By Agatha Wong
While plant-based start-ups and companies are a dime a dozen these days, the road to creating a product that consumers will love and come back for more is not an easy task. More than simply creating a convincing analogue that delivers the right blend of flavours, textures, and mouthfeel, companies are also looking for ways to scale their production and enable their products to be affordable and accessible.
For the past 30 years, Agrocorp, a Singapore-based agri-commodity trading and processing company, has established a global presence in the physical trading of agri products. With more than 30 commodity products in its portfolio and operations in over 50 countries, the company is also no stranger to the challenges faced by the food and beverage industry. A demand for healthier food, a pressure to support food security especially in Singapore, were some of the reasons the company decided to dive into the plant-based market.
“As a leading agri-commodities company that trades about 15% of the global pulses market, we recognise the impact of consuming more pulses as a potential solution to combat climate change and overcoming food insecurities. For example, cultivating pulses can restore nitrogen in the soil and reduce the need for fertilisers. Pulses are also drought-resistant crops,” said Lena Tan, head of marketing and business development, HerbYvore, a trademarked property of Agrocorp.
“Traditionally, pulses are consumed in certain cultures more so than others, and with our capability of extracting plant protein from pulses that can serve as raw materials for plant-based meat, beverages, and vegan cheeses, we are seeing the potential for pulses consumption to increase at an exponential pace.”
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