On June 26, Equinom and Peterson Farms Seed announced a long-term partnership to produce identity preserved seeds of Equinom yellow peas — specifically as a high-protein, non-GMO variety optimized for food applications.
The pea protein market is expected to hit $2.9 billion by 2027, according to a release from Equinom. That’s a big increase — the current market base for alternative proteins as a whole is approximately $2.2 billion according to McKinsey & Company.
However, demand for yellow pea based alternative proteins is projected to outpace supply. Specifically, there’s a large investment that needs to be made to build the processing facilities required to extract food-grade pea protein from commodity crops. This partnership with Peterson Farms Seed is the first step to connecting two streams of the value chain between the supply and quality gap.
According to the release, the partnership is bringing the “know-how and advanced expertise that Equinom has achieved in developing ultra-high protein yellow pea varieties, and the reputation Peterson Farms Seed has built as a seasoned industry leader” to commercialize plant-proteins to solve issues facing the plant-based food industry.
Equinom is providing its high-protein yellow pea seeds to Peterson Farms Seed, who will propagate the seeds using its network of seed producers in the U.S. to commercialize the pea varieties. The varieties will be “the foundation of minimally processed pea-protein ingredients sold by ingredient processors and used in food applications that have typically relied primarily on isolates,” according to the release.
“At Peterson Farms Seed, we take pride in our capabilities to produce quality, identity preserved seeds with our experienced network of farmers,” said Carl Peterson, president of Peterson Farms Seed. “The opportunity to connect our knowledge and passion with the innovative approach Equinom has taken to cultivate source crops optimized for food applications was one we couldn’t pass up. We see offering value-added crops as a necessary step as we collectively work toward creating a more sustainable and equitable food system for farmers and consumers alike.”
“This collaboration with Peterson Farms Seeds is a major step toward achieving our larger ambition — to help make our food system sustainable and accessible for a growing population,” said Oron Gar, COO at Equinom. “This is the first time this kind of end-to-end, identity preserved supply chain has been formed for yellow pea. With their exemplary quality standards, Peterson Farms Seeds is the perfect collaborator to help us take this major step towards commercializing our game-changing, minimally processed pea protein ingredients.”
