‘Not all protein is made the same’: Mamame touts nutritional benefits of black-eyed beans to boost healthy snacking

Mamame makes its tempeh chips using black-eyed beans - also known as black-eyed peas or cowpeas - as opposed to the more common soybeans, and has found success for these with a more premium positioning in markets such as Singapore, South Korea, Japan and Thailand.

“Better-for-you snacks and especially snacks with protein claims have been huge globally, with many brands highlighting on-pack messages such as how many grams of protein can be found in their product,”​ Chief Commercial Officer Liz Kang told FoodNavigator-Asia​ in the most recent episode of our Food and Beverage Trailblazers podcast.

“The thing is that actually, not all protein or fibre is made the same – A lot of products out there use soy protein isolate or chemical compounds to boost their protein and fibre content.​

“For us, each of our 100g bags of tempeh chips contains 10g protein and 12g fibre – which is actually quite a challenging feat without using any of these protein or fibre additives, but our protein and fibre come just from the mighty black-eyed bean. ​

“We do view this more natural nutrients source as being more digestible, and in turn the nutrients more absorbable by the body.”​

Tempeh as a food product is generally well-understood in many South East Asian markets, but Kang highlighted that this is not the same in East Asian or Western ones.

“Tofu has historically been much more transferable as tempeh retains the whole bean for fermentation, which usually gives it a lifespan at room temperature of two to three days max,”​ she said.

“This is also what makes it a superfood, as it retains all the protein, probiotics, beta-carotene, fibre and more.​

“The main issue is that tempeh has not yet really been innovated to fit the needs of modern consumers - Tempeh chips are one of the formats looking to do that as it has a much longer shelf life and is more transportable and convenient with no need to cook before consumption.​

Mamame has six flavours in total – Original, Sea Salt BBQ, Cheese, Hot Chilli, and Rosemary - and has identified different popularity drivers across its various markets based on the demand and sales of these.

“In South Korea we have found BBQ and Cheese to be the best sellers – we believe one of the main reasons is because the strong flavours pair well with soju,”​ she said.

“In South East Asia, Hot Chilli and Rosemary are the most popular – Rosemary in particular has likely been successful because it is an unusual flavour for savoury snacks, and can be quite a surprising combo of umami and fragrance.”​

Listen to the podcast above to find out more.