The pea protein market is expected to reach US$2.9 billion in 2027, with strong growth in demand for new-generation pea protein.
Israel’s Equinom, which uses AI technology to optimize non-GMO plant ingredients, has announced a new long-term partnership with seed breeder Peterson Farms Seed Inc. Peterson Farms Seed will breed Equinom’s patented, high-protein, non-GMO yellow pea seeds, the next step in Equinom’s expansion and commercialization of its innovative yellow pea protein program.
Equinom uses its Manna™ technology platform to cultivate high-quality pea protein raw materials from the source without the involvement of genetic engineering. Simply put, leveraging the company’s seed bank of thousands of seed varieties, new sources of crops are cultivated that optimize not only farming efficiency, but taste and nutrition as well. Manna™ utilizes artificial intelligence to identify desirable traits for food applications and predict the best hybrid matches. As a result, pea protein made from the company’s nutrient-rich yellow pea variety doesn’t require as much processing.
Equinom will offer its patented, high-protein yellow pea seeds without the heavy processing typically required to produce food-grade pea protein. Peterson Farms Seed will use its network of experienced seed producers to disseminate seeds and eventually commercialize the Equinom pea variety. The Equinom pea variety will be the basis for micro-processed pea protein ingredients sold by ingredient processors and for food applications that typically rely primarily on isolates.
Carl Peterson, president of Peterson Farms Seed, said: “We are proud to be able to produce high-quality, IP-protected seeds based on a number of experienced growers. At the same time, the company sees the provision of value-added crops as a necessary step to create a more sustainable and equitable food system for farmers and consumers.
Equinom has provided Peterson Farms Seed with base seed for its proprietary yellow pea variety, producing seed and grain from 700 acres of farms in its network of regional growers that will be ready for harvest in early fall. While the initial agreement focused specifically on yellow peas, the companies plan to discuss additional collaboration opportunities in the future given the range of other protein-rich crops that Equinom is developing.
The pea protein market is expected to reach USD 2.9 billion in 2027 due to the growing popularity and demand for plant-based foods among consumers. However, demand is expected to outstrip supply due to the large investment required to build the capital-intensive separation processing facilities required to extract food-grade pea protein from commercial crops. Building on the partnership with Peterson Farms Seed, this partnership will connect two important ends of the value chain to address the root causes of supply and quality gaps.
Oron Gar, Chief Operating Officer of Equinom, said the partnership with Peterson Farms Seeds is an important step towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals of the food system and facilitating support for a growing population. This collaboration helps enable an end-to-end supply chain for yellow pea ingredients while commercializing this game-changing, minimally processed pea protein ingredient.