"From Field to Fork": We grow our own peas regionally!

Growing peas is nothing new. In fact, they are one of the oldest cultivated plants ever. According to archaeological finds, the small power ball was cultivated around 10,000 years ago.
In the oldest farming culture of the Neolithic period in Central Europe, the Bandkeramik, it was one of the most important staple foods alongside lentils and grain.

After the delicious legume lived in the shadows for many years and was considered fattening and poor people's food, it is now enjoying ever-increasing popularity. This is not least because it has the best nutritional values ​​with very little fat .

Thanks to our partnership with BayWa AG, we managed to grow our own peas and thus realize our dream. The common goal is to build a transparent and sustainable value chain for regionally produced, vegan food.

Since spring 2023, 11 farmers in Bavaria and Thuringia have been growing our GREENFORCE peas on 130 hectares. This means that we expect around 300 to 400 tons of raw material from the first harvest in late summer '23. From November onwards, this protein will be used in our dry and fresh products.

But what exactly does 300 to 400 tons mean? How much can we gain from this? On average we need 300 peas per Easy To Mix product. This means that from 300 tons of peas we get about 700 tons of cevapcici .

Well, if that isn't good news?! 😋

Peas are legumes. Legumes are particularly sustainable because their root system can bind atmospheric nitrogen in the soil and make it available to plants. You only need some of this bound nitrogen yourself: the rest is left in the soil for the following crop. Consequently, legumes such as peas do not require artificial nitrogen fertilizers .

By now growing our peas in Germany, we are also making the whole process more sustainable . When harvesting and storing our regional peas, only short distances now have to be covered. One of our pea fields is actually located in Munich , just a few kilometers from our office. 🤩

With “From Field to Fork” we describe our long-term goal of being able to map the entire value chain from seeds to the final plant product.
This makes it possible for us to guarantee better quality control and support for regional agriculture.

By growing our own peas, we can also ensure that our production utilizes the entire harvest . This means that everything that is not needed for our products themselves can be processed into other products.

We are currently testing whether plant-based dog chew bones could be obtained from the leftover peas. This allows us as a company to reduce our overall ecological footprint.

Since our processing process has been here in Germany since the beginning, we are happy that we can finally produce EVERYTHING regionally here in Germany. This is how we protect our planet and our animals. 🙌