Food Application Trends
Formulating food products with pulses like beans, peas, lentils and chickpeas is a growing trend in food categories like bakery, plant-based meat, dairy and more.
Why Pulses
Companies are seeking out pulse proteins, flours, starches and fibres to meet a variety of growing consumer demands including sustainable, high protein, high fibre, clean label, non-GMO, gluten-free, plant-based and more. The diversity of pulse ingredients available also provide functional benefits to a wide range of food applications.
Food Applications
The benefits of Canadian beans, peas, lentils and chickpeas are increasingly being leveraged as ingredients in food products and on menus around the world. In 2020, 5% of all new product launches in the world contained at least one pulse—that’s over 12,000 new products over 12-months—a 275% increase from 10 years ago.
Pulses are experiencing significant growth in many product categories. Snacks saw the most innovation, comprising 19% of all new pulse product launches globally. Other categories such as packed meals, canned pulses and baked goods were also significant. There is also increasing penetration of pulse ingredient use within product categories. For example, 27% of all meat substitutes launched in the market (2015-20) contained pulse ingredients such as pea protein and 11% of all pet food product launches. Between their marketing advantages and flexibility across food categories, these legumes are now on the radar for many product innovators.
Learn more about using pulses in food applications: