Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors

More Than a Protein Number: How a Pea Protein Supplier Used Market Research and Strategy Advisory to Fix a Hidden Functional Gap That Was Costing It Formulation Wins

More Than a Protein Number: How a Pea Protein Supplier Used Market Research and Strategy Advisory to Fix a Hidden Functional Gap That Was Costing It Formulation Wins

Executive Snapshot

Client

Pea Protein Ingredient Producer, Canada & Netherlands

Situation/Challenge

On paper, the client's isolate looked identical to its rivals, similar protein content, similar pricing, yet it kept losing formulation trials for reasons the sales team could not pin down. Buyers described the issue only in broad terms, mentioning taste or mouthfeel without saying what was actually wrong, leaving product development unsure whether to chase flavour fixes, solubility work, or a different sales pitch altogether.

Objective

Commission a global pea protein market study benchmarking functional performance across rival suppliers, then bring in strategy advisory to turn the findings into a focused plan for product improvement and repositioning.

Constancy Researchers Solution

Market Research Reports paired with Strategy & Growth Advisory, a Global Pea Protein Market Report comparing functional attributes by end-use category, followed by a strategy engagement building a targeted roadmap for product and positioning changes.

Impact

The research traced the client's underperformance to one specific weakness, poor solubility in beverage formats, while showing its isolate already held its own in bakery and meat-alternative uses. The company had been marketing one undifferentiated product across categories with very different functional needs.

Client Outcome

The client split its go-to-market by application, keeping its existing isolate for bakery and meat alternatives while accelerating a more soluble variant for beverages, and reclaimed two formulation trials it had previously lost to competitors.

The Situation / Challenge

Pea protein has become a default ingredient choice across food and beverage development, yet two suppliers offering near-identical protein percentages and pricing can still perform very differently once a formulator actually works with the material. Extraction method and processing choices shape solubility, flavour, and mouthfeel in ways a specification sheet never captures, and those differences carry real weight depending on what is being built.

The client’s commercial team had watched a growing number of formulation trials slip to rival suppliers, even with comparable protein levels and pricing on the table. Buyer feedback rarely went beyond general unhappiness with taste or texture, never pinpointing the actual issue. Product development suspected something concrete was wrong but had no reliable way to confirm exactly which functional trait was costing them business.

Acting without a clear diagnosis carried obvious downside, the team could easily pour resources into flavour correction when the true culprit was solubility, all while formulation losses kept piling up in the meantime.

Key Challenges

  • No benchmarking comparing the client’s functional attributes against rival pea protein suppliers across distinct end-use categories.
  • No way to isolate which specific trait, solubility, taste, or texture, was actually responsible for the formulation losses the sales team kept reporting.
  • Customer feedback that confirmed something was wrong without ever identifying the root cause.
  • A real risk of investing in the wrong fix if the company guessed incorrectly about which attribute needed work.
  • No application-level picture distinguishing where the existing product already excelled from where it genuinely fell short.
  • Mounting pressure from commercial leadership to halt the trial losses absent any technical explanation for them.

Two plant protein ingredients can look indistinguishable on a spec sheet and still behave very differently once they hit a formulator’s bench. Pinning down exactly which functional trait is disappointing a customer, and in which specific application, tends to matter far more than generic assurances that a product is competitive on paper.

Constancy Researchers Solution

Constancy Researchers first mapped exactly where the client’s functional performance stood against competitors across different end-use categories, then built a product and go-to-market plan aimed squarely at the gap the data revealed.

Global Pea Protein Market Sizing & Functional Attribute Benchmarking
  • Delivered a market report sizing the global pea protein category and benchmarking solubility, flavour neutrality, and texture across leading suppliers within beverage, bakery, and meat-alternative segments.
  • Found that the client’s isolate trailed competitors specifically on beverage solubility, while matching or beating them in bakery and meat-alternative applications where solubility carries less weight.
Application-Specific Customer Requirement Research
  • Investigated what formulators in each category actually prioritised, confirming beverage developers placed far more weight on solubility than their counterparts in bakery or meat alternatives.
  • Discovered the client’s sales team had been pitching the same product variant for beverage trials that succeeded elsewhere, applying one formulation to a category with genuinely different requirements.
Competitive Solubility Technology Assessment
  • Reviewed the processing approaches rival suppliers used to achieve stronger beverage solubility, separating proprietary methods from accessible process tweaks.
  • Confirmed a specific adjustment within the client’s existing extraction process could lift solubility meaningfully without demanding a new production line.
Application-Specific Product & Positioning Strategy
  • Recommended repositioning the existing isolate around bakery and meat-alternative applications, where it already performed strongly, while fast-tracking a more soluble variant built for beverage use.
  • Built a messaging framework that separates the two product variants by application, replacing the single undifferentiated pitch that had been undercutting beverage trial performance.
Implementation Roadmap & Commercial Rollout
  • Delivered a phased rollout plan sequencing the beverage-ready variant’s development milestones against active formulation trial timelines, so the improved product reached priority accounts as early as possible.
  • Defined a feedback loop with key beverage accounts to confirm the solubility improvement held up under their specific production conditions before broader commercial rollout.

The work turned vague customer frustration into a precise functional diagnosis, giving the company a clear product and commercial path instead of continued guesswork.

Impact

  • Research pinpointed beverage solubility as the specific gap behind the client’s formulation trial losses.
  • Benchmarking confirmed the existing isolate already held its own against competitors in bakery and meat-alternative categories.
  • Application-level research showed the client had been using one undifferentiated product across categories with different functional demands.
  • The technology review identified an accessible processing tweak to lift beverage solubility without new capital spend.
  • The application-specific strategy stopped the practice of pitching an unsuited variant into beverage trials.
  • A more soluble variant purpose-built for beverage formulation reached the market.
  • Two previously lost formulation trials were reclaimed following the repositioning.
  • Commercial messaging now distinguishes product variants by application rather than presenting one generic offering.

Client Outcome

Functional Diagnosis

The specific solubility gap driving beverage trial losses was confirmed through structured benchmarking rather than guesswork.

Trial Wins Recovered

Two previously lost formulation trials were reclaimed after the application-specific product and positioning changes.

Targeted Development

A beverage-ready, more soluble variant was developed using an accessible processing adjustment.

Existing Strength Confirmed

Bakery and meat-alternative positioning was reinforced once benchmarking proved the existing isolate already excelled there.

Commercial Clarity

Messaging now differentiates by application, replacing a single generic pitch that had been masking a real functional weakness.

Resource Efficiency

Development spend was aimed directly at the confirmed gap instead of being spread across flavour, texture, and solubility guesses.

Sales Team Confidence

The commercial team gained a concrete technical explanation for prior losses, replacing vague buyer feedback with an actionable answer.

Competitive Positioning

The client closed a specific functional gap against rivals instead of competing on protein content and price alone.

Market Positioning

The client was repositioned as an application-aware ingredient supplier solving formulator-specific needs rather than offering one generic protein product.

Looking to unlock new growth opportunities with data-driven insights?

Connect Now

Case Studies

Learn how our success stories power data-driven growth across industries

Speak with an Analyst

    Download TOC

      Request a Sample Report