In the last few years, pea starch has gained immense popularity in the food and starch industries. From easy processing to firm gels, pea starch is extensively used in a broad range of applications as it offers key performance and functionality benefits. Consumers are always seeking food with great texture and taste that are made with clean label & recognizable ingredients and pea starch provides all these preferred attributes without any compromise in color and taste of the food.
One of the key factors that are primarily boosting the growth of the global pea starch market is the growing demand from consumers for gluten-free and organic products. Further, the wide range of application of pea starch in bakery products, meat & fish products, infant/baby foods, gels, dairy products, soups & sauces, pasta & Asian-style noodles, and many more are surging its demand on a large scale. Also, as pea starch is derived from plants and is a good alternative for gelatin in desserts & soups, it is popularly useful for vegan and vegetarian nutrition. In addition to this, owing to its low GI, pea starch is used in sports nutrition and protein shake. All such factors are surging the growth of the market. Furthermore, an increase in demand for pea starch from the pet food industry and continuous developments in the food & beverages industries may offer lucrative opportunities for the growth of the global pea starch market during the forecast period.
The global pea starch market is categorized based on grade, function, source, end-user, and region. Based on the grade, the global market is split into feed grade, industry grade, and food grade. The function segment consists of texturizing, binding & thickening, gelling, and others. Based on source, the global market is classified into inorganic and organic. The end-user segment is bifurcated into paper & textile, animal feed, food & beverage, pharmaceutical, and others.
Geographically, North America is projected to account for the largest share and lead the global pea starch market over the forecast period. Major factors fueling the growth of the market in this region include growing demand for clean label ingredient products, increase in processed food consumption and fast developments in the food & beverages industry. On the other hand, Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest-growing region. This is attributable to the rise in preference for organic & gluten-free products and growing use of pea starch in food & feed industry.
Emsland Group, Shandong Jianyuan Group, The Scoular Company, Axiom Foods, Inc., Yantai Oriental Protein Tech Co., Ltd., Puris Foods, Meelunie B.V., Vestkorn Milling AS, Roquette Freres, and Cosucra Groupe Warcoing SA are the dominant players that are operating in the global pea starch market.
In Nov 2020, Roquette Freres had discovered Lycagel, a pea starch technology to be found as an alternative to gelatin and a suitable option as pharmaceutical-grade solution for vegetarian softgel capsule formulations.