Fabumin, a finalist in the Fi 2024 Startup Challenge, has overcome the obstacles to making aquafaba powder production commercially viable, thanks to its proprietary clean label additive technology and drying process design.
In 2014 French chef Joël Roessel discovered that the water from canned chickpeas can be whipped up into a foam. Over a decade later, aquafaba has become increasingly sought-after as an egg white substitute in multiple applications.
The food industry prefers powders as they are easier to work with, store and transport, and have a longer shelf life. However, when Israeli plant-based cheese manufacturer Human-Nature looked at using aquafaba as an ingredient, it could only find it in liquid format.
This led the company to experiment in its test kitchen, which gave it an appreciation of the challenges entailed in creating aquafaba powder.
“Aquafaba contains sugar, so it is impossible to dry it efficiently because it caramelises into something black and sticky, and a film develops on the surface of the powder,” said Adi Lengel, R&D manager at Human-Nature and co-founder of Fabumin.
After a lengthy R&D process, the team came up with a solution in the form of clean label additives that can be added to aquafaba to overcome these issues – and Fabumin was born.
The startup’s business model is to sell its additives to legume factories so that they can dry their own aquafaba into flakes, which are then sold back to Fabumin for processing into a powder and supplying to customers.
Lengel explained that Fabumin does not produce aquafaba. As he puts it the startup is an “impact company”, therefore working with waste is a priority for Lengel and his team.
“The legume factories pour millions of cubic metres of water down the drain. By collaborating with us, they can reduce their water bills by 80% and generate a new income stream. We can also help them to meet the UN requirements for circular economy and efficiency, which can enable them to access certain subsidiaries,” Lengel added.
The process of producing the flakes involves two steps: evaporation and drying. In the evaporation step, 80% of the wastewater is evaporated, the steam is cooled, and the distilled water is returned to the factory.
In the drying step, the remaining 20% is dried into flakes. Whilst the equipment can be purchased off the shelf, it needs to be configured according to Fabumin’s specifications to ensure a successful outcome.
Fabumin has just signed an agreement with its first partner – the largest legume factory in the Netherlands – and is planning to establish its powder processing facility near that factory in the next six months, Lengel confirmed.
“Then we can upscale the process and commercialise our aquafaba powder – at present we are still at the pilot stage,” he said.
The use of aquafaba in mayonnaise and meringue is well established, thanks to its superior foaming and emulsification properties, but Fabumin is confident that there is still plenty of space in the market, as all of the major food manufacturers are seeking egg replacement solutions.
The first market that Fabumin is hoping to penetrate is bakery, which is one of the heaviest users of egg powder. Bakery companies are looking to replace eggs in recipes on several grounds, with unpredictable prices as the main pain point, Lengel explained.
“Egg prices keep fluctuating due to crises like COVID and avian flu; throughout Europe, manufacturers are at the mercy of changing prices and it makes it difficult for them to plan annual production,” he said.
Food safety is another motivator for moving to a plant-based egg replacer, according to Lengel.
“Aquafaba doesn’t contain pathogens and allergens, so it alleviates concerns about exposure to salmonella, egg-based allergens, and even antibiotics,” he said.
Price has historically been a barrier to the use of aquafaba powder, as the inefficiency of the drying process yielded an ingredient that was prohibitively expensive for many industrial users. However, Fabumin says its technology overcomes this by allowing aquafaba to be dried very cheaply.
“There is powdered aquafaba on the market, but it is very highly priced. Ours is going to be at a similar price point to egg powder, which is $15 per kg,” noted Lengel.
“When we look at the whole value chain, everyone stands to benefit from this innovation. The legume factory reduces waste and generates income from a byproduct and the food industry has an affordable, sustainable and versatile raw material at its disposal,” Lengel added.
