Hydrate to eat meal

How Novo Farina helped a Leading Sports Nutrition Brand Reduce Food Miles & Boost Product Quality with British-Made Pea Protein

by Ellie Grubb on 30.9.2024

At Novo Farina, we’re committed to delivering high-quality, sustainable ingredients that help brands meet their development goals. Recently, we had the opportunity to collaborate with a popular sports nutrition brand facing a challenge familiar to many in the food industry: reducing food miles, improving sustainability, and elevating product performance.

The Challenge: Reducing Food Miles & Improving Quality

The sports nutrition brand had been using textured pea protein sourced from China in several of their products. While functional, the imported pea protein posed a significant challenge to their sustainability goals, as it added unnecessary food miles to their products. They wanted to reduce the environmental impact of their supply chain, improve the quality of their protein sources, and hit key sustainability targets.

Their Product Development team approached Novo Farina to explore the potential of switching to British-made pea protein. Their objective was clear:

  • Reduce food miles by sourcing locally.
  • Improve functional performance such as texture and mouthfeel.
  • Enhance the quality credentials of their plant-based proteins.

The Solution: British-Made Textured Pea Protein

Novo Farina stepped up to the challenge by offering our premium British-made Textured Pea Protein, produced from locally sourced yellow peas. We provided the sports nutrition brand with a solution that not only met their sustainability targets but also boosted the performance of their products.

Key Benefits:

  • Reduced Food Miles - by switching to our British-made textured pea protein, the brand drastically reduced the carbon footprint of their product line, eliminating the need for long-distance imports.
  • Improved Quality- our Quick Hydrate Pea Protein has a superior mouthfeel and higher protein content (64%) compared to their previous ingredient. This allowed them to improve the nutritional profile and overall quality of their hydrate-to-eat meals, giving consumers a better taste experience.
  • Sustainability Credentials - using a locally sourced, allergen-free, veg-led protein gave the brand strong British-made credentials, aligning their products with growing consumer demand for clean-label, eco-friendly ingredients.

Bespoke Product Development for Taste & Texture

The collaboration didn’t stop there. The brand’s product development team had an additional brief for another product in their portfolio. They were looking for an alternative protein solution that would further improve taste, texture, and quality. Novo Farina worked closely with their development team to create a bespoke Pea and Fava Bean protein product tailored specifically to their needs.

Novo Farina Food Technologist said:

"Through multiple iterations and testing, we refined and reproduced a product that perfectly matched their brief and could be produced at scale, ensuring consistency across their product line".

The Results: Sustainability & Innovation combined

Thanks to the switch to Novo Farina’s British-made pea protein, the sports nutrition brand successfully achieved:

  • A significant reduction in food miles, helping them reach their sustainability targets.
  • Enhanced product performance, with improved mouthfeel, higher protein content, and better consumer feedback.
  • A bespoke protein solution that was developed to improve taste and texture across their product range.

By working together, Novo Farina and the sports nutrition brand not only hit their sustainability objectives but also delivered better products to their customers—demonstrating that local sourcing can enhance both quality and environmental responsibility.

If you’re looking to reduce your food miles, improve product quality, and enhance your sustainability credentials, we’d love to help you achieve those goals. Get in touch with us today to explore how our British-made pea protein can transform your products.

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