Pulses
Pulses Recruitment & Executive Search
Specialist retained search across global pulse trading, origination, procurement, processing and commercial agricultural markets.
Pulses are one of the more fragmented physical markets in agriculture.
Lentils, dry peas, chickpeas, edible beans and faba beans may sit under the same broad category, but they do not trade as one commodity. Origins change by product. So do grades, colours, calibres, customer requirements and destination markets.
Imperium works across international pulse and legume markets, supporting retained searches in physical trading, origination, procurement, brokerage, processing, commercial sales, operations and senior leadership.
Much of the trade remains relationship-driven. Unlike grains or oilseeds, there is no single deep global futures market setting a common reference price across pulses. Traders tend to work from crop prospects, physical offers, quality, freight, inventories and what buyers in particular destination markets are prepared to pay.
Geography can be unusually specific too.
Canada is a major force in peas and lentils. Australia is important across lentils, chickpeas and other pulses. India is simultaneously an enormous producer, consumer and importer, while Türkiye, the Black Sea region, East Africa, the United States and South America all matter in different products and seasons.
That creates a specialist talent market. Somebody who understands Canadian red lentils into South Asia may have a very different network from a chickpea trader covering Australia and the Middle East, even though both would comfortably describe themselves as pulse traders.
Understanding the Pulses Market
Pulses are traded by product, origin, grade and destination rather than as one uniform commodity.
The category includes several distinct crops with different production centres, customer bases and physical specifications.
That makes product knowledge particularly important. A buyer looking for green lentils is not simply buying “lentils”, and the commercial considerations behind yellow peas, kabuli chickpeas or black beans can be quite different.
Lentils
Lentils are among the most internationally traded pulses, with Canada and Australia particularly important to export supply.
Commercial markets distinguish between products such as red, green and specialty lentils, while size, colour, quality and destination requirements can affect value.
South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa are major areas of consumption, creating established trading routes between producing regions and importing markets.
Lentil traders therefore tend to develop fairly specific knowledge of both origin crops and end-user demand.
Dry Peas & Faba Beans
Dry peas are traded into food, feed and increasingly ingredient applications.
Yellow and green peas have different customer profiles, while Canada remains one of the best-known origins in international trade. Russia, Europe and other producing regions also contribute to global supply.
Faba beans sit in another market again, with demand across food and animal feed depending on quality and destination.
The rise of pea protein and plant-based ingredients has added another commercial outlet without replacing the traditional physical pulse trade.
Chickpeas
Chickpeas have their own geography and grading system.
Large-seeded kabuli chickpeas serve many food and retail markets, while desi chickpeas are particularly important across South Asia and related processing industries.
India is central to global production and consumption, but Australia, Türkiye, North America and other origins can become important sources of internationally traded supply.
Sizing, colour and appearance matter commercially, particularly where product is sold into direct food use rather than processing.
Edible Beans
The dry bean market includes a wide range of products rather than one generic bean.
Kidney beans, black beans, navy beans, pinto beans, mung beans and other varieties serve different cuisines, processors and destination markets.
Production and export supply can come from North America, South America, China, Africa and other regions depending on the variety.
For traders and buyers, knowing the bean is only the first step. Variety, crop origin, size, defects and cooking characteristics may all influence the customer.
Cleaning, Processing & Ingredients
Pulses often need substantial work between harvest and final sale.
Cleaning, grading, splitting, dehulling, polishing and packing turn raw agricultural production into products suitable for food manufacturers, wholesalers and retail markets.
Further processing creates flours, proteins, starches and other pulse-based ingredients.
That means commercial roles can sit across both traditional commodity trading and the food-ingredient sector, particularly where peas, chickpeas or lentils are being processed into higher-value products.
Physical Trade, Quality & Logistics
Pulse markets remain highly physical.
Moisture, colour, seed size, foreign material, damage and other quality characteristics can determine which buyers will accept a parcel. Container availability, bulk freight, inspection and destination requirements add another layer.
A shipment that works commercially into one country may not fit another buyer’s specification at all.
This is one reason experienced pulse traders often build their value through years of knowledge around crops, processors, exporters and destination customers, rather than through a screen-based market alone.
A Category Made Up of Separate Markets
Calling them “pulses” is useful administratively. Commercially, the differences become apparent very quickly.
A Canadian lentil crop can have little bearing on the availability of a particular bean variety in South America. Indian chickpea demand may influence one market strongly while having limited relevance to another. Even within a single crop, colour, size and grade can send product towards completely different customers.
