Tree Nut Ingredient Applications
Nuts for New Products: Interview with Robin Puskas, chief innovation officer at JPG Resources
Robin Puskas, Chief Innovation Officer, JPG Resources
Image of Robin Puskas courtesy of Ken Pao
It may be true that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. But that certainly doesn’t apply to tree nuts. A look at this ingredient category shows today’s tree nut varieties increasingly branched out into any number of value-added foods and beverages.
For an in-depth look at the topic, Prepared Foods Chief Editor Bob Garrison interviewed Robin Puskas, chief innovation officer at JPG Resources. JPG, Battle Creek, Mich., offers services in innovation strategy, R&D support, supply chain and operations management, talent recruiting and even M&A consulting. It has offices in Brooklyn, N.Y., and San Francisco and Puskas is based in the company’s Brooklyn office. Puskas has more than 15 years of industry experience with both culinary and R&D roles.
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A Prepared Foods interview with Robin Puskas, chief innovation officer at JPG Resources.
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Overall, Puskas sees nut ingredients matching new product and consumer trends. Likewise, there’s been a shift from the ubiquitous almond to broader varieties including walnuts, cashews, pistachios, pecans, hazelnuts, and macadamias.
In regard to food, it’s clear that tree nuts have branched well beyond snack mixes to a new realm of premium, plant-based and better-for-you functional offerings with a health halo. These applications included tree nuts in second- and third-generation iterations of plant-based cheeses and ice creams—all the way to functional nut butters with added collagen and other health and beauty supporting ingredients. Puskas notes that one fun new format comes from Spain’s N’Ats (Barcelona), which offers kid-friendly nut butters and creams in inverted squeeze bottles.
Puskas points to even more innovation involving nut-based liquids, including non-dairy milk analogs, creamers, protein beverage, coffee drinks and more. Several new creamier protein drinks not only have an almond or cashew base but also come with additional protein boosts from isolated pea proteins. Puskas notes another interesting offering is a cashew kefir from Forager Project that uses fermentation technology as a way to avoid extra stabilizers. Other new offerings include Milkadamia macadamia-based milks, and Táche, a pistachio milk latte.
Looking ahead, Puskas predicts even more nut-based milks and creamers formulated to complement ready-to-drink coffees. Likewise, she predicts more nut-based dairy analogs including sour cream. Last but not least, she envisions many more nut-based alternatives shifting over to foodservice channel applications.
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