Beans are booming: what's next for commercial growth?

As beans surge in popularity due to trends for high protein/fibre and plant-based content guest bloggers Veronica Moran and Ali Morpeth, of the Planeatry Alliance, explore how to turn this momentum into commecial growth

Over the last few years, beans have gone from being an overlooked cupboard staple to one of the most exciting opportunities in food.

Helped by growing consumer interest in fibre, continued demand for protein-rich foods, minimally processed plant-based options and the search for affordable meals that offer more value, beans are having a moment.

At the same time, businesses are increasingly recognising the role they can play in healthier diets, more resilient farming systems and future food security.

Through the Bang in Some Beans campaign, influencers, retailers, manufacturers, NGOs, policymakers and food businesses have all helped build momentum behind a shared ambition: getting people to eat more beans.

That's progress. But building momentum is only one step. The next step is turning that momentum into long-term commercial growth.

That was the starting point for the new Commercial Playbook for Growing Beans, developed by the Food Foundation, Planeatry Alliance and Veg Power. It brings together insights from retailers, manufacturers and brands to explore one simple question: what will it actually take to make beans an everyday choice for millions more people?

Something became clear very quickly. Businesses are already convinced that beans matter: for health, for the climate and for our wallets. That part of the conversation is largely done, but the challenge that still hasn't been unlocked is how to turn that support into practical commercial action.

To better understand what that commercial opportunity might look like, we looked at one major UK retailer's bean category through the eyes of a shopper. What we found was encouraging, but it also revealed some clear opportunities.

There was plenty of choice, but much of it was concentrated in a small number of product types and parts of the store. Premium own-label options were limited, several high-frequency meal occasions contained few bean products, and shoppers were given very little inspiration to try something new.

None of this suggests a lack of consumer demand. Quite the opposite, it suggests there is still considerable headroom for growth.

Throughout the development of the playbook, one message came through consistently from retailers and manufacturers. Growing the bean category isn't about one campaign, one product launch or one promotional event. It comes from lots of better commercial decisions working together.

That means thinking differently about products. Could beans become a default consideration in new product development? Could they appear in more of the convenience-led formats that shoppers increasingly expect? Could retailers develop stronger premium own-label ranges that give shoppers a reason to trade up?

It also means thinking differently about where beans appear. For many shoppers, beans remain tucked away in one part of the store, despite being relevant to everything from lunches and ready meals to food-to-go, meal solutions and world cuisines.

Businesses involved in this work saw significant opportunities to improve visibility, create more meal inspiration and help shoppers discover new occasions to enjoy beans.

One of the most valuable discussions during the project centred on how growth is likely to happen.

In the short term, there is a significant opportunity to include more beans in products that people already buy and enjoy. This ‘stealth by health’ approach means adding beans to sauces, ready meals, soups and other familiar foods can improve nutrition while fitting seamlessly into existing shopping habits.

Alongside that sits a longer-term ambition: making beans more visible and more desirable in their own right. Celebrating them as versatile, delicious ingredients that deserve a bigger place in everyday meals. These aren't competing strategies, they are complementary stages of the same journey, helping to build both familiarity and excitement over time.

Perhaps the biggest lesson from this work is that food system transformation rarely comes from asking consumers to work harder. It comes from making healthier and more sustainable choices easier, more visible and more appealing.

That's why the playbook focuses on practical actions across product development, ranging, pricing, promotion and in-store activation. None of these interventions will transform the category on their own. Together, however, they provide a practical roadmap for turning today's momentum into tomorrow's growth.

This is also why collaboration matters. No single organisation will double bean consumption on its own. Retailers, manufacturers, brands, growers, campaign organisations and policymakers all have a role to play. 

The encouraging news is that many of those organisations are already moving in the same direction. The task now is to build on that momentum with practical, commercially grounded action.

The Commercial Playbook for Growing Beans is our contribution to that next phase. We hope it gives businesses the confidence, evidence and ideas to start new conversations, test new approaches and unlock more opportunities for one of the most versatile ingredients in our food system.

If you're already a Keen Bean Pledger or Promoter, we hope you'll use it to inform category reviews, product development and commercial planning. If you haven't yet joined the campaign, we'd love you to get involved.

Because the next chapter for beans won't be written by one organisation or one campaign. It will be written through thousands of decisions made every day by buyers, product developers, marketers, manufacturers and retailers, each helping make beans easier to find, easier to choose and easier to enjoy.