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EQUII expands its nutritional bread footprint and product range

EQUII, an innovative bread company, is growing its presence in US retail and food service markets, with its expanding range of fibre- and protein-enriched bread products now available in 88 Midwest Hy-Vee stores.

The expansion is part of EQUII's mission to offer healthier bread options using fermentation technology. Ingredients Network spoke to co-founder and co-CEO Monica Bhatia about the company’s strategy and her vision on the future of bread.

New product development

Founded in 2021, EQUII has established itself in the food industry with a focus on nutrient-enriched breads. The company uses fermentation to create a yeast protein with a balanced profile of essential amino acids and 40% fewer carbs compared to typical flours.

EQUII recently introduced fibre-enhanced bread varieties Premium Classic Wheat + Fiber and Premium Multi-Grain + Fiber. These options provide 4 grams of dietary fibre per slice, along with 8 grams of complete protein. This addition enhances the bread's nutritional profile, catering to health-conscious consumers seeking high-fibre foods. This work has been led by EQUII’s co-founder Baljit Ghotra, who is an expert in food chemistry.

Bhatia sees the formulation of the new products with enhanced protein and fibre that also have the right taste and texture as a huge formulation accomplishment, overcoming some inherent obstacles:

“The challenge in developing non-traditional breads is the loss of texture when starch is reduced in the recipe, through addition of products like fibre or protein.”

According to Bhatia, competing breads in the high-fibre space often add more gluten to maintain the texture profile, but this was not an option for EQUII.

“[T]he generous addition of gluten helps overcome some of the texture losses, but does not really add any nutrition. But given that almost 20% by weight of our bread slice is EQUII protein, we do not have room for many extra ingredients. So we rely on our understanding of the dough chemistry and how the water interacts with our protein during bread production to help guide EQUII’s bread making process.”

Looking beyond the supermarket shelves

EQUII has formed strategic partnerships to expand its offerings in the food service sector. Notably, it has teamed up with US-based bread and pastry producer Bridor to incorporate EQUII’s Complete Protein Blend into various bakery products like dinner rolls, ciabatta sandwich carriers, and bread loaves. This collaboration aims to bring healthier options into the commercial baked goods space.

Bhatia told Ingredients Network that the Bidor partnership would help expose consumers to EQUII in the foodservice format, where consumers are more open to try new things. “A common consumer fear around new proteins is lack of taste and texture,” said Bhatia. “We believe the Bridor + EQUII partnership can show consumers that bakery can be the new protein and it tastes amazing.”

EQUII is expanding beyond its initial US West Coast distribution and is targeting nationwide distribution by 2025.

“We are aggressively building a nationwide distribution network for EQUII products, by partnering with distributors like UNFI and KeHE and constantly discussing EQUII products with retailers such as Kroger, Whole foods, Sprouts etc. Through 2024, our goal is to be in 300-400 stores and we believe this is achievable with our presence on the west coast, Texas, and parts of mid-west,” said Bhatia.

And there might be even more than bread and bread products to enrich in the future. Looking at the company’s own future line-up of products, Bhatia reveals that EQUII is exploring and developing other products.

“Some of our upcoming SKUs will be designed to meet the consumer where they are at with respect to preference around calories, carbs, fibre, ingredient preferences, while maximising the protein content and quality in breads. Besides bread, we also have some other special products in different categories that we will be announcing very soon.”

The future of bread

The market for nutrient-enriched and plant-based foods is growing, driven by consumers' increasing awareness of health and sustainability. According to Mintel survey data from 2023, consumers are looking for better bread options, but more than half (54%) of US consumers find it hard to know which breads are healthy – and consumers are unlikely to associate the attribute 'nutritious' with bread.

Mintel’s Global New Product Database shows that bread product launches with added protein or other fortification and enrichment claims remain niche, but are increasing steadily. While only 1% of bread products had the ‘added protein’ claim between May 2021 and April 2022, this tripled to 3% in the period May 2023 – April 2024. In their 2024 annual ‘innovation in bread and bread products’ review, Mintel calls bread fortification a “relatively untapped opportunity”.

Asked about the evolving market for nutrient-enriched bread, Bhatia is optimistic about the growth of the segment.

“Current emerging trends in bread market suggest a few winners that span breads with attributes like organic, high fibre, low-carb and keto as major emerging trends. We expect consumers to continue demanding more nutrition from this category and protein can be a strong player in this segment.

“Currently, less than one percent of breads can claim the same amount of protein per slice as EQUII. We believe that when factored for complete protein, EQUII is in a unique space that is poised for growth.”