About EKO GRUP – All Vegan

Built on chickpeas. Built to last.

EKO GRUP OCP is a food production company based in Kavadarci, North Macedonia. We started with a simple conviction: that the chickpea, when properly understood, can replace a remarkable range of conventional food products — and do it better.

We’ve spent years mastering organic chickpea production across three categories — pastes and sauces, extruded snacks, and frozen formed products. Our facility runs three dedicated production lines, optimized for quality and efficiency.

Today we produce under the Nauti brand and offer our Chickpea Everything concept as a turnkey solution for food manufacturers worldwide wanting to enter the plant-based market without the R&D burden.

Why chickpeas — a modest crop with extraordinary potential.

Chickpeas have been cultivated for over 7,000 years across the Middle East, South Asia, and the Mediterranean. They are today the second most widely grown legume on earth, produced in more than 50 countries across 15 million hectares. We chose chickpeas not because they are fashionable — but because, the more we understood them, the more there was to discover.

01 — The plant: It thrives where others struggle.

The chickpea evolved in semi-arid conditions and asks remarkably little of the land it grows on. It is cultivated almost entirely as a rainfed crop — planted on stored soil moisture without irrigation, surviving through progressively drying conditions until harvest. Its deep taproot reaches water that shallower crops cannot access, conserving moisture early in the season and reserving it for the critical reproductive stage. In a world where agriculture accounts for roughly 70% of global freshwater use, this matters. Growing chickpeas is not just a food choice — it is a land and water management decision.

02 — The soil: It gives back more than it takes.

Chickpeas are nitrogen-fixing legumes. Through a symbiotic relationship with Rhizobium bacteria that colonize their root nodules, chickpeas convert atmospheric nitrogen into ammonium that enriches the soil. Research has shown that a chickpea rotation can increase soil nitrogen by up to 38% and soil organic carbon by 30% compared to continuous cereal cropping, with a positive nitrogen balance of 80–135 kg per hectare. Growing chickpeas makes the earth more fertile — a rare quality in any food crop.

03 — The nutrition: Nature’s most complete legume.

Chickpeas contain roughly 19–25% protein by dry weight — among the highest of any legume — along with excellent dietary fiber and essential micronutrients: iron, zinc, folate, magnesium, potassium, and B vitamins. Their glycemic index is low, and regular consumption is associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and digestive disorders. Crucially, chickpeas carry none of the health concerns linked to other common proteins. No gluten. No inflammatory markers as with processed red meat. No hormonal concerns as with soy. They have been a safe, daily staple for billions of people across millennia.

04 — The taste: Mild enough for everything. Rich enough to stand alone.

The chickpea has a naturally neutral, subtly nutty flavor that makes it a remarkable culinary canvas. It absorbs and amplifies other ingredients — herbs, spices, acids, umami — without competing with them. Whether in a classic hummus, a smoky sriracha mayo, a liver-taste vegan pâté, or a crunchy extruded snack — the chickpea carries flavor with grace. It is a single ingredient that speaks every culinary language.

We didn’t just use chickpeas. We unlocked them.

Through years of production experience, we learned to work with the three functional components of the chickpea — its proteins, its starch, and its fibers — as distinct, purposeful building blocks.

Chickpea Protein (~20–25% of dry weight)

Chickpea protein emulsifies, binds, gels, and foams — properties that make it a direct substitute for animal-derived proteins. Its aquafaba fraction replicates the foaming and emulsifying behavior of egg whites, enabling stable, creamy vegan mayonnaises with no eggs and no compromise. We also use concentrated chickpea protein to create meat-alternative spreads delivering the umami depth of traditional pâté — in Kokumi, Umami, and Grill taste profiles — and protein-enriched spreads with 15% protein content.

Chickpea Starch (~40–50% of dry weight)

Chickpea starch provides body, texture, and structure. Its neutral flavor profile means seasonings come through clean, without the beany aftertaste that limits other pulse-based products. Under heat and pressure in our extrusion line, it expands into the light, crispy structure of our Chickpea Flips. In sauces and dressings, starch functions as a natural thickener and stabilizer, allowing creamy textures without synthetic additives.

Chickpea Fiber (~15–18% of dry weight)

Chickpea fiber works on two levels. As a prebiotic dietary fiber, it supports gut health, promotes satiety, and is linked to reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. As a manufacturing ingredient, it contributes to the creamy, stable texture of our hummus and spreads without synthetic stabilizers.

One crop. Three functional systems. An entire food range. This is the Chickpea Everything philosophy, and it is the engine behind every product we make.

Our production

Paste & sauce production: 400 kg/batch, up to 1,200 kg/shift — hummus, dips, sauces, dressings, spreads
Extruded snacks: 100 kg/hour — Chickpea Flips and Bruschetta from milled chickpea flour
Formed & frozen products: 10,000 units/shift — falafels, plant-based burgers, fritters

EKO GRUP OCP — Industriska No. 31-2, 1430 Kavadarci, North Macedonia
Email: info@ekogrup.mk | www.ekogrup.mk