IN Brief:
- NordPea will be presented at Fi Europe in November, ahead of expected commercial availability in Q2 2027.
- Lantmännen's €100m Swedish plant is designed to process approximately 40,000 tonnes of peas and faba beans annually.
- The ingredient targets applications including ready-to-drink beverages, powdered mixes and dairy alternatives.
Lantmännen has introduced NordPea, a pea protein isolate developed with Ingredion, ahead of commercial production at a new €100m processing facility in Lidköping, Sweden.
The ingredient is being presented to food and beverage manufacturers as a source of plant protein for applications including ready-to-drink beverages, powdered mixes and dairy alternatives. Its industry introduction will take place at Food Ingredients Europe in Frankfurt from 17 to 19 November 2026, with commercial availability expected in the second quarter of 2027.
NordPea remains in the final stages of testing, according to Lantmännen’s product information. The November presentation therefore marks a product introduction rather than the start of routine commercial supply, with manufacturing dependent on the completion and commissioning of the new Swedish facility.
The Lidköping plant is designed to process approximately 40,000 tonnes of peas and faba beans annually. That figure refers to incoming raw material, rather than the volume of finished protein isolate. The quantity of commercial ingredient produced will depend on crop composition, separation yields and the other material streams generated during processing.
Lantmännen plans to source the peas used for NordPea through its network of Swedish cooperative farmers. The arrangement will connect crop production with ingredient manufacturing, providing a defined regional supply chain for the raw material rather than relying entirely on externally purchased protein isolates.
The development is the result of a partnership with Ingredion established in 2024. Lantmännen contributes agricultural sourcing, crop knowledge and industrial processing infrastructure, while Ingredion brings ingredient application expertise and international market access.
The companies have focused NordPea’s development on the functional demands of formulated foods. Although protein content is an important product specification, manufacturers also need to consider flavour, colour, solubility, viscosity and the behaviour of the ingredient during production.
Lantmännen describes NordPea as having a relatively neutral taste, light colour and good dispersibility. It also identifies solubility and viscosity as intended functional properties, with development directed towards a suitable mouthfeel in finished foods and drinks.
These characteristics are particularly relevant to beverage formulation. Adding protein increases the concentration of suspended or dissolved solids and may affect flow behaviour, stability and the sensory characteristics of the finished product. The result depends on the complete recipe, including the concentration of protein and the other ingredients present.
In ready-to-drink applications, a formulation must retain an acceptable texture throughout its intended shelf life. Changes during storage may affect appearance or mouthfeel, while processing conditions can influence how proteins interact with other components. A supplier’s general description of solubility is consequently a starting point for formulation trials rather than proof of stability in every finished beverage.
Powdered products introduce a different set of requirements. Protein ingredients must disperse appropriately when mixed with liquid, and their behaviour can be influenced by particle properties, mixing conditions and the ingredients combined with them. The product’s intended ease of dispersion will need to be assessed against the mixing and preparation conditions used by manufacturers and consumers.
Dairy alternatives may also require proteins to contribute to viscosity and texture while remaining compatible with fats, stabilisers and flavouring systems. The desired functionality differs between a drink, a spoonable product and a more structured formulation, meaning that one ingredient specification cannot establish suitability across all applications.
NordPea’s manufacturing arrangements form another part of the development. The Lidköping investment is intended to expand European capacity for extracting and refining plant proteins from locally grown crops, while making use of material streams beyond the finished protein isolate.
Separating protein from peas involves several processing requirements, including preparation of the incoming crop, recovery of the desired protein fraction and handling of the remaining components. The balance between these activities affects ingredient yield, production costs and the quantity of material requiring further processing or disposal.
Lantmännen has described plans to recover process heat, treat and reuse water, and develop outlets for side streams generated during extraction. These measures form part of the facility’s intended resource-efficiency arrangements, although the company has not yet disclosed operating data demonstrating their performance at commercial production rates.
Using more of the incoming crop can reduce the proportion left without an established application. The commercial value of that approach depends on the composition and quality of the recovered streams, their processing requirements and whether suitable markets exist for the resulting materials.
The factory has received public financing support. In April 2025, the European Investment Bank announced a €50m loan towards its construction, covering approximately half of the project’s investment cost. The bank said the facility was expected to create around 30 regional jobs and strengthen Europe’s capacity to manufacture plant proteins.
Lantmännen has also secured support through Klimatklivet, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency’s climate investment programme. The funding is associated with the project’s planned resource efficiency and industrial development, rather than independently verified environmental performance of the finished NordPea ingredient.
Crop production provides an additional connection between the agricultural and industrial operations. Peas and faba beans can form part of arable rotations, while leguminous crops can fix atmospheric nitrogen through their relationship with soil microorganisms. The effect on fertiliser requirements and subsequent crops depends on local growing conditions and farm management.
The investment could provide Lantmännen’s growers with an additional commercial outlet for these crops, although the volumes ultimately purchased will depend on the facility’s operating schedule and the demands of ingredient customers. Establishing consistent raw material quality will be important as the plant approaches routine production.
At Fi Europe, NordPea will appear on Lantmännen’s stand and in the event’s New Product Zone. The company and Ingredion are also scheduled to give a presentation on pea protein on 17 November, covering the ingredient’s development and intended application characteristics.
The introduction comes before the planned completion of the industrial manufacturing project. Lantmännen’s product information identifies Q2 2027 as the commercial availability target, broadly consistent with the European Investment Bank’s earlier expectation that the factory would be completed in the first half of that year.
The forthcoming manufacturing phase will establish how consistently NordPea can be produced at scale and how its stated functional characteristics perform in customer formulations. The Lidköping facility’s operating results will also determine the quantities available for commercial supply and the contribution made by its planned water, heat and material recovery systems.
