How do you make legumes great again? Don’t worry, this is not a political episode. It’s about something far more urgent: giving legumes the role they truly deserve in our food system. Together with Andres Jara, co-founder of Favamole, we explore what it really takes to build a regenerative food brand in the middle of today’s industrial food landscape.
How do you play the game while sharing shelf space with giant food companies, big retail, massive processors, and catering empires? And more importantly: how do you scale fast, influence as many hectares as possible, and not lose your regenerative soul along the way? We dive into regenerative business models, flavour as a lever for change, regenerative finance, scale, money, and impact, all while walking on the stunning, sunny, and very cold fields of Jeroen and Mellany Klompe.
What if a simple, delicious sauce could change crop rotations, farmer income, and your weekly lunch? With Andres we explore how a chef-turned-butcher-turned-farmer built Favamole: a fresh, clean-label legume spread that tastes great, pays growers fairly, and can scale without losing its soul.
We dive into the origin story- why a guacamole “alternative” wasn’t enough- and how redefining “mole” as its own category unlocked flavor, pricing, and brand freedom. The team ditched shelf-stable pasteurization for high pressure processing to keep a 30-day fridge life and a label you can actually read. We get practical about supply chains too: winter crop planning, handling pests, and guaranteeing purchase prices of 80 cents to 1 euro per kilo so farmers stop sending fava beans to animal feed.
On the go-to-market front, we talk foodservice first: how catering groups can hit ESG and CSRD targets with a product that boosts fiber and protein without extra labor, and why retail comes next as awareness builds. There’s an honest look at partnerships, including a surprising alliance with a major guacamole producer that opened up ton-per-day capacity. And we tackle the founder mindset shift, from fearing growth to treating scale as a responsibility, along with the personal regeneration needed to sustain it.
BUILDING A REGENERATIVE FOOD BRAND
Andres explains the core motivation behind creating Favamole, shifting from a market garden to a scalable food brand. He highlights the significantly greater potential for impact by regenerating more land through legume cultivation compared to farming alone.
“We can really see way more impact and way more reachability and scalability with Favamole… the potential scalability of what we have is way bigger. And the potential of collaboration with more farms and regenerate more land is way bigger.” Andres Jara
CHALLENGES AND STRATEGIES FOR SCALING UP
Discussing the practical hurdles of growth, Andres details the importance of strategic partnerships and funding. He shares how a subsidy and an incubator programme were crucial in overcoming initial barriers and connecting with a major production partner.
“So, then we partner with one of the biggest guacamole producers in the Netherlands… But then it is also because he sees the market shifting. So, then he also sees opportunity for us, but also for himself to really work with young entrepreneurs that are wanting to make an impact, and the factory and everything… The process is similar; after the beans are cooked, you need the same equipment.” Andrés Jara
MARKET POSITIONING AND PRODUCT EVOLUTION
There was a strategic pivot in how Favamole is presented: Andres moved from framing it as a direct alternative to guacamole to defining a new, ownable category, which allows the brand to control its narrative and expand its product range.
“So, then Favamole is fava sauce, fava dip. So, then what we are doing is, we open a whole new category, and we’re becoming our own thing.” Andrés Jara
PERSONAL GROWTH, MINDSET, AND ADVICE FOR ENTREPRENEURS
Reflecting on his journey, Andrés emphasises how internal shifts in belief were essential for the venture’s success. He connects his personal regenerative mindset to building a resilient business and offers candid advice for other founders.
“As I mentioned before, I tried to do it two times, and it didn’t work… And for the next year, is also thinking about the structure, thinking about how to grow the company, and thinking about how to scale the impact, but also how to keep it in the regenerative lens and view perspective.” Andres Jara
OTHER POINTS DISCUSSED
Koen and Andrés also talked about:
- Farmer centric supply chain
- High-pressure processing (HPP)
- building social capital, then focusing on sales execution
- managing cash flow, communication and closing skills
- personal regeneration to sustain regenerative work
- expanding flavors and planning retail timing
LINKS:
LINKED INTERVIEWS:
- Andres Jara – Walking the land of market garden De Stadsgroenteboer with a regenerative farmer
- Nicola Giuggioli – Building a regenerative brand: from soil health to living wages
- Anthony Corsaro on investing in regenerative CPG brands after curing an autoimmune disease with nutrient dense food
- Liz Carlisle, how lentils changed a region and started an organic company 30 years ago
- Tina Owens – Only 1% of nutrition data is tracked on food labels and that means lots of opportunities for companies
- Marco Carbonara – Using 10 species of animals to profitably regenerate 100 hectares of forgotten Italian land between Rome and Florence
- Thomas Hogenhaven – The €22M regen fund that said no to €7M
- Henry Dimbleby – From designing the National Food Strategy for England to starting a £50M fund focussed on food transition
——————————————
Feedback, comments, suggestions? Reach me via Twitter @KoenvanSeijen, in the comments below or through Get in Touch on this website.
Join the Investing in Regenerative Agriculture and Food newsletter on www.eepurl.com/cxU33P
The above references an opinion and is for information and educational purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.