As Tesco and its suppliers try the usage of the “revolutionary crop” across a variety of product lines and ingredients, the fava bean, or broad bean, might soon be making a reappearance in farmer’s fields and customers’ shopping baskets.
For thousands of years, fava beans have been farmed throughout the United Kingdom. However, in recent years, a major percentage of the beans has been transported to the Middle East and used to manufacture staples such as falafel and houmous, as well as to feed animals throughout Europe.
However, owing to Tesco’s tight collaboration with fava bean processor AB Mauri and its own brand suppliers, including ready meal maker Samworth Brothers, the healthy beans are poised to emerge in a variety of items in the near future.
according to their press release on 17/01/2023, Andrew Dinsdale is the UK Head of Sales for AB Mauri, a company that buys and processes fava beans.stated: “There is a huge opportunity to add fava beans to a number of products and ingredients – as a plant-based alternative to animal protein, but also in other areas such as bakery or ‘Food To Go’ options. Given fava beans enjoy ideal growing conditions here in the UK, the potential for it to form a key part of our diets in the future is really exciting. We’re really pleased to be partnering with Tesco and its suppliers to explore these options and hope to unveil some delicious new products very soon.”
It should be noted that Tesco and its farmers are also testing the use of fava beans as an alternative to South American soy in pig feed.
