一种新的基于植物的品牌配对的新型植物品牌与牛奶形式的铅成分可以为拉面增加营养，并且据说比其他替代蛋白质更可持续 - 但您可能从未听说过。
The star of WhatIf’s product portfolio is what it calls the BamNut, or bambara nut, a legume native to Africa. Food scientists have近年来宣传as an underutilized crop that can help improve global nutrition levels. The bambara nutcontains better-for-you attributesincluding a nearly 24% protein content, 5.5% fiber and it is rich in minerals.
根据Whatif联合创始人兼首席执行官Christoph Langwallner的说法，它的口味可以描述为坚果或泥土。
兰沃纳说：“这不是杏仁，不是大豆，它是bamnutty。”
WhatIf Foods’ headquarters is in Singapore, its factories are in Malaysia and Australia and its BamNuts are sourced from Ghana. Last month, it opened an office in Los Angeles, as it launched its first two products in the U.S. — BamNut Noodles and BamNut Milk —在其网站上。该公司告诉Food Dive，它将在未来几个月内完成将产品推向大型零售连锁店和食品服务提供商的物流。
Whatif最初没有计划生产食物。据兰沃纳（Langwallner）称，它始于2014年在新加坡作为科学孵化器，并研究了如何将生物多样性带回食物中。来自奥地利的兰沃纳（Langwallner）几年前首先了解到班巴拉坚果（Bambara Nut），当时他遇到了诺丁汉大学的一位教授，后者将其称为“未来的农作物”之一，并且可以成为主食。
“We are redesigning, trying to bring back biodiversity not only bound for farmers to be healthy and resilient, but also bring more colors and textures on the plates of consumers and be part of that journey for a diversified diet,” Langwallner said.
公司的名字出现了Langwallner and his team asked themselves“what if” questions, such as “What if we could find a way to make instant noodles, shakes, soups and plant based milk healthy?” Along with all of its foods being plant-based, WhatIf uses the phrase “planet-based” to describe its process of using regenerative agriculture to grow its ingredients除了保证避免人造成分。
Tackling the ramen space has been a significant endeavor for the company, as it acquired technology that allowed the noodles to be cooked through air-fryingwithout requiring any deep frying, which other brands use in their manufacturing process. Its ramen varieties include BamNut, moringa, pumpkin and charcoal.
According to Langwallner, WhatIf’s ramen actually has a longer shelf life than typical ramen because of its air-frying technology, which is patented by the company.
“即时面条提供保质期的限制因素实际上是腐烂的，这是由深炸造成的，而且由于我们不深炸，我们的拉面有更长的保质期。”
Whatif说，其拉面在以油炸瞬间面为主导的空间中提供了更健康的替代方法，因为Bambara螺母增加了蛋白质和营养。该公司称，拉面的饮食纤维是传统产品的三倍。
Bambara螺母的新区域
正如Whathif使用Bambara螺母改善拉面一样，它也试图制作更好的植物性牛奶。随着其他植物性的牛奶淹没了市场，Whatif致力于完善和简化Bamnut牛奶的食谱，将其凝结成一些成分：水，Bambara坚果，椰子油，椰子油，乳木果油和添加的维生素。牛奶有三种品种：每天，咖啡师（旨在与咖啡搭配）和通风。后者是一个较轻的版本该公司说的是冰沙或泡泡茶。Whatif说，饮料的味道比其他基于植物的牛奶的味道更坚固。
该公司的说法，该产品还具有比其他许多基于植物的奶油材料较短的成分清单。
Langwallner说：“如果您查看市场上的许多其他产品，这些外部厚度和淀粉等等，我们远离产品过度工程，并利用使其实现的旧样式。”
随着它继续美国推出，Whatif不仅希望说服消费者将可持续性作为饮食的重点，而且还利用已经这样做的年轻一代。在一个blog post, the company said the bambara nut is a sustainable crop because it has the potential to capture nitrogen from the atmosphere and convert it into nitrogen compounds in the soil. One gram of protein from bambara nuts takes only one-tenth of the water required to obtain one gram of protein from cattle, according to WhatIf.
The target consumer for WhatIf is millennials and Gen Z who care about climate change, but many of who feel powerless about how to curb it as a consumer — something the company hopes to change. It plans to advertise to young people through influencers on social media to spread its message and increase awareness of the BamNut.
Langwallner说：“我们所做的一切都是为这一代人剥夺了权利，还没有权力，并且基本上具有巨大的焦虑水平，因为气候正在发生变化，他们对此无能为力。”
Despite initially debuting with ramen and milk, WhatIf has larger ambitions. As the bambara nut is new to the U.S. market, Langwallner said there are many opportunities for its application in different spaces in the food industry. And the company hopes to influence a growth in industry demand for the bambara nut.
“My ambition is not one of a smallish company,” Langwallner said. “My ambition is to create as large as we possibly can take it, into the hundreds of thousands of metric tons of raw material, because then the bambara nut becomes a systematic crop for many and not just a few.”
