THE AUSTRALIAN pulse industry is capitalising on the momentum provided by the increased public awareness of pulse-based food products generated by the International Year of the Pulse.
“Globally there has been a significant increase in the profile of pulses with IYP,” said Grains and Legumes Nutrition Council (GLNC) general manager Michelle Broom.
“There has been a reach of over 500million for the global social media hashtag #LovePulses and consumer research organisations note that pulses are on trend.”
She said this was translating into some seriously impressive sales data, particularly in affluent western markets where there has been a marked rise in the consumption of pulse-based snack products.
New Pulse Australia chairman Ron Storey said the numbers were yet to be formally assessed, but was optimistic there would be some good results.
“We are seeing green shoots there, there are anecdotal reports that pulse consumption in Australia is on the rise.”
“Pulses are on their way to becoming very much a mainstream product in western diets.”
Dr Broom agreed, saying there had been an explosion of new products that made pulses more accessible to the average home cook.
“Some of the new products launched this year in Australia include shelf stable pulse salads, quick cook pulse and grain blends, canned black beans, canned black eyed beans, breakfast cereals with puffed chickpeas and chickpea fibre and puffed pulses as snacks,” she said.
It is all good news for Australia’s pulse industry, which has gone from strength to strength over the past five years, with the major human consumption crops of chickpeas and lentils leading the charge.
The vast majority of the crop is still exported, but authorities are hopeful of expanding the domestic market.
“We’ve got the legacy of Middle Eastern and subcontinental cooking experience here now and people are more comfortable cooking with pulses or ordering them when they are out for a meal.”
Dr Broom agreed that the slightly dull reputation of pulses in a culinary sense was changing.
“From the results of our media monitoring we have seen a definite shift in the perception of legumes towards trendy health food, with media directly aimed at a younger, more affluent market picking up messages on the health benefits and versatility of legumes,” she said.
Mr Storey said combining the increased cache of pulses in a culinary sense with their nutritional benefits made an attractive proposition for those attempting to grow the market.
“It is a fantastic set of fundamentals, there is health, there is flavour and they are also a very affordable and sustainable source of protein.
“We really are ticking all of the boxes.”
Dr Broom said pulses were ideally situated to meet demand from modern consumers.
“Pulses meet a number of consumer trends including increased interest in plant protein, ‘flexitarian’ eating, which means eating meatless meals multiple times a week and whole foods.”
She said according to GLNC research the most popular pulses in Australia were in order of popularity: baked beans, chickpeas, lentils and red kidney beans.
Looking forward she said the chickpea sector was likely to continue to grow, primarily on the back of the extraordinary success of the chickpea-based dip hummus.
“Consumer demand globally remains strong for chickpeas, based on the huge popularity of hummus.”
She said Australian chickpea producers could cash in on this by highlighting to consumers here that Australia was one of the world’s largest chickpea producers.
“Growers and producers would do well to emphasise that Australia is one of the biggest producers – enjoy Aussie chickpeas!” she said.
She said small scale producers and niche marketers would be presented with a range of opportunities in capturing new market segments.
“There is scope for small businesses supplying both plain pulses as well as foods made with pulses,” she said.
“Consumers are interested in provenance so this is an excellent opportunity to leverage pulses grown in specific regions.”
Other potential opportunities nominated included the use of pulses in different food formats from snacks and drinks to breakfast cereal and bars.
“Large scale manufacturers are not always nimble enough to introduce these so there are opportunities for smaller companies,” Dr Broom said.
Mr Storey said the positive news on the consumption front was tying in well with agronomic advances in pulse breeding.
“We’ve seen back to back record chickpea and lentil crops and both of those crops are on track for another big year this year, this is in part due to the good prices giving growers incentive to grow the crops, but also because of agronomic advances and better, more disease resistant varieties.”
Australia’s leading pulse breeder, Pulse Breeding Australia (PBA) is a joint venture between a range of partners, including universities, state agriculture departments and the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC).