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Consumers dislike faba beans’ sensory profile

Consumers display low acceptance of faba beans, with sensory properties such as bitterness a core concern, a study suggests. However, for product varieties such as cocoa-free chocolate, this attribute could prove to be a benefit.

Popular trends behind faba bean growth

Faba bean ingredients play a pivotal role as a protein source in various food applications, ranging from animal-produced alternatives to meat and dairy items.

“Faba is a highly nutritious ingredient with high protein content, which is of course a large consumer trend,” Ross Newton, founder of NuKoKo, a cocoa-free chocolatier, told Ingredients Network. “It is also sustainably farmed, which again is a growing consumer trend.”

NuKoKo is seeing many more B2B and B2C companies utilising faba beans. The company, which was recently announced as one of EIT Food’s 2024 Accelerator Network cohorts, swaps cocoa beans for faba beans to produce sustainable chocolate.

It is also spotting an increasing number of emerging consumer-produced goods (CPG) companies using faba across all categories, and many companies are utilising it as an ingredient in various forms.

However, whatever its nutritional properties, consumer acceptance of faba beans’ sensory attributes is vital to ensure their integration into people’s diets.

Faba beans’ unappealing sensory profile

“Depending on where you are in the world, you may call them something different, such as faba, fava, broad or field beans,” Newton said.

The variation in naming conventions does not sit at the heart of consumers’ dislike for them, however, say researchers from the University of Helsinki and Functional Foods Forum in Finland. That lies in their sensory profile.

The team analysed 264 participants’ liking of and willingness to use faba bean ingredients. They gathered feedback from a diverse sample of participants, with different taste abilities, personal attitudes, food choice motives, dietary habits, and demographics, to understand favourable sensory properties that drive consumer preferences.

Using Rate-All-That-Apply and Check-All-That-Apply methodologies, participants evaluated various sensory attributes of four pastes made with faba bean ingredients and water in a sensory laboratory setting.

The researchers collected responses on how much consumers liked the ingredients’ smell and taste, their overall liking, and their willingness to use. Exploring the relationships between hedonics, sensory attributes, and participant characteristics, the study revealed consumers’ acceptance of and willingness to use faba beans was low for all ingredients, despite their distinct sensory properties.

The researchers concluded that the study underscores the interplay between sensory attributes, consumer preferences, and attitudes towards faba bean ingredients. They found that consumers disliked the smell and taste, and had low overall liking, of all faba bean ingredients.

Faba beans in new launches

These insights, released in April 2024, add to a growing body of research that the sector can use to inform NPD.

Highlighting the connection between sensory attributes, consumer preferences, and attitudes towards faba bean ingredients, the researchers suggested that tackling bitterness issues could be vital in elevating the market prospects of faba bean ingredients and facilitating their broader acceptance as a protein source.

Consumers reported low levels of appreciation for faba beans, with minimal willingness to use them in product development. Sensory issues – namely bitterness, astringency, and earthy flavours – in faba bean ingredients were identified as leading challenges in obtaining consumer acceptance in plant-based products.

“These findings underscore the critical need for addressing these flavour challenges through technological advancements at both the crop cultivation and ingredient production stages,” the researchers said.

Cocoa-free chocolate, however, is one product variety that may benefit from bitterness, with consumers often expecting varying levels of bitterness depending on the cocoa variety.

NuKoKo, which aims to be a strong leader in the sustainable chocolate industry, may see the positive effects of faba beans’ perceived bitterness in its cocoa-free chocolate products.

Health and nutrition to drive consumer appeal

“Generally, consumers perceive beans as healthy and nutritious, and they have consumed them in some varying form over their lifetime,” said Newton.

Their long-standing consumption may be a strong indicator of how manufacturers can successfully appeal to consumers. Producers may draw on faba beans’ healthy and nutritious properties and use as a staple in consumers’ everyday diets.

Newton said “all the different ways people have been consuming faba beans over the last few generations” is what surprises NuKoKo the most about the perceptions around faba beans. The “current movement around the faba bean being something of a superfood ingredient” is up there, too, he added.

To better appeal to consumers, Newton says manufacturers can “pull on the key consumer trends of health and sustainability to help promote faba as an ingredient in their products”.

For brands interested in exploring faba beans as a potential ingredient in their formulations, Newton recommends that prospective faba bean producers ask brands like NuKoKo for samples to trial in their products or NPD.