIC News

We were excited to welcome Kevin Parekh and Ashish Korde, co‑founders of Proeon Foods, to the Plant Protein Innovation Center (PPIC) for a visit. Proeon is an innovative company developing high‑quality, next‑generation plant protein ingredients for the global food industry, with a strong commitment to sustainability and responsible sourcing. Their work in advancing functional plant proteins aligns closely with PPIC’s mission to accelerate research and collaboration across the plant protein ecosystem.
We look forward to exciting collaborations with them in the near future!

We were excited to welcome the Elementa Foods team — Sean Linstead, Emiliano Benito, and Nicolás Nuñez Indart — to the Plant Protein Innovation Center (PPIC) for a visit. Elementa Foods develops next‑generation, functional plant protein ingredients designed to improve performance, sustainability, and nutrition across modern food applications. Their visit sparked great conversations around innovation, ingredient functionality, and opportunities to strengthen collaboration within the plant protein ecosystem.
We look forward to continued connection and future collaborations with their team.

Dr. Baraem Pam Ismail, Founder and Director of the Plant Protein Innovation Center and Professor of Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Minnesota, was recently featured on Agricultural Utilization Research Institute (AURI)’s Ag Innovation News Podcast.

In the episode, Dr. Ismail shares how PPIC is advancing science‑based plant protein innovation through research that supports both industry needs and long‑term global food security. She highlights current work to develop high‑quality protein ingredients from Minnesota crops such as dry beans and kidney beans, and discusses how these efforts contribute to building a more resilient and sustainable food system.

The conversation also features Jason Robinson, CSM, PPIC Advisory Board member and AURI’s Director of Business Development, who shares insights on Minnesota’s growing plant protein ecosystem and the value of strong partnerships across research, industry, and economic development. Together, Dr. Ismail and Jason underscore the importance of collaboration, workforce development, and innovation in strengthening opportunities across the value chain.

We’re excited to share this new feature from MBOLD’s Protein Innovator Series, highlighting Pam Ismail, Founder and Director of the Plant Protein Innovation Center (PPIC) at the University of Minnesota.

In this short profile, Pam reflects on PPIC’s mission to unite researchers and industry partners across the value chain to accelerate innovation in plant and alternative proteins. Her leadership continues to shape a collaborative, science-driven ecosystem that advances nutritious, functional, and sustainable protein solutions.

Forever Green has just launched The Continuous Living Cover Market Builders Program, designed to facilitate innovation partnerships between industry and the University of Minnesota Forever Green Initiative. This program offers structured opportunities for companies in food, feed, renewable fuels, and cosmetics to explore new ingredients, develop market opportunities, and advance their regenerative agriculture  and climate resilience goals.

Forever Green is a platform out of the University of Minnesota stewarding the development and commercialization of 15+ continuous living cover (CLC) crops. CLC crops provide both economic and environmental benefits, building soil health, protecting water quality, and offering profitable crop diversification strategies to farmers in the Upper Midwest. Examples include Kernza®, perennial cereal rye, winter durum, winter camelina, and hybrid hazelnuts.

Early industry engagement is critical to building the supply chains and market demand needed to scale CLC crops — and companies that engage now will help shape how these markets develop.

Forever Green is hosting an introductory webinar on April 23rd at 2pm CT to share how companies can engage. This session is open to all, but specifically geared towards professionals in sustainability, R&D, procurement, brand, or supply chain development. Register here!