Disruptive innovation transforming a stone-age industry? Chickpeas as the next big thing in tasty, healthy, and sustainable foods?
Kellogg announced this morning that it is splitting itself into three independent public companies, “each better positioned to unlock their full standalone potential”—cereals, snacks, and plant-based food. Grocery sales of plant-based foods that directly replace animal products have grown 6% in the past year—and 54% in the past three years— to $7.4 billion. Capitalizing on the hunger for protein alternatives, Israeli startup InnovoPro is “selling a magical ingredient to food companies,” says its CEO, Taly Nechushtan.
Founded in 2018 by serial entrepreneur and inventor Dr. Ascher Shmulewitz, InnovoPro sees chickpea protein as the best choice for the rapidly growing plant-based protein market. Its CP-Pro 70 is a clean label, non-GMO, tasteful and highly functional chickpea protein concentrate.
Taly Nechushtan, CEO, InnovoPro
On the basis of this protein concentrate, InnovoPro recently launched two new products, CP-FOAM 1001, an egg white replacement for vegan deserts such as meringues and mousses, and CP-XTURA 65, the first-ever chickpea-based textured (as in flakes) protein for meat-alternatives including burgers and chicken nuggets. “We are becoming a platform, we are no longer a one-product company,” says Nechushtan.
Promising “sustainability from farm to fork,” InnovoPro makes sure that in addition to being nutritious, tasty, and functional (easy for the food manufacturers to integrate into their production processes), its products and processes are good for the environment and the world. Chickpeas are a rotational crop that enriches the soil with nitrogen and InnvoPro sources the chickpeas from local farmers close to its production facility (currently in North America with plans to expand production to Europe this year). The company’s processing “is environmentally friendly,” says Nechushtan, involving no use of organic solvents and ensuring low water and energy footprint in the extraction process.
CP-XTURA™ 65 by InnovoPro enables food manufacturers to create plant-based burgers, nuggets and … [+]
Nechushtan points out that chickpeas grow all over the world (it’s the world’s third most widely grown legume crop) and InnovoPro plans to study the Asian market in the near future. “Food companies have a long list of requirements from alternative protein,” says Nechushtan. It must be tasty, non-allergen, with lots of fiber, ensuring sustainability and providing smooth emulsification, and deliver health benefits. “We tick most boxes,” says Nechushtan.
One of the earliest cultivated legumes (9,500-year-old remains have been found in the Middle East) may lead the way to the future of food.