Plant-based milk maker says the key is the pea

Cows just can’t compete on calcium content

No, it’s not green, and apparently it doesn’ t t ake like peas either. Beverage company Bolthouse Farms is launching a new plantbased product line made from yellow peas. Dubbed Plant Protein Milk, it comes in four flavours — original, vanilla, unsweetened and chocolate — and contains 50 per cent more calcium than cow’s milk, the Campbell Soup- owned company says on its website.

“By working with i ndustry partners, we could source a yellow pea that would give us the l i ghtness and taste and texture that would deliver for this product,” Suzanne Ginestro, chief marketing and innovation officer at Campbell’s CFresh division, told the website BevNet.

“The industry and technology is moving so quickly that you are able to separate ingredients and get just the protein in a way that doesn’t c o mpromise on other things.”

The beverage i s vegan and soy- free, and considerably higher in protein than almond milk. While many almond milks have one gram of protein per serving, Plant Protein Milk has 10 grams. In addition to its impressive nutritional profile, it’s reportedly easier on the environment. While it takes nearly five litres of water to grow a single almond, pea milk “has a much lower water footprint than growing almonds, and a much smaller carbon footprint than raising dairy cows,” the Washington Post reports.

Demand for non- dairy milk is growing. A recent study conducted by Barclays in the U. K. showed people aged 16 to 24 are drinking 550 per cent more non-dairy milk than generation X.

Bolthouse’s pea milk will join direct competitor Ripple Foods in the refrigerated aisle. The Silicon Valley startup first launched a dairy- free pea milk in 2015 that’s available across Canada in grocery and specialty stores.

Ginestro t old BevNet that what sets Plant Protein Milk apart from Ripple is its higher protein content (Ripple comes in at eight grams per serving, two grams fewer than Bolthouse’s product) and the fact it’s fortified with 110 per cent of the daily requirement f or vitamin B-12.

“There’s some taste tradeoff s and s ome c al c i um trade- offs and most certainly protein trade- offs with all the alternative milks on the market,” Ginestro told the Washington Post. “(Consumers) shouldn’t have to compromise on those three things.”

THE INDUSTRY AND TECHNOLOGY IS MOVING SO QUICKLY