For businesses trading or buying pulses, that product-level knowledge is difficult to fake.
The people who know these markets well usually know exactly which origins work for which buyers, where quality tends to vary and when a seemingly plentiful crop is not quite the supply the customer actually needs.
The Global Pulses Market
Production is widespread, but trade is concentrated in a handful of major origins.
Pulses are grown in well over 150 countries, yet the commercial export market is much narrower.
The latest comprehensive FAOSTAT production data put global pulse output at approximately 96.9 million tonnes in 2024. India was by far the largest producer at 25.4 million tonnes, while Canada, Australia and China formed the next tier.
That ranking only tells part of the story. India consumes huge quantities domestically, whereas Canada and Australia are much more heavily exposed to international trade. The result is a market where the countries producing the most pulses are not necessarily the countries supplying the marginal tonne to an importer.
Largest Pulse-Producing Countries
| Country | Production |
|---|---|
| India | 25.40m |
| Canada | 6.14m |
| Australia | 5.41m |
| China | 4.91m |
| Nigeria | 4.36m |
| Russia | 4.17m |
| Myanmar | 3.21m |
| Ethiopia | 3.16m |
| Brazil | 3.03m |
| Niger | 2.85m |
Production Scale Does Not Tell You Who Sets the Export Market
India produced more than 25 million tonnes of pulses in 2024, roughly four times Canada’s output. Yet India is also one of the largest consuming markets in the world and regularly becomes a major importer when domestic supply falls short of demand.
Canada behaves very differently.
Its domestic population is small relative to the size of the crop, so peas and lentils move heavily into export channels. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada estimated Canadian lentil exports at 2.5 million tonnes in 2025/26, with India, the United Arab Emirates and Türkiye among the main destinations. Dry pea exports were estimated at 2.65 million tonnes.
Australia plays a similarly outward-facing role, particularly in lentils and chickpeas, while Myanmar and East African origins become important in other pulse categories and destination markets.
The product mix is critical because the headline “pulse” number combines crops that are not commercially interchangeable.
India may require lentils one season and chickpeas or pigeon peas another. A Canadian red lentil cargo does not solve a shortage of a specific edible bean. Green lentils can command a substantial premium to reds even when both are coming out of the same broad producing region. Canada’s 2026 outlook, for example, continued to report separate pricing, acreage and export dynamics for red and green lentils.
Trade policy can move the physical market quickly as well. Tariffs, temporary import concessions and changes in Indian pulse policy have repeatedly altered demand for Canadian and Australian crops. China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Türkiye and the Middle East provide another set of destination markets, each with its own product preferences.
There is plenty of global production. What matters commercially is whether the available crop is the right pulse, the right grade and in a location that can reach the buyer economically.
96.9 Million Tonnes
Global Pulse Production
FAOSTAT records approximately 96.9 million tonnes of pulses produced worldwide in 2024, spread across beans, chickpeas, lentils, peas and other dry pulses.
20.7 Million Tonnes
International Pulse Trade
OECD-FAO estimates global pulse trade reached around 20.7 million tonnes in 2024, roughly 1.5 million tonnes higher than the previous year.
101 Million Tonnes
Global Pulse Consumption
Worldwide pulse consumption reached approximately 101 million tonnes in 2024, after averaging around 2% annual growth over the previous decade.
51%
Consumed in Asia
Asia accounts for approximately 51% of global pulse consumption while producing a smaller share of world supply. That imbalance helps explain the importance of import demand from India, China and other Asian markets.
Major Pulse Companies & Market Participants
The sector combines specialist pulse processors with global merchants, originators and ingredient businesses.
Pulses do not have a single dominant corporate structure.
Some companies buy directly from growers, clean and grade the crop, then export it in bulk or bags. Others operate across several origins and destination markets. A growing number also fractionate peas, lentils, chickpeas and faba beans into proteins, flours, starches and fibres for food and feed customers.
That gives the sector a fairly broad commercial talent base, even though individual product markets remain specialist.
Who Are the Major Companies in Global Pulses?
There is no reliable global ranking of pulse traders by volume. Private companies disclose relatively little, while diversified agribusiness groups rarely separate pulse tonnage from their wider grains and specialty-crop businesses.
Important participants include specialist businesses such as AGT Foods, ETG, BroadGrain and Simpson Seeds, alongside larger agricultural merchants including Bunge, Louis Dreyfus Company and Olam Agri. Companies such as Scoular also connect the physical crop with the expanding pulse and plant-protein ingredients market.
