Pea protein is leading the charge as a sustainable, healthy alternative to animal proteins. And data shows plant-based proteins aren't going anywhere, with the global breakfast foods market predicted to grow from $415 billion (2021) to $725 billion by 2030.
But what we aren't seeing much of yet is pea protein being used in breakfast applications. With its incredible versatility, pea protein has enormous potential to disrupt the breakfast category by providing the familiar textures and nutrition consumers crave without the environmental and ethical concerns that often accompany animal agriculture. Whether you're developing meaty breakfast sausages or a cereal loaded with fruit flavors, pea protein provides a neutral base for a wide range of applications.
Let’s dive into the top six reasons you won’t want to overlook pea protein in your product lineup moving forward.
PURIS pea protein carries flavors extremely well. Without strong flavors of its own, this neutral-tasting ingredient acts as a blank slate for sweet and savory products alike, including fluffy eggless scrambles, chewy veggie bacon, crispy cereal clusters, sweet bakery-inspired granolas, and chewy breakfast bars. It also allows formulators to recreate, and even elevate, the smoky and salty notes market-leading meat brands have conditioned consumers to crave at breakfast.
The neutral flavor of PURIS pea protein allows for the reduction or elimination of masking agents or other flavor modulators. This not only reduces your ingredient list but also reduces the sodium that comes from those ingredients. This allows you more flexibility in how you flavor your products while keeping sodium levels in check.
Bonus: With reduced notes of beany, grassy, and cardboard, PURIS pea protein avoids off-tastes that can make some plant proteins detectable or unappealing.
Whether making fluffy breakfast scrambles or chewy bacon replications, pea protein offers immense flexibility to develop the exact sensory and visual attributes consumers love from traditional breakfast foods. It can also be coated to create cereals or pea crisps used as a topper on popular breakfast dishes.
Under precise conditions, pea protein forms fibrous structures that mimic the strands found in pork or chicken sausage and bacon. These lend well to chopping and shredding to achieve shredded pork or beef textures.
Unlike whey and other proteins on today's radar, pea protein formulations are naturally free from dairy, lactose, soy, gluten, and the top nine food allergens. This makes peas an optimal base for plant-based products that appeal to consumers avoiding common allergens due to intolerance, celiac disease, ethical veganism, and other considerations.
With pea protein, it’s easy to create clean-label products with simplified ingredient statements. This transparency makes it easier for consumers to trust your products and determine if they meet dietary and lifestyle needs.
Cereal often contains allergenic ingredients like wheat, dairy, or nuts. When brands create plant-based cereals using PURIS pea protein, they remove concerns about common food allergies and intolerances.
Did you know? PURIS pea proteins are free of the top nine allergens, kosher, non-GMO, solvent-free, and available in organic.
When you create a product like cereal with our pea protein, you can deliver the same crispy texture and rich flavors consumers expect — all while giving consumers peace of mind and high-protein options. This allows more people to savor a hearty, protein-packed breakfast and allows you to offer more inclusive products to extend your target market.
Breakfast is a well-defined food category, often including sausage, bacon, and other meats. For alternative meat consumers, that often means foregoing favorite breakfast items or settling for alternative meat products that don’t hit home.
While brands are continuing to introduce new plant-based products, there is untapped potential in the breakfast food category. By offering a more diverse product portfolio that includes pea protein-based alternative meats, you not only expand your consumer base but also create more options that can be marketed to people who eat both plant-based and animal-based products.
When it comes to choosing the right protein for your product line, equipment, and consumers, there’s no denying you have options.
Pea protein is comparable to soy protein in terms of sodium content (comparable buffer extraction), and comparable to whey protein in terms of satiety, weight control, and muscle health. But pea protein offers benefits that other proteins can’t claim, including:
We see a lot of growth opportunities for manufacturers to start or boost their plant-based breakfast items. A key player in offering new, highly sought-after plant-based products is textured pea protein (TPP).
TPP allows you to create clean-label, plant-based meat products, from ground beef to fibrous chicken. And with low-sodium options, TPP also allows you to offer flavorful, plant-based foods that fit into restricted diets. Using TPP, along with other plant-based ingredients (including fats), you can match the moist and “fatty” mouthfeel that consumers expect.
With TPP, your R&D team can tailor variables including moisture, fat content, extrusion parameters, and flavoring ingredients to produce meaty or neutral pea protein ingredients ideal for breakfast sausage patties, strips, or crumbles. TPP can be chopped or shredded post-extrusion while retaining the fibrous texture of meat. But why stop there? The versatility we're talking about means pea protein can even mimic the light, airy texture of eggs.
AcreMade's plant-based egg products — including egg substitutes, scramble cups, and egg patties — use PURIS pea protein to create breakfast-focused products that offer nutritional, consumer-friendly foods. The brand has also begun using pea protein to introduce plant-based meat protein bites, fillings, and more. Bringing pea protein into their product line-up has allowed AcreMade to build out an entire breakfast line that can continue to expand with consumer demand.
The efficient customizability that pea protein offers allows food brands to quickly commercialize crave-worthy breakfast products that don’t compromise on taste, texture, or ethical production.
Considering the switch to pea protein for a new or existing breakfast product? See what’s possible.