Insist on Diverse Supplier Who Can Stay Ahead of Demand

The International Year of Pulses (IYP) 2016 is well underway. To celebrate, Healthy Food Ingredients (HFI) wants to help food manufacturers select a pulse supplier, especially as the demand for pulses is only expected to increase. Case in point:  Pulse volumes increased 8% in the United States in 2015, compared to fresh food volumes, which grew only 1%, according to Euromonitor International.

Jennifer Tesch is chief marketing officer for HFI, a leading supplier of organic pulse ingredients and the parent company of SK Food International, Hesco/Dakota Organic Products, and Suntava^®. She explains what food manufacturers should look for in a pulse supplier.

“Food manufacturers should seek a partner who will help them leverage pulses as a healthy, nutritional and sustainable ingredient.” She explains there are four essential criteria to use in selecting a pulse supplier:

• Length of experience. How long has the supplier been in business?
• Depth of ingredient expertise. What is its depth of knowledge across the pulse ingredient spectrum (beans, peas, lentils, chickpeas) and application knowledge?
• Supply assurance. How geographically diverse are the supplier’s sources to meet order quality and quantity?
• Unique offerings. Does the supplier offer a variety of ingredient combinations (flour, grit, flake, raw, pregel) that allow pulses to be incorporated into more food applications?

Key research underlines the importance – and urgency – in finding an ideal pulse supplier. With an anticipated growth rate of gluten-free packaged foods of approximately 6% between 2015 and 2019, according to a report from Technavio, manufacturers are looking for not only gluten-free options, but ingredients, which are also high in fiber and protein.

Pulses meet all three criteria and are an excellent fit for a variety of applications, including cereal, baking, canning, soups, side dishes, snack foods, confectionery, dips and more.

Tesch adds that HFI is well suited to guide food manufacturers in their search for a pulse supplier. The company has supplied primarily organic pulses including dry edible beans, peas, lentils and chickpeas (garbanzo beans) for more than 20 years. Pulses are a specialty to the SK Food brand under HFI, offered in whole, dry form as well as flakes, flour, grits available in raw, precooked, and pregelatanized options, custom milled according to customers’ specifications.

Tesch adds, “The bottom line is that manufacturers should insist on a pulse supplier who is at the forefront of industry trends and ahead of demand.”