NEW YORK — Back home in Ecuador, Narell Vasquez was used to eating beans. Upon immigrating to New York, she noticed incorporating beans into everyday meals was not as easy as in her home country.
Fava beans, in particular, were a mainstay in her diet. Knowing fava beans provided a sweeter aftertaste, Vasquez began experimenting in 2021 in what would become her next entrepreneurial journey.
"I started with chickpeas, but I didn't like their leafy, beany aftertaste,” she said. “I then experimented with many other beans and was about to give up on the idea when I went into my pantry to find something to cook for the week. Since I’m really short, I had to use a stepstool and saw the fava beans at the back. Then I remembered the taste from when I used to eat them in Ecuador and thought, ‘Oh, my gosh, this is it.’ The next day, I went to Queens, bought some fava beans, and started cooking. Finally, I had something we could eat and enjoy."
Noticing Americans do not eat many beans, Vasquez wanted to share her love for beans by incorporating them into an easier, more appealing pantry staple — pancake and waffle mixes.
After many product development rounds, Full of Beans launched in April 2023 and was bootstrapped from personal savings.
Full of Beans pancake and waffle mixes are made from fava bean flour, brown rice, oatmeal and oat fiber, pea starch, MCT oil and coconut sugar. The mixes feature 12 grams of protein per serving, iron and potassium, and they are gluten-free and egg-free and do not include the top nine allergens.
"I started to make it my mission to figure out how I could enjoy the benefits of beans in a simpler way and help others do the same because I began wondering, why don’t we eat enough beans in the US?” Vasquez said. “I finally had the answer: people are busy, don’t have space, and some don’t even know how to cook them from scratch. I started with the idea of making fresh beans, but then I changed it because I wanted to enjoy them for breakfast. One day, I came up with the idea of putting them in a pancake and waffle mix.”
When cooked, the mix offers a similar texture to a regular pancake.
“It’s almost the same but maybe not as soft as a normal pancake,” she said. “A normal pancake is really soft. It also isn’t grainy like many gluten-free options. It’s not overly sweet and allows consumers to enjoy it in both savory and sweet applications.”
Seeing the market was full of isolated protein powders, Vasquez was drawn to the sustainable and natural protein option beans offered.
"If you want to eat plant-based with protein for breakfast, it’s normally super processed,” she said. “My natural protein also opened a new opportunity for kids. It’s not just people working out but kids as well. I want to launch two more flavors and have another breakfast option for kids. Moms and kids looking for plant-based proteins and gluten-free and allergen-free people have been drawn to this product.”
Knowing Full of Beans is not an ordinary pancake and waffle company, Vasquez is hoping to change the way consumers choose their breakfast proteins.
“I had the opportunity to demo my products in Central Market in Texas in March,” she said. “I was demoing my product next to another pancake company, and what I always tell people is ‘I’m not a pancake company.’ You’re eating beans for breakfast and getting all the nutrition from beans. We’re introducing beans for breakfast.”Enjoying this content? Learn about more disruptive startups on the Food Entrepreneur page.
