Margaux Fodéré / Photo credit: GARDEL BERTRAND / HEMIS.FR / HEMIS.FR / HEMIS VIA AFP 10:53 am, April 18, 2023

Plant-based cheeses? It's not an April Fool's joke, it's the ambition of the Bel group, which markets Kiri or Babybel. The group wants to produce 50% dairy products and 50% fruit or plant products by 2050. Europe 1 has tested them for you.

The Bel group has signed a partnership with an American start-up with the aim of developing plant-based cheeses using a computer. The group, which markets Kiri and Babybel, wants to produce 50% dairy products and 50% fruit or plant-based products by 2050.

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At first glance, no difference

On the table, three small pieces of blue and feta are served on a dessert plate. At first glance, nothing distinguishes these vegetable cheeses from milk-based cheeses. "The color is exactly the same, the texture seems to be the same. I take feta for example, the texture is exactly the same," explains Olivier Poels, Europe 1's gastronomy specialist.

Once in the mouth, the illusion continues. Blue is even more surprising, says Olivier Poels. "We find its particular aromas, this spicy side."

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Cheeses available at the end of 2024

To compete with Lactalis or Bongrain, the Bel group wants to offer its own range of plant-based cheeses based on artificial intelligence developed by its American partner, Climax Foods. A computer much faster than man is reminiscent of Caroline Sorlin of the Bel group. "There are 300,000 plants that are edible today. It uses the algorithm to find out which plants to combine to reproduce a cheese that will have the same nutritional qualities and taste like a dairy cheese."

To test the mini Babybel plants it will be necessary to wait until the end of 2024, with prices, in the long term, equivalent to the classic formulas.