Holmach Ltd and The Honest Bean Company share the story of how they’ve taken the humble fava bean and elevated it to the next level in a range of hummus style dips.

 

Ask people in the street what a fava bean is and the majority of them won’t know what you’re talking about. Holmach and the Honest Bean Company are predicting that this will change over the next few years with the fava bean taking centre stage away from stock cupboard favourite and hummus staple, the chickpea.

Whilst there are a few small chickpea farmers in the UK, with the huge demand, the majority of chickpeas are currently imported from the likes of India and Australia, contributing significantly to our food mile statistics. In light of COP26, these food mile compromises are not acceptable, particularly when there are nutritious and delicious alternatives on our doorstep.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that the fava bean is a newly discovered source of nutrition, but these delicious beans have actually been grown and eaten in the UK since the Iron Age. With the predicted move towards self-sufficiency in a bid to lower the carbon footprint of manufacturing, farmers are starting to embrace the lesser-known cousin to the traditional broad bean.

Adam Palmer from The Honest Bean Company is on a mission to elevate the humble fava bean to the next level with their fava-based snacks that include a range of delicious dips that have been developed with the support of Chris Holland from Holmach and Roboqbo’s universal processing system.

Move over hummus, there’s a new accompaniment to chips in town!

Having contracted out their production for approximately 18 months, Adam was ready to take their manufacturing inhouse and after meeting at a show, he felt confident that Holmach were the team to support this important project that would allow him to take control of his NPD and production.

Fully understanding the objectives of the project and the properties of the fava bean, Holmach facilitated the installation of a Roboqbo series 3 universal processing system. Chris Holland said of their recommendation ‘Adam was looking for a scalable solution that gave him the flexibility to develop new products, whilst meeting production demand. The QBO gives the team the convenience of cutting, cooking, cooling and pasteurising within a single unit, harnessing the natural properties of their own cold-pressed rapeseed oil, alongside their harvested fava beans.”

Adam has been so impressed with his QBO that he’s also had a QBO70 installed for large scale production. The smaller QBO15 system now takes centre stage for NPD. With fresh flavours that include ‘fresh pea and mint’ and ‘smoked’, the journey starts on Adam’s family farm in Yorkshire and continues through national wholesalers and independent delicatessens.

To try these delicious dips for yourself visit www.honestbean.co.uk, or for support with your new product development and thermal processing solutions, call Holmach on 01780 749097 or email info@holmach.co.uk.