Sproud: Anyone for a cup of pea? Here’s an eco-clever milk substitute

M ore and more people are searching for healthy and sustainable food sources, and now, an innovative company from Malmö, Sweden, has revolutionised the concept of milk. Sproud’s tasty substitute ticks all the eco boxes – and it is vegan and gluten- and soy-free. Coffee and this very unlikely choice of beverage are like peas in a pod. And that’s precisely what it’s made of, too – peas!

Consumer behaviour is changing as we’re becoming increasingly conscious of the future of our planet. Never before have we had so many new legume-based products on the supermarket shelves. Sproud’s pea milk is the exciting new kid on the block, available in Scandinavia, Finland and Britain.

“The most important thing was to find a healthy and sustainable alternative to bovine milk, which tasted as close to the real thing as possible. Now that even the world’s fussiest milky tea drinkers, the Brits, have welcomed us with open arms, we know that Sproud has the perfect neutral taste!” says Maria Tegman, head of brand at Sproud.

Make a Mocha Cortado by stirring a teaspoon of chocolate buttons into your espresso. Turn 5cl Sproud into creamy foam and sprinkle cocoa on top to impress your friends.

“When we started to look into sustainable vegetables and grains, we were looking at several alternatives. Soy was out of the question, what with all the bad press, and oats were too sweet for our liking. That’s when we thought of an old Nordic favourite – the yellow split pea. Peas fit the bill perfectly since they can grow almost anywhere and are not that weather dependent. Rainwater is sufficient and the crop is tough enough to make do without pesticides,” says Tegman.

Drinking pea protein is a good choice for the environmentally conscious. The crop won’t compete with rainforest, like many other milk substitutes. It extracts nitrogen from the air to its roots, which eliminates the need for environmentally harmful fertilisers, and it contains a lot of protein that can be extracted without chemical solvents.

But will it give that lush, frothy foam in our lattes? “Baristas all over the world love our product, since it tastes so much like cow’s milk. It’s also easy to froth, and it has a beautifully creamy texture. A ‘good elasticity’ in barista lingo,” laughs Tegman.

Pea is an old source of protein that has been kept from being commercialised because of its strong taste of grass, which is difficult to eliminate. But Sproud made it, much to their own surprise: “Yes!” laughs Tegman. “When we tasted the end result after many failed attempts we were like, ‘What? Wow!’”

Left: Mouth-watering ice coffee with pea-powered milk. Right: Who knew yellow split peas could be turned into something this tasty?

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