sponsored content

Fortifying the Future of Pasta & Noodle Dishes

From Europe to Asia, pasta is considered among the most delicious and versatile staple dishes across the globe. Whether it’s enjoyed with the family for Sunday dinner, the night before a big race, or cooked quickly after work, pasta is a meal that’s as satiating as it is savory. Though steeped in tradition, the longstanding category has withstood many changes – until recent years.

Demand for “pastas with” nutrients or “free from” certain ingredients is rising. Increasingly, pasta makers face new challenges as they strive to maintain the toothsome, al dente texture that has defined pasta throughout history while delivering on what today’s consumer wants. In fact, data from our 2021 consumer survey suggest that 8 in 10 consumers consider it very or moderately important to have more fibers and proteins when selecting their pasta.

As you explore the pasta aisle at the grocery store, you’ll likely notice more and more brands calling out nutritive claims on their packaging, such as “high fiber” and protein content. Until recently, formulators had limited options for fiber and protein fortification in pasta. These options – especially in wholegrain and legume varieties – had an impact on taste, texture, and formulation that was not always positive. Fortunately, for both the consumer and the pasta maker, opportunity exists to elevate the fortified pasta experience.

We believe that barley deserves a spot at the table when it comes to enabling innovation and ensuring satisfaction in the fortified pasta category, and we’re proud to deliver proven solutions from our functional, sustainable, and nutrient-packed EverVita barley ingredients.

Achieving “al dente” perfectionOur team of industry experts, drawing on the heritage of our Italian members and partners, knows what goes into creating good quality pasta that cooks well and tastes great. And we’re passionate about helping our partners craft a pasta with cooking qualities that result in authentic, al dente texture – an essential part of what makes noodles, ravioli, and dumplings so delicious.

We accept nothing but the best.

While we’re confident that EverVita is the key to striking the perfect balance between nutrition and texture in pasta, we collaborated with food scientists at the Università degli Studi del Molise in Campobasso, Italy, to test our EverVita ingredients in action. From this study, we learned that EverVita ingredients don’t just match the cooking attributes of traditional semola (semolina in the US) flour and other variants – they exceed them.

Pasta formulations fortified with EverVita ingredients outperformed traditional recipes in terms of firmness, stickiness, bulkiness and overall cooking value, while also giving brands the opportunity to feature a “high protein” and/or “high fiber” claim on packaging. EverVita strives to be a plug-and-play solution in any flour system with no additional or special treatment required. With great tensile strength and ideal extrusion without sticking together while drying or cooking, EverVita delivers the qualities that formulators look for to boost nutrition without compromising their pasta products’ integrity.

Serving up innovationIn our opinion, chances are that if you’re serving up a pasta product, people are going to enjoy it regardless. We’re here to help you formulate a pasta product that stands out. At EverGrain, we are ever-committed to outperforming consumer expectations. That’s why we put our ancient grain pasta concept, powered by barley, to the test with 150 consumers.

And consumers raved. When we described our product concept to them, they gravitated toward the ancient grain claim, with nearly 70% of those evaluated showing greater inclination to buy the product because of this attribute. Barley, like farro, quinoa, millet, and sorghum, are part of an exclusive class of ancient grains that have, up to this day, avoided any interference in breeding. For that reason, ancient grains are considered to be some of the original functional foods.

On top of this, consumers also showed interest in the 15 grams of protein per serving that our concept can deliver. The concept’s convergence of ancient nutrition, health, and sustainability resonated with consumers who said they would try the product if it was available.

It’s time that we deliver that to them!

And when we created it, we confirmed that EverVita can create a superior product! When tasting prototypes, 75 consumers in the UK showed a 40% higher overall liking versus wholegrain pasta, and an incredible 110% increase in purchasing intent.

For pasta makers looking to serve up delicious innovation and nutrition, we’d love to discuss our ingredients and provide starter recipes to accelerate your product development. Fill out the contact form on our site and a team member will be in touch.

Read More