At Novo Farina, we thrive on helping brands innovate and improve their product offerings, and our collaboration with a popular recipe box brand is a perfect example. The brand approached us with a specific challenge: to replace the plant-based protein in their existing plant-based meal kits with a more sustainable, shelf-stable, and clean-label alternative. Our solution? Novo Farina's Quick Hydrate Pea Mince.

The Challenge: To Improve Sustainability and Nutrition in Recipe Kits

The recipe box brand’s existing plant-based menu relied on frozen plant-based mince. While effective, it posed several challenges:

• Frozen Storage Requirements - the frozen product complicated logistics and storage, increasing reliance on cold storage and reducing the product’s convenience for meal kits.
• Ingredient Sustainability - the brand sought to improve the sustainability credentials of their products.
• Clean-Label Demand - they wanted a product with a cleaner declaration— fewer additives and simpler ingredients.

The brand tasked Novo Farina with providing a plant-based protein that could solve these challenges while delivering superior taste, texture, and nutritional value.

The Solution: Novo Farina’s Quick Hydrate Pea Mince

We worked closely with the recipe box brand’s development team to identify the ideal protein solution. This product addressed all their concerns while enhancing the overall quality of their recipe kits.

Key Benefits of Quick Hydrate Pea Mince:

• Ambient Shelf-Stability- with a 24-month shelf life, Quick Hydrate Pea Mince eliminates the need for frozen or chilled storage. This made it the perfect fit for recipe kits, which require ease of storage and long shelf lives.
• Sustainability - switching to a pulse-based protein reduced the brand’s reliance on mock meats and frozen imports, drastically improving their sustainability credentials. Using peas, a low-impact crop, further enhanced the product's eco-friendliness.
• Cleaner Declaration - the brand appreciated the simplicity of the ingredient list. Unlike many frozen plant-based alternatives, Quick Hydrate Pea Mince contains no additives or preservatives, and is made of only Pea Flour and Pea Protein Isolate, offering a clean-label solution.
• Improved Taste and Texture - the texture of the pea mince mimics succulent meat much more effectively, offering a mouthfeel similar to traditional mince. This improved the overall eating experience for customers, leading to better satisfaction and higher product value.
• Veg-Led Solution - the pea mince also contributed to a more whole food-based, approach, increasing the pulse-based protein and vegetable content in the final product, aligning with consumer demand for cleaner, more natural ingredients.

The Results: A Boost in Sustainability, Nutrition, and Customer Satisfaction

Thanks to the switch to Novo Farina’s Quick Hydrate Pea Mince, the recipe box brand experienced several key improvements:

• Improved Sustainability: The ambient pea mince reduced their reliance on energy-consuming cold storage and long-distance frozen imports, cutting down on food miles and aligning their products with sustainable values.
• Enhanced Taste and Texture: The pea mince offered a better texture, more closely resembling succulent meat, which improved the overall taste and satisfaction of the meal kits.
• Better Nutrition: The pea mince is high in protein and fibre, offering a nutritionally superior alternative to the frozen mock-meat products previously used.

By working closely with the recipe box brand, we helped deliver a product that not only solved their operational and sustainability challenges but also provided their customers with a better eating experience.

If your brand is looking for sustainable, innovative plant-based ingredients that can elevate your products, our team are here to help. Contact us to explore how our British-made pea protein can bring value and innovation to your business.

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