The great paradigm shift in plant-based happened when product makers stopped thinking of vegetarian offerings in terms of “substitutes” – think bean “burgers” and Portobello mushroom “steaks”—and started to create items meant to replicate the actual flavors and textures of meat.
This was appalling to vegetarians in the beginning – and still is to a fringe contingent. But it catalyzed the now overwhelming flexitarian movement that allowed meat-eaters to participate in reducing the impact of a meat-based protein economy without sacrificing their preferences for the flavors and textures of beef, chicken, seafood, and bacon. One of the foremost pioneers of plant-based mimics of animal proteins is Yves Potvin. Potvin created a true soy-based hot dog analog in the 1980s. From there, his work in plant-based meat analogs expanded into analogs of deli slices and ultimately, his founding of Garden Protein International—a.k.a. Gardein—in 2003. There, he created a comprehensive line of game-changing analogs of beef, chicken, sausage, crab, and fish.