KEY INTERVIEW: Applying Plant-Based Protein Sources at General Mills

03 Sep 2014 --- Niche health food producers have dabbled with plant-based protein sources for some time, but the ongoing demand for protein-enriched products means this is now spilling into the mainstream. Here, FoodIngredientsFirst talks to Scott Lee, the marketing director for General Mills’ Cascadian Farm brand, about the company’s innovation plans with ingredients such as pea protein.

Most European and North American consumers already get enough protein in their diets, according to recent studies by nutrition experts, but this hasn’t stopped the continued interest in high-protein foods.

In fact, research also shows that 50% of US consumers are still looking to add more protein to their diets and high protein foods are therefore one of the most sought after items in US supermarkets.

General Mills is one company which has been busy innovating this year, particularly within protein. The company has also been tapping into consumer preferences for gluten-free and organic foods and it introduced 150 new products earlier this year, with many falling under its organic Cascadian Farm brand.

Within this raft of launches protein has played a key role and two new protein-enriched products stand out in particular: Cheerios Protein Cheerios and Cascadian Farm’s Protein Granola, using pea protein. The latter offers 10 grams of protein per serving, and, as the company stresses, it is the first mainstream organic protein granola made from pea protein.

Pea protein – the new superfood?
Scott Lee, Cascadian Farm’s marketing director, confirms that many of the new launches have been protein-packed.

“I think as we look at it our consumers want more protein in their diets for a range of reasons, such as to keep them full and it sustains energy throughout the day,” he explains. “We have looked at our product offering accordingly.”

Pea protein has been a particular focus area within protein innovation for General Mills, in part because it offers the benefits of being vegetarian, as well as a good source of amino acids.

From a Cascadian Farm standpoint health and wellness is important, and, as Lee explains, pea protein is a good alternative to soy protein, while still tapping into demand for plant-based protein sources.

The company first launched a Granola Bar with pea protein in January this year and while it is still early days, Lee confirms that the initial sales data for this product have been pleasing. “We are lucky that we can learn from the parent company about pea protein, and this enabled us to launch as a bar in January and then it made perfect sense to move it into the Granola cereal business.”

Choosing pea as a plant-based protein base over other options took some time, according to Lee.

“We assessed various plant proteins,” he explains. “Pea fulfils what consumers want and it also offers the taste and texture that helps to deliver protein while maintaining overall taste – this helped it to win through over other plant-proteins. Plus, it was also good as a low allergy product.”

In addition, the Cascadian Farm brand already attracts consumers who would be receptive to natural ingredients such as pea protein, Lee explains.

“Cascadian Farm consumers are looking for this kind of thing. They want to avoid soy and they have a broader awareness and a broad spectrum compared with other consumers – the brand also suits people seeking organic products.

“They definitely understand pea protein, and beyond this. The core group of consumers for Cascadian Farm is also growing.”

In addition, pea has no allergy, labelling or GM issues, while also being non-dairy, non-gluten, non-meat and non-soy.

Innovating with pea protein
Pea protein is also extremely versatile in how it can be used, and many companies are taking advantage of this by working on all sorts of pea protein innovation.

It is a useful application for weight management and sports nutrition products, for example, while pea protein is also often used as an alternative to dairy protein isolates. It can also be used to help bind fat and water in meat, fish, processed foods, soups and sauces. And, as General Mills is proving, it can be used for protein enrichment in baked goods, cereals and snacks, as well as taking the place of animal proteins in nutritional products.

For these reasons pea protein looks set to be a good ingredient for continued protein innovation, and Lee confirms that the company “definitely sees growth” in this area.

“We are currently looking at opportunities within better-for-you snacking and also breakfast,” he says. “From a social media standpoint we are getting good feedback.”

But while protein, and indeed other ‘natural’ sources of protein, may seem like an obvious area for innovation (particularly if Cascadian Farm’s consumer base is already receptive to organic and natural flags), Lee points out that this has not been an easy path for the company.

“Technically it’s not an easy task to ensure it delivers the required amount of protein, so there was a process we needed to follow in order to get to this point,” he explains. “We had to do a lot of R&D work in terms of research into the taste and texture, before we could take it further.”

Going forwards, the company is now working to build on distribution, communication and driving awareness of the new products and of pea protein itself.

Innovation within pea protein is set to continue, but natural ingredients in general will also continue to be a focus.

“We are looking more and more at ancient grains within our portfolio now as well,” adds Lee.

By Sonya Hook