Puris, the Minneapolis-based pea protein producer best known for supplying key ingredients to plant-based meat producers such as Beyond Meat, has launched its first consumer product under a new consumer brand: AcreMade.
The shelf-stable powder, simply called Egg Substitute, is made from Puris' yellow-field peas, can be used for scrambling and baking, and is free from the top nine allergens, the company said in its announcement of the product on Tuesday.
It's the first product under the company's new AcfreMade consumer brand, which is promising a "strong innovation pipeline and will launch additional products in 2023 in frozen, refrigerated, and shelf-stable formats that address customer needs across retail, foodservice, and ingredient applications," according to a news release.
"We're thrilled to be launching AcreMade as our first direct-to-consumer brand," said Nicole Atchison, CEO of AcreMade and Puris Holdings. "From seed to shelf, grower to finished product, Puris has the capability, network and resources to uniquely improve the food journey, and create products that consumers love."
Egg Substitute is available at AcreMade.com in cases of eight, 4.9 oz. bags, which supply a total of 96 servings, for $54.99. The company says these eggs are nutritionally comparable to real eggs, containing 5 grams of protein per serving, though they contain no cholesterol.
The company cites a report by Fact.MR saying that the vegan-egg market is expected to reach $3.3 billion in market value by 2031.
Puris is actually two different companies: Puris Proteins, a joint venture with Cargill Inc. run by Tyler Lorenzen that focuses on pea proteins, and Puris Holdings, which is run by Atchinson and has a broader focus.
Puris was launched in 1985 in Iowa by Jerry Lorenzen, father of Tyler Lorenzen and Atchinson. The elder Lorenzen had a vision of a world where people got more of their protein from plant sources, and he began to grow high-protein crops. Puris relocated its headquarters to Minneapolis in 2016 to be closer to its pea protein plants in Turtle Lake, Wis., and Dawson, Minn.
That Dawson plant opened about a year ago, doubling Puris' production capacity and further cementing the company as a leading supplier of pea protein in North America. The 200,000-square-foot facility, located nearly three hours west of the Twin Cities, was retrofitted from an existing dairy plant in a joint venture between Puris and Cargill Inc.
Minnetonka-based Cargill announced in 2018 it would invest over $100 million in Puris to built out the Dawson facility. Production capacity at Puris' Turtle Lake, Wisconsin, production facility was also boosted by a $25 million investment from Cargill in 2018.
Past reporting by Carter Jones and Carrigan Miller contributed to this report.
