New at Albert Heijn: hybrid meat and dairy – half plant, half animal, 100% flavor?

Less fat, better for the planet and just as tasty? This week, Albert Heijn is introducing fifteen new products that, according to the supermarket chain, combine the best of both worlds: animal and plant-based ingredients in one. Think grill sausage with celeriac, cervelat with butter beans and semi-skimmed milk drink with fava bean protein. But what do they actually taste like? And more importantly: are we really going to eat these on a mass scale?

Hybrid meat and dairy

Hybrid products are nothing new. Lidl, for example, launched hybrid meat last year (a mince mix with pea protein). Albert Heijn has also been working towards more plant-based eating for some time. Five years ago, hybrid products were already available at the supermarket. Perhaps it was too early, because they have not been on the shelves for quite some time. Will these new combination products be a success?

Protein transition

What is happening here is part of the broader protein transition: the shift from animal to plant-based proteins, which is essential for meeting the climate targets (which are facing considerable criticism). Meat and dairy are still responsible for a large share of food-related emissions, and hybrid products could significantly reduce their impact – without requiring consumers to change much, or so the thinking goes.

AH Terra: the beginning

With more than 350 products under its own AH Terra brand, you can now fill an entire weekly menu without using a single animal protein. But now they are taking things a step further with a new line of hybrid products. Think: 50% animal, 50% plant – or something along those lines – packaged to look like the original.

What is on the shelves?

The fifteen new products are now available in stores and can be ordered online at ah.nl. The range consists of:

• Two dairy drinks: milk combined with plant-based proteins such as fava bean.
• Seven meat products: including burgers, minced meat, cooking sausages and soup meatballs – enriched with fiber from sugar beet or vegetables such as celeriac.
• Six cold cuts: grill sausage, sandwich sausage, cervelat and salami with, among other things, butter beans and kohlrabi.

The products contain less fat, more fiber and have lower CO₂ emissions than their fully animal-based counterparts. And perhaps most striking of all: they cost the same as or less than the original. The supermarket wants to lower the barrier for people who would like to eat ‘greener’ but do not want to immediately swap their sandwich sausage for lentil pasta or soy bacon bits.

But… is it tasty?

Good question. Because a grill sausage with celeriac sounds sustainable on paper, but how does it perform on a white bread roll with mustard?

Albert Heijn has conducted extensive taste research and claims that the hybrid varieties are just as tasty as what you are used to. So we are not talking about a cardboard fake burger that is only palatable with half a bottle of ketchup. The texture, flavor and bite are said to be virtually the same – with a subtle twist of vegetables or legumes.

Still, it will take some getting used to for people who are attached to their classics. But hey, if the taste is right and you are doing something good for yourself and the planet at the same time… why not?

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