FDBusiness.com

Portugal-based microalgae supplier Allma has launched Chlorella Crunches, a highly innovative new concept that blends rice cereals with sun-grown Chlorella vulgaris powder to create a natural, delicious and nutritious crispy snack and ingredient solution.

Chlorella Crunches are available in a range of sizes, shapes and flavours and with varying concentrations of Chlorella. They can be seasoned and eaten alone as a tasty and healthy snack, or included in a salty snack mix. Alternatively they can be used as an inclusion in a wide range of products, including yoghurts, breakfast cereals, snack bars, soups, salads and many more.

New Chlorella Crunches contain Allma’s high quality sun-grown Chlorella powder blended with white rice powder sourced from Europe. They are free of GMOs, gluten and all other major allergens.

Sofia Mendonça, Business Development Manager at Allma, said: “Chlorella Crunches have a wonderful crispy texture that adds depth and excitement to all kinds of food products. They are available in several sizes and shapes, and a range of flavours, which means they are extremely versatile in terms of the applications they can be used for. They work equally well in sweet and savoury products and – thanks to Chlorella’s nutrition profile – provide the opportunity to boost the health credentials of products in a wide range of categories.”

The sun-grown Chlorella supplied by Allma is a rich, natural and 100% vegetable source of protein, including all nine of the essential amino acids. It also contains significant levels of Omega 3 and 6 oils, complex carbohydrates, phytonutrients including lutein, beta-carotene, chlorophyll and zeaxanthin, and a wide spectrum of vitamins and minerals that are essential for a healthy life.

Sofia added: “Chlorella Crunches are a great example of how Allma offers its customers much more than just a commodity product. We are focused on adding value to Chlorella and working closely with companies to help them develop new products that really exploit the potential of this amazing ingredient. Microalgae production is very sustainable and Chlorella is emerging as the food of the future. We are committed to helping our customers ensure they are at the vanguard of this trend with fantastic innovations like our new Chlorella Crunches.”

Allma’s Chlorella is grown at the state-of-the-art Algafarm production unit in Leiria, 100km north of Lisbon, in closed food-grade production systems, called photo-bioreactors. The photo-bioreactors are exposed to sunlight to encourage photosynthesis, mimicking the growth of microalgae as it occurs in nature.

Sun-grown Chlorella is highly valued because it is exceptionally rich in nutrients that develop naturally as a result of exposure to the sun. However, because Allma’s Chlorella is grown in closed production systems, there is far less risk of the contamination often associated with Chlorella produced in uncovered ‘ponds’ that are exposed to external elements. The closed production systems at Algafarm also enable greater control over cultivation conditions, ensuring consistently high quality Chlorella every time.

Allma is able to guarantee the quality of its Chlorella thanks to a rigorous and ongoing testing and analysis programme. All of Allma’s Chlorella ingredients are manufactured sustainably in Portugal to HACCP food-grade standards. They are non-GMO and fully approved for use in foods by authorities worldwide, including in the EU.