Quinoa pops for breakfast
Dutch company Pauls’ Quinoa started off selling whole quinoa grain before developing bars and ready meals. At SIAL, it was launching its latest product, a range of breakfast cereals.
Organic, gluten-free and available in three flavours – plain, honey and chocolate – the cereals are minimally processed and have simple ingredient lists ranging from one to five ingredients.
“Most breakfast cereals have crazy amounts of sugar in them but ours don’t. The honey version contains 85% quinoa and 15% honey,” said Wouter Van Heugten, purchasing manager at the company.
The company is involved in an agronomy research project with researchers at the University of Wageningen in order to improve the agricultural techniques of farmers, help them identify resistant quinoa varieties and optimise crop yields.
“The idea is to not have monoculture but crop rotation that is good for the soil’s health and also the farmers’ income,” said Van Heugten, adding that the company is not certified fair trade but gives the farmers a fair price and “builds partnerships with the farmers”.
The breakfast cereals have a recommended retail price of €4 per pack and are already available in Casino and LeClerc in France.
Paul’s Quinoa ready meals and seeds are listed in Sainsbury’s in the UK.