Biena Chickpea Snacks Product and Company Review
Biena Snacks is a medium-sized healthy snack food company that was founded by Poorvi Patodia in 2012. They have since grown to over 10 employees and just finished an $8 million dollar funding round in 2019. They are based out of Boston and started their business small, selling Biena Chickpea Snacks at a single location
Products
Biena Snacks started with a single product, Biena Roasted Chickpea Snacks, and have grown their product line to include chocolate covered chickpeas and chickpea puffs.
Biena Roasted Chickpea Snacks
Poorvi Patodia developed the technique and initial flavors of Biena Roasted Chickpea Snacks in her kitchen. Biena Roasted Chickpea Snacks have morphed into a product line that currently includes six flavors of roasted chickpeas: Habanero, Sea Salt, Barbeque, Honey Roasted, Rockin Ranch, and Sour Cream & Onion.
Biena Snack’s roasted chickpea snacks come in “traditional” flavors, unlike some other players in the chickpea snack market. They are successful because the flavors are well done and complement the crunchy texture of the roasted chickpeas. Biena Snacks has figured out how to roast chickpeas to perfection, where they are not over-roasted like some other snacks on the market.
Biena Snacks chickpeas are non-GMO chickpeas grown in the United States. Biena Roasted Chickpea Snacks are gluten-free, dairy-free, and nut-free. All of the current flavors, except Honey Roasted and Sour Cream & Onion, are vegan. Each serving, about 50 chickpeas, contains 5-6 grams of protein. A great healthy snack.
Chocolate Covered Roasted Chickpea Snacks
Biena Snacks has a subproduct line under their roasted chickpea snack line, chocolate-covered roasted chickpeas. Biena Snacks dips their plain roasted chickpeas in plain dark chocolate or dark chocolate with a hint of mint to create their chocolate covered chickpeas. These are a great nut-free chocolate-covered snack.
I prefer the plain Dark Chocolate flavor over the Girl Scouts Thin Mints flavor. I think that they do a great job of putting a thin layer of chocolate over the crunchy chickpea. Like the uncoated roasted chickpea snacks, they are gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, and vegan. Each serving, about 35 chickpeas, contains 4 grams of protein.
Biena Baked Chickpea Puffs
Biena Baked Chickpea Puffs are small bite-sized puffs, unlike large traditional cheese puffs. They have the crisp texture of a traditional cheese puff, but the health benefits of being baked and made from chickpeas. The chickpea puffs come in three bold flavors, Aged White Cheddar, Blazin’ Hot, Vegan Ranch. They are non-GMO and gluten-free. Vegan Ranch is the only flavor that is vegan.
Purchasing Biena Snacks
Biena Snacks has a very wide store distribution. I have found that Biena Roasted Chickpea Snacks are the most common products found in stores. You can find some of their other products, but it is rare that you get a store with an entire product line-up.
You can buy Biena Snacks directly from their website. I have found Amazon to have some of the best prices and widest selection of anywhere on the internet.
Biena Snacks Wrap Up
Biena Snacks is one of the first companies that started making healthy snacks out of chickpeas. They have perfected their crunchy roasted chickpeas and their crispy chickpea puffs. Make sure to check out our grocery deals to see if there are any cheap chickpea products at the moment.
If you like Biena Chickpea Snacks make sure to checkout Kibo Chickpea Chips and Hippeas, the largest player in the Chickpea market.