Vegan sausage, insect shakes, and an electric tractor

(17 Jan 2020) LEAD IN: Germany's largest food and agriculture fair, the International Green Week, has opened in Berlin, with its focus on sustainability. Swiss food giant Nestle is using the show to launch a vegan sausage while other companies are showing food made from insects, alcohol free wine and there's even a concept model of an electric tractor. STORY-LINE: This might look like any other sausage being served in any of the hundreds of sausage kiosks in the German capital Berlin. But this one is a bit different, it doesn't contain any meat. The sausage is being launched here at the International Green Week food fair in Berlin by Swiss food giant Nestle. It follows the launch of several vegan burgers over the last few years. And at the start of the year, the launch of vegan pork by US company Impossible foods. "This is the Incredible sausage. It is fully made from plants. And it tastes really good and has a good consistency and fully natural ingredients and it tastes like a sausage. So no one has to live without a real sausage anymore," says Miguel Serrano, Nestle Head of vegetarian products. The vegan sausage will be sold as the Incredible Sausage under Nestle's vegetarian brand Garden Gourmet. The sausage is made from soy protein and plants, such as beetroot. "Consumers want real alternatives because meat consumption is being questioned more and more by society. And people want a better diet, a more balanced diet," says Serrano. Meat consumption is often linked to emissions of greenhouse gasses and vegetarian alternatives are seen by many consumers as a more sustainable alternative. "As Nestle, we want to add our small, but very important contribution. We are a big company and with that size comes a big responsibility," says Serrano. Over 1,550 exhibitors are showing their products here at International Green Week in Berlin. Many are traditional companies and restaurants, but there are several small start-ups in the halls of the Berlin exhibition grounds. One of them is Isaac nutrition, a Cologne-based company making protein shakes and protein balls out of insects and larvae. These shakes and balls are made out of Buffalo worms, the larvae of the Alphitobius diaperinus, a species of beetle. "This is the Buffalo worms. It is farmed with low resources in the Netherlands. For example, beef needs 2500 times more water and has a 200 times larger CO2 footprint than Buffalo worms. They also need very little space and food," says Charlotte Binder, CEO of Isaac Nutrition. Berlin-based Kolonne is showing its range of alcohol free wine. Unlike most alcohol free wines on the market, Kolonne buys high-end wines and then removes the alcohol through a heating and vacuum process. "This is of course a segment that is growing all the time. People are more health focused. This really doesn't have many calories. And it makes more fun to drink this compared to a Coke or an apple drink with your food." It's not just food which is taking on a green hue. Over at the agriculture hall of the fair, US tractor maker Steyr is showing a concept of an electric hybrid tractor. The hybrid engine can also be exchanged for a plug-in electric engine or a Hydrogen engine. But, at this stage the tractor is just a concept, Steyr does not have any plans to release it to the market right now. "When you look at a concept like this you have to wonder, when will it be available. And I think this is something that we are all going to learn from. But I think the answer is, 'it won't take that long,'" says Jona Hormann, Steyr's sales manager. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...