Ingredion, a leading global provider of specialty ingredient solutions for the food and beverage manufacturing industry, has announced the expansion of its North American protein fortification solutions with the launch of VITESSENCE® Pea 100 HD in the U.S. and Canada. This new pea protein is optimized for cold-pressed bars, helping maintain their softness throughout shelf life, while providing preferred texture, sensory attributes, and added nutritional value to boost consumer preference.
Consumers are increasingly consuming protein bars, and texture and taste are critical factors driving their preference. Whether it’s for an on-the-go breakfast, meal replacement, snack, or pre-and post-workout routine, consumers desire soft, smooth textures and balanced taste. However, traditional proteins like soy, whey, and other plant proteins often result in bars becoming harder over time, with common issues of grittiness, powderiness, dryness, and chalkiness that reduce desirability.
“Ingredion developed VITESSENCE® Pea 100 HD to address these challenges and help cold-pressed bar manufacturers enhance product superiority, especially in texture, which significantly impacts consumer preference,” said Tara Kozlowich, Director of Global Segment Marketing, Healthful Solutions Protein Fortification at Ingredion. She added, “We identified key consumer drivers such as taste, texture, and sensory attributes in the sports and nutrition bar market. Understanding these preferences guided the development and launch of our plant protein. Our goal was to maintain low levels of hardness in cold-pressed bars to ensure smooth and creamy textures from the first bite to the last, throughout the product’s shelf life, without compromising nutrition or the eating experience.”
VITESSENCE® Pea 100 HD excels against competing proteins. Ingredion conducted accelerated shelf-life and sensory studies comparing VITESSENCE® Pea 100 HD to other protein sources. “Our technical experts at Ingredion Idea Labs® innovation centers developed a cold-pressed bar model system and swapped competitive protein sources one-for-one. We also evaluated this model system against commercially available bars using a third-party survey to gauge consumer preference,” said Michael Valenti, Manager, Global Innovation Business Lead of Healthful Solutions Protein Fortification at Ingredion. He added, “VITESSENCE® Pea 100 HD demonstrated desirable and predictably stable softness over shelf life. Among pea protein competitors, it had low pulse flavor and significantly reduced chalky/gritty mouthfeel. In testing against commercially available bars, consumers preferred the Ingredion cold-pressed bar prototype with VITESSENCE® Pea 100 HD.”
VITESSENCE® Pea 100 HD provides a minimum of 84% protein on a dry basis, enabling “good” or “excellent” source of protein claims. It functions similarly to whey or soy protein, maintaining softness in cold-pressed bars throughout shelf life. A proprietary process ensures a consistently functional product with fewer texture changes and desired sensory attributes for cold-pressed bars. This new pea protein reduces chalky and gritty textures, improves mouthfeel, is non-hydrolyzed to minimize bitter taste, provides a cleaner label, and removes negative consumer connotations while performing like a hydrolyzed protein for smooth texture.
Additionally, VITESSENCE® Pea 100 HD is not sourced from major food allergens and can help reduce the carbon footprint and blue water usage in cold-pressed bars when replacing whey isolate, according to measurements from HowGood.
Discover the benefits of VITESSENCE® Pea 100 HD in a plant-based Chocolate Tahini Jelly protein bar containing 8 grams of protein at IFT FIRST, booth S1131. Hear a presentation on Innovations in Texture: Creating Sensory Experiences that Enhance Taste and Build Consumer Preference on Monday, July 15, from 11:15 to 11:45 a.m. CST in the exhibit hall on the Business FIRST stage, booth 2385.
