Plant-based protein is becoming increasingly popular with consumers turning to plant protein to be healthier and to add variety to their diet, (per a 2020 Mintel survey). As such, food manufacturers are eagerly adding plant-based protein to their food products. 

Looking to use a plant protein? There are a handful of choices: pea, almond, chickpea, mushroom, hemp, and soy protein. Here, we take a closer look at soy protein and compare it to hemp protein, including our newest hemp protein, V-70™ Hemp Heart Protein.

                                                                                                        Soy Protein vs. Victory Hemp's V-70™ Hemp Heart Protein

An Improved, Cleaner Hemp Protein 

Victory Hemp’s new hemp protein—called V-70™ Hemp Heart Protein—delivers more protein than your traditional green hemp protein powder.

V-70™ is also “cleaner”: it’s practically white in color, which means it won’t negatively alter the color of a food product, and its taste is neutral, eliminating the need for flavor-masking agents. The one-two punch of neutral color and flavor also allows V-70™ to be used seamlessly in a wider array of product applications, such as meat and dairy analogues and sports drinks where traditional green hemp protein likely will not work. 

What’s our secret? We make V-70™ from hemp hearts. Traditional hemp protein powders—which are green and have a grassy flavor—are made from the press cake. The press cake is what remains after the whole hemp seed is pressed for hemp seed oil. This is how our Hemp Protein 50 is made. 

Nutrition Facts: What’s in Hemp Heart Protein?

In a 100-gram serving of Victory Hemp V-70 Hemp Heart Protein, there are:  

•     Calories: 350
•     Protein: 73g
•     Fat: 4g
•     Carbohydrate: 6g

There’s also healthy amounts of iron and potassium in V-70™ Hemp Heart Protein, plus some fiber. Hemp protein delivers all of the essential amino acids and is free from the top 8 allergens.

What Is Soy Protein? 

Soy protein is often neutral in its flavor, but it can also be beany, even grassy and chalky. For some consumers, especially those in the U.S., the inherent beany flavor isn’t always liked, and something milder is required. 

Soy protein ranges in color from beige to light brown and even brown—so, it is typically darker than hemp heart protein. It has long been available and, as a result, is well-known to food manufacturers, commonly used in food products, and both easy to purchase and inexpensive. Soy protein also blends into food formulations well.

Soy protein, however, is one of the top 8 allergens: prevalence ranges from 0.1% to 0.6%.¹ Another drawback to using soy is consumer confusion over how healthy soy protein really is—e.g., does it have phyto-estrogenic properties that make it unhealthy for children and men?  

Nutrition Facts: What’s in Soy Protein?

In the same-sized serving of soy protein isolate, there are:

•     Calories: 335
•     Protein: 88g
•     Fat: 3g
•     Carbohydrate: 0g          

Soy protein delivers a decent dose of zinc. There’s also some iron in soy, albeit slightly less compared to hemp, and soy protein isolate lacks fiber. Like hemp protein, soy protein contains all 9 essential amino acids (aka the building blocks of protein). 

How Do Hemp Protein and Soy Protein Compare In Terms of Sustainability? 

Most of the soy that’s currently grown is genetically modified, which means that synthetic chemicals and fertilizers are typically used to efficiently grow soybeans. According to the World Wildlife Foundation, soy is grown in areas that used to be forests and using heavy machinery—and those methods generate greenhouse gases, compact soil, and can lead to soil erosion.²  

Soy is nitrogen-fixing, meaning it pulls nitrogen out of the atmosphere and converts it to a form of nitrogen that plants can use as fuel. But where hemp seems to win is that it can be an excellent cover crop—preventing soil erosion, and also suppressing weeds and decreasing insect outbreaks.³ 

Another benefit to the environment and our health is how we process hemp: at Victory Hemp, we don’t use hexane or harsh chemical additives to extract the protein from hemp hearts. Whereas most soy protein is chemically extracted from soybeans.⁴  

The Bottom Line on Hemp Protein vs Soy Protein

The interest in hemp protein—for its health perks and eco-friendliness—is growing, as are the potential applications for hemp protein. Compared to soy protein, and also traditional hemp protein, our new V-70™ Hemp Heart Protein is a superior ingredient to formulate with due to its light color and neutral flavor. It doesn’t falter nutritionally either: unlike soy, hemp protein is not a common allergen and—like soy—it’s a complete protein, delivering all essential amino acids.   

If your looking for a Non-GMO, environmentally-friendly, high protein ingredient for your next project, Contact Our Team Today to learn more and request a sample!

1. Messina, Mark PhD, MS; Venter, Carina PhD, RD Recent Surveys on Food Allergy Prevalence, Nutrition Today: 1/2 2020 - Volume 55 - Issue 1 - p 22-29 doi: 10.1097/NT.0000000000000389
2. https://www.worldwildlife.org/industries/soy
3. https://www.agmrc.org/commodities-products/fiber/industrial-hemp
4. Lusas EW, Riaz MN. Soy protein products: processing and use. J Nutr. 1995 Mar;125(3 Suppl):573S-580S. doi: 10.1093/jn/125.3_Suppl.573S. PMID: 7884536.