Jacob Smith, Ph.D., Innovation Analyst, RTI Innovation Advisors
Jacob Smith is an Innovation Analyst with the RTI Innovation Advisors where he helps amplify the innovation impact of Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, and global foundations. Jacob’s experience encompasses addressing sustainability and product development challenges throughout supply chains, particularly in food and agriculture. Much of his recent work has focused on investigating new technologies and novel methods to address ingredient- and product-related food processing challenges while mitigating associated negative environmental and human health impacts specifically related to plant-based proteins.
Jacob received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and Spanish from Austin College and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Global Food Forums Presentations by Speaker
2022 Protein Trends & Technologies Seminar
Sustainability Considerations of Dairy Versus Plant-derived Protein Ingredient Processing
Processing and manufacturing steps significantly impact the overall sustainability of dairy and plant-based protein ingredients. Extraction, separation, and concentration or isolation of proteins involve multistep processes that vary based on raw material inputs (i.e., dairy vs. plant). This presentation will compare several of these processes and the inputs required to obtain particular ingredients. Other factors will be considered to provide more holistic insights into the sustainability of dairy- versus plant-derived proteins. They include associated waste or co-product streams and broadly consider other sustainability metrics such as land surface use, greenhouse gas emissions and overall nutritional value.
