Fora Foods has produced a vegan butter alternative, made using chickpea brine and coconut oil, called Faba Butter. The developers focused on ensuring it has a similar texture and nutrient profile to conventional butter so it can be substituted in a variety of recipes.

Aquafaba, the brown liquid that’s leftover from canned or cooked chickpeas, has recently become popular in a range of plant-based recipes. During the cooking process, many of the proteins and nutrients in chickpeas are released into the water, which we tend to just pour down the drain. Fora Foods uses aquafaba collected from hummus producers as the central binding ingredient in their non-dairy butter substitute, Faba Butter. They use aquafaba to combine plant-based oils and seasoning to ensure that it mimics the nutritional and textural make up as butter and can be substituted in a range of recipes.

The founders hope that the likeness between Faba Butter and dairy butter will encourage ordinary consumers to integrate more plant-based foods into their diets. Faba Butter is now available in Eataly stores across the United States, as well as a number of partner restaurants.

The world’s 270 million dairy cows are contributing to deforestation, methane emissions, water stress and soil erosion. Consumers are increasingly aware of the environmental and ethical impacts embedded in dairy products. In fact, over the last 10 years, the dairy substitutes industry has grown at eight percent per annum, driven by health and sustainability concerns. However, additional concerns have been raised about the sustainability of existing dairy substitutes, which may consume significant amounts of water. By using aquafaba, a waste product, Fora Foods is providing the market with a less resource intensive dairy substitute.