The Honest Bean Co

The Honest Bean Co

Based on a farm in North Yorkshire, we make delicious things out of the humble British fava bean. Sustainable, delicious and healthy - roll over chickpeas...the bean is back!

Our Story

In 2000, aged just 19, Adam took over the family farm. He quickly recognised the need to diversify the business in order to make it more sustainable. He began looking at new ideas to shake up and expand on what they were already doing.

In 2007 he created the farm’s first range of cold-pressed rapeseed oil, using one of their existing crops. In 2009, he expanded the range to include flavoured oils, dressings and mayonnaise. The feedback was fabulous. Products began to fly off the shelves.

Spurred on by this success, Adam began to explore whether he could create houmous using their cold-pressed rapeseed oil. He bought his first bag of chickpeas and began to experiment.

As he did so, he couldn't help noticing the Cyrillic writing on the side of the chickpea packaging. He wondered about the food miles he’d clock-up by importing chickpeas to produce hummus in the UK.

As a proud champion of British farming, his heart was in using sustainable, local ingredients in his products. If olive oil could be swapped for cold-pressed rapeseed oil, what if chickpeas could be swapped for something else too... Something with an equally big flavour, but with a smaller carbon footprint.

The answer came in the form of the fava bean. Delicious, sustainable and growing on a friend’s farm - just down the road.

There were beans, sweat and tears, but eventually - after a lot of trial and error - Adam hit upon a winning recipe. He now had a British version of hummus that was not only heavenly-tasting, but could be made from wholesome British ingredients, sourced right here on his doorstep.

Adam teamed up with his sister Zoe and The Honest Bean Co was born.

The more Adam and Zoe learned about the mighty little fava bean, the more they were wowed. Packed with protein, fibre, vitamins and hugely sustainable to grow, fava beans were clearly a genuine superfood.

We are on a mission to spread the fava bean word far and wide.

Our Values