Podberry pea snack secures first major supermarket deal
The snacks will be available in 28 of Scottish Morrisons stores from next week (August 19) with plans to launch in more supermarkets, both in Scotland and further afield.
Further launches
The freeze-dried seasoned snack comes in 20g single-serve packs in two flavours – Sea Salt and Balsamic Vinegar and Sweet Chilli, with two further flavours to be launched later this year.
“With a growing demand for healthy snacks which don’t compromise on flavour, convenience or quality at a reasonable price point, we believe Podberry delivers,” said Geoff Bruce, director, Podberry.
Bruce added Podberry was set up as part of farming operation, Bruce farms in Perthshire. It produces a range of fruit and vegetables and supplies some of the UK's best known brands such as Birds Eye and Ribena.
“As with many farms we want to keep progressing and diversifying our farms and produce. We have been growing peas for over 50 years and grow over half the peas in Scotland,” said Bruce.
“We wanted to come up with a way for consumers to taste our peas in a new and innovative way but keep the peas natural and nutritious.
“After a great deal of research in 2017 we invested in our own freeze-drying equipment and began experimenting. We discovered that peas when frozen in this way and then dried, never fried, created a satisfying and healthy snack.”
Vegan
The peas are harvested and frozen within 150 minutes to ensure the nutritional goodness of the peas are retained. After this the peas are freeze dried on the farm in Perthshire before leaving the facility for seasoning and packing.
“Our packaging was developed, after consumer research, with the help of an Edinburgh based company Lux. We wanted the packaging to show the journey our peas make from the field, where they ripen to perfection in their pods, to pack while also highlighting the delicious and carefully selected flavour profiles,” added Bruce.
“It was important for us to keep the packs feeling fresh and vibrant, just because the product is healthy we don’t feel that means it can’t be aesthetically pleasing and visually appealing as well.”
Created with a growing demand for healthy and convenient food products, Podberry are high in protein, low in fat, gluten free and vegan friendly.
