Ingredion to make equity investment in chickpea producer InnovoPro

Westchester Ill. – Ingredion Incorporated has announced an equity investment in InnovoPro, a food technology chickpea producer.

InnovoPro offers chickpea protein products that are sustainable, clean label and provide neutral taste while preserving nutritional value, functionality, and desirable texture. InnovoPro, a provider of ingredient solutions to the food and beverage industries, is targeting the global protein ingredients market which is searching for new opportunities for providing alternative and more sustainable protein-rich products.

“We believe this investment will unlock huge consumer appeal for chickpea protein concentrates. InnovoPro has a strong portfolio of chickpea solutions and we are excited about the potential for the new applications that this will enable for our customers by capitalizing on the trends shaping the food industry,” said Michael Natale, global leader of Ingredion’s plant-based protein platform.

“We are looking forward to this great partnership with Ingredion,”s aid Taly Nechushtan, chief executive officer of InnovoPro. “In the years ahead, we intend to significantly increase our growth trajectory as we are transforming to a platform of chickpea ingredients.”

A recent Ingredion proprietary consumer research study suggests chickpea ranked highly for awareness and perceived healthiness. Chickpeas’ functional characteristics, such as water and fat binding, also help manufacturers to create a rich mouthfeel and its neutral taste enables its use in many applications, Ingredion said in the release.