Yellow Pea Flour Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Opportunity, and Forecast, 2021-2031

The Global Yellow Pea Flour Market is projected to expand from USD 861.77 Million in 2025 to USD 1.21 billion by 2031, registering a CAGR of 5.84%. This gluten-free functional ingredient, produced by milling dried yellow field peas (Pisum sativum), is valued for its elevated protein levels, emulsification properties, and capability to enhance texture in food formulations. The market is chiefly driven by the escalating global demand for sustainable plant-based protein options and a growing consumer preference for clean-label, allergen-free products. Supporting this increasing processing need, Saskatchewan Pulse Growers estimated Canadian yellow pea production at 2.8 million tonnes in 2025, ensuring a reliable and substantial supply of raw materials.

Despite these positive growth indicators, the market encounters a major hurdle due to the ingredient's specific sensory characteristics. The inherent earthy or "beany" flavor of yellow pea flour poses challenges for effective masking in sensitive applications like dairy substitutes, beverages, and vanilla-flavored baked goods. Consequently, this flavor profile restricts its widespread adoption in mainstream product categories where a neutral taste is essential.

Market Drivers

The increasing utilization of yellow pea flour in premium pet food and animal nutrition is serving as a major engine for market growth, elevating the ingredient from a niche option to a staple component. As pet owners continue to humanize their animals, there is a marked shift toward grain-free, clean-label, and hypoallergenic diets that reflect human dietary trends.

Yellow pea flour is favored in these formulations for its protein density and binding capabilities, providing a functional alternative to wheat, corn, and soy without introducing common allergens. This trend is highlighted by data from Petfood Industry in February 2025, noting in 'The future of plant-based foods for pets and people' that plant-based proteins were present in 52% of pet foods on the U.S. market in 2024, emphasizing the ingredient's vital role in modern nutrition strategies.

Concurrently, advancements in pea processing and texturization are creating new commercial opportunities by addressing the sensory drawbacks traditionally linked to pulse ingredients. Manufacturers are directing significant investments into fractionation technologies to yield flour with neutral flavors and enhanced solubility, enabling its application in delicate products such as baked goods and dairy alternatives. This innovation push is demonstrated by Protein Industries Canada's July 2025 report, 'Protein Industries Canada announces new pea protein partnership,' which detailed a commitment of CAD 48.7 million to a project with Louis Dreyfus Company for developing new pea protein ingredients. These advancements depend on a steady supply of raw materials; according to Alberta Pulse Growers in 2025, India received 47% of Canadian yellow pea exports during the 2024/25 crop year, underscoring the immense scale of the feedstock trade underpinning this value-added sector.

Market Challenges

The natural sensory qualities of yellow pea flour present a major barrier to its broader commercial success, especially within high-value segments like alternative dairy and delicate baked goods. Formulators struggle to introduce this ingredient into products demanding a neutral taste, as its strong earthy and beany flavors frequently overwhelm subtle notes like vanilla or sweet cream. This sensory constraint reduces the ingredient's competitiveness against more neutral proteins such as wheat or soy, compelling manufacturers to limit usage levels or depend on potent masking agents, thereby failing to satisfy mainstream consumers seeking taste parity with traditional products.

This organoleptic obstacle creates a significant bottleneck, constraining the amount of flour used in high-margin applications despite an increase in agricultural output. A gap is developing between the plentiful supply of raw materials and the market's capacity to incorporate them into premium consumer packaged goods. Data from the USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council indicates that in 2024, United States dry pea production reached an estimated 963,900 tons, an 8 percent rise from the prior year. Although the primary supply is growing to accommodate forecasted demand, the difficulty in seamlessly integrating this rising volume into taste-sensitive food sectors hampers the overall financial valuation and growth potential of the global market.

Market Trends

The use of yellow pea flour and its value-added derivatives as functional binders in plant-based meat analogues is fundamentally altering the ingredient's industrial application. Manufacturers are increasingly leveraging the flour's unique starch and protein interactions to mimic the fibrous texture and moisture retention of animal muscle in both ground and whole-muscle alternatives, effectively supplanting synthetic binders such as methylcellulose. This move toward specialized texturization enables the creation of clean-label binding solutions capable of enduring thermal processing. Highlighting this trend, Roquette introduced four new multi-functional pea ingredients in February 2024, as noted in their 'Extension of NUTRALYS plant protein range' press release, which included texturized options designed to optimize the bite and succulence of meat-free formulations.

Simultaneously, the rise of high-protein extruded snack innovations is fueling demand for yellow pea flour as a core matrix ingredient within composite grain formulations. Snack producers are shifting away from dense, pure pulse bases in favor of calibrated mixtures of pea flour and cereals to attain better expansion ratios and lighter, crispier textures while upholding high nutritional standards. This progression toward hybrid ingredient systems is receiving financial support to surmount earlier sensory hurdles; for instance, Farms.com reported in October 2024 in the 'Protein Industries Canada Boosts Plant-Based Projects' article that Protein Industries Canada allocated $10 million to back new ventures dedicated to blending pulses with cereals for advanced plant-based food development.

Key Players Profiled in the Yellow Pea Flour Market

• Novo Farina Ltd.
• Diefenbaker Spice & Pulse
• Spice Mecca Proprietary Limited
• Bob's Red Mill Natural Foods, Inc.
• Batory Foods
• Woodland Foods, Ltd.
• Archer Daniels Midland Company
• Churchill Global International
• Cates Grain and Seed Ltd.
• Avena Foods Limited

Report Scope

In this report, the Global Yellow Pea Flour Market has been segmented into the following categories:

Yellow Pea Flour Market, by Product Type:

• Pea Flour
• Pea Starch

Yellow Pea Flour Market, by Origin:

• Organic
• Inorganic

Yellow Pea Flour Market, by Distribution Channel:

• Direct
• Indirect

Yellow Pea Flour Market, by Region:

• North America
• Europe
• Asia-Pacific
• South America
• Middle East & Africa

Competitive Landscape

Company Profiles: Detailed analysis of the major companies present in the Global Yellow Pea Flour Market.

Available Customization

The analyst offers customization according to your specific needs. The following customization options are available for the report:

• Detailed analysis and profiling of additional market players (up to five).

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