Clear Commodity Network Clear Commodity Network
  • Home
  • Metals
  • Energy
  • Agriculture
  • Podcasts
  • Playlists
  • Prices
Clear Commodity Network Clear Commodity Network Clear Commodity Network Clear Commodity Network
  • Home
  • Metals
  • Energy
  • Agriculture
  • Podcasts
  • Playlists
  • Prices
Cover for Chickpea As The Rotational Crop of the Future With Kathryn Cook of NuCicer

Chickpea As The Rotational Crop of the Future With Kathryn Cook of NuCicer

October 30, 2024
  • Agriculture
Future of Agriculture
By Future of Agriculture
Future of Agriculture

NuCicer: https://www.nucicer.com/

Growing Pulse Crops Podcast: https://growingpulsecrops.com/

If we were to re-think the food system and start with human nutrition as the goal, we would likely want food ingredients that are affordable, delicious, high in protein and high in fiber. Chickpeas fit the bill. 

Kathryn Cook and the team at NuCicer are developing genetics for chickpeas with more protein to make them more functional and appealing to food companies. But can they pass enough of that value back to the growers to scale?

There’s a lot to this story and NuCicer is taking a really interesting approach to creating the rotational crop of the future that is nutritious, delicious, affordable and profitable for farmers.

Today’s episode has a lot of fascinating aspects to it, all of which I think give us some interesting threads to pull on when thinking about where agriculture is headed. 

On the surface, NuCicer is crop genetics company working with chickpea, or what some of you might know as garbanzo bean, or others might know just as humus, arguably it’s most popular processed form. The company has been able to take the protein content from 20-22% up to 30-35%, which has major ramifications for its use as a food ingredient. One of those ramifications is the obvious - more protein - but it’s also a tastier source of protein and one that is rich in fiber and has fewer low value co-products, which is an interesting part of the story that we will get into. 

If you think this is just another meat alternative story - guess again! This is really about adding protein and fiber to foods that are currently composed of other grains or oilseeds or peas. You’ll hear us use the word “fortify” which is referring to the ability to make a processed food healthier without sacrificing the eating experience. 

But while a big part of the story here is using science to make better foods for people, we can’t lose site of the need for this to also work for farmers. Kathryn has a really interesting take on this that you’ll definitely want to hear because it’s a bit of a different approach from a lot of other genetics companies. 

Speaking of Kathryn Cook, she is a materials scientist and engineer by training, spending the first part of her career with Boeing and Meta. But she is also the daughter of Dr. Douglas Cook, a professor of plant pathology at UC Davis. 

Doug Cook had been working a lot with chickpeas in his research at Davis. The way Kathryn explained it to me is that when the chickpea was domesticated thousands of years ago, only a small number of seeds were brought forward in that process, so today 95% of the genetic diversity remains in the wild species. Doug Cook has been working to identify those species that are compatible with modern chickpea varieties and systematically cross pollinating to bring back some of that genetic diversity. The result is a novel library from which they can now launch new traits in the market. Part of that work started to include protein when they found dramatic difference in protein content in some of these wild species. 

This work caught Kathryn’s attention at a time when she was considering leaving her job in materials science to pursue a startup in food and ag. The two ultimately co-founded NuCicer together to commercialize some of this research Doug was doing through a tech transfer agreement with the university. And they soon were awarded a $1M non-dilutive grant from the  Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research to get started. 

Future of Agriculture
Future of Agriculture
The Future of Agriculture podcast explores the people, companies, and ideas shaping the future of the agriculture industry. Every week, Tim Hammerich talks to the farmers, founders, innovators and investors to share stories of agtech, sustainability, resiliency and the future of food.
View all podcast by Future of Agriculture

Subscribe for Clear Insights

Freshly dropped news & interviews delivered to your inbox daily.
Please review our Disclaimer and Privacy Policy.

More Clear Commentary:

Cover for 346 - Consolidation in Corporate Agriculture — Who Benefits?

Consolidation in Corporate Agriculture — Who Benefits?

Cover for 347 - Consolidation’s Limitations — Perspectives from a CEO on Consolidation in Agriculture

Consolidation’s Limitations — Perspectives from a CEO on Consolidation in Agriculture

Cover for 348 - The Value of Professional Peer Groups for Farm Operations

The Value of Professional Peer Groups for Farm Operations

Cover for 349 - Addressing American Agriculture's Trade Imbalance

Addressing American Agriculture's Trade Imbalance

Cover for 350 - Older, Poorer Customers — The Influence of Demographics and Food Inflation On Agriculture

Older, Poorer Customers — The Influence of Demographics and Food Inflation On Agriculture

Cover for FoA 416: Robotic Mushroom Harvesting with Sean O'Connor of 4AG Robotics

Robotic Mushroom Harvesting with Sean O'Connor of 4AG Robotics

Copyright © 2025 Clear Commodity Network. All Rights Reserved.

  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Share
  • Share
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Share
  • Share
  • Share