Specialist Processing, Origination & Export
AGT Foods
Canada-headquartered AGT Foods is one of the most recognisable specialist businesses in the global pulse industry. Its portfolio includes lentils, peas, chickpeas, beans and other specialty crops, with 39 facilities across five continents and products reaching 127 countries. The company also processes pulses into flours, proteins, fibres, starches and texturised ingredients, giving it exposure well beyond the traditional bulk trade.
ETG
ETG operates a dedicated pulses business that purchases, processes, exports, packages and distributes pulses and other plant-based foods across Africa, Asia, Europe, the Americas and Oceania. Its model is particularly relevant to the international trade because origination, processing and destination distribution sit within the same network rather than being treated as separate activities.
BroadGrain
BroadGrain sources and processes food-grade pulses and specialty crops through operations in Canada and other international origins. Its pulse portfolio includes red and green lentils, yellow and green peas, chickpeas and several dry bean varieties, with exports reaching more than 80 countries. Processing, grading, packing and international merchandising all form part of the business.
Simpson Seeds
Based in Saskatchewan, Simpson Seeds has spent more than four decades specialising in pulses. It processes and exports whole and split products while also supplying pulse flours made from lentils, chickpeas and faba beans. Its focus on particular crops and direct relationships with growers is a good example of how specialist knowledge still matters in a market that also contains much larger global merchants.
Global Merchants & Ingredients
Bunge
Following its combination with Viterra, Bunge has an extensive international origination and logistics network across grains, oilseeds and pulses. In Australia it buys field peas, chickpeas, lentils, faba beans and lupins directly from growers and exports to customers across the Indian subcontinent, Asia, North Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Bulk vessel and containerised movements both matter in this part of the trade.
Louis Dreyfus Company
LDC’s broader agricultural merchandising platform includes pulses within its food portfolio, particularly chickpeas, mung beans and yellow peas. Its pulse activities sit within a much larger global origination, logistics and destination network, which gives the company access to customers alongside its established grains and oilseeds businesses.
Olam Agri
Olam Agri participates in pulses as part of its wider food and agricultural commodity operations. India is particularly relevant: the company sources pulses domestically and internationally, including lentils, pigeon peas, chickpeas, green gram, black gram, kidney beans and peas from origins including India, Australia, Mozambique and Canada. Its activities show how physical pulse trading often sits alongside rice, grains, oilseeds and broader staple-food supply.
Scoular
Scoular illustrates the growing overlap between traditional agricultural merchandising and value-added plant ingredients. Its food-ingredient business supplies pea, chickpea, faba and mung bean proteins, among other plant-based products, into food, beverage, nutrition and pet-food applications. That creates commercial roles whose knowledge may begin with the agricultural crop but extend deep into formulation and industrial customers.
Source: Company websites, corporate materials and official product information from AGT Foods, ETG, BroadGrain, Simpson Seeds, Bunge, Louis Dreyfus Company, Olam Agri and Scoular. Company activities, footprints and market descriptions reflect the latest publicly available information at time of publication.
Market context: Companies are included as examples of significant participants in the global pulses market. Inclusion does not imply a commercial relationship with or endorsement of Imperium Commodity Search.
The Pulse Trade Still Rewards Specialisation
Scale helps, but it does not remove the detail from the business.
A global merchant can bring logistics, finance and destination access. A specialist processor may know the local grower base, individual lentil varieties and customer specifications far more intimately. Ingredient companies then require another layer of knowledge altogether once the crop has been fractionated into protein, flour or starch.
The recruitment market reflects those differences.
Someone who has built a career merchandising Canadian lentils is not automatically interchangeable with a dry bean specialist or a commercial manager selling pea protein to food manufacturers. The company may call all three businesses “pulses”; the networks behind them are quite different.
Harvested by the tonne. Traded by colour, size and grade. Eaten by billions.
Pulse Talent Across a Global Supply Chain
Pulse careers follow specific crops, origins and destination markets.
The geography can change almost completely from one product to another.
Canadian lentils and peas create one talent network. Australian chickpeas and lentils create another. India sits at the centre of consumption and import demand, while Türkiye, the Middle East and parts of Africa connect origin trading, processing and regional distribution.
Producing & Exporting Origins
Canada, Australia, India, United States, Russia, Myanmar, East Africa and South America
Canada has one of the deepest specialist talent pools in internationally traded pulses, particularly around Saskatchewan and the prairie provinces. Merchants, processors and exporters there have longstanding expertise in lentils, peas, chickpeas and specialty crops.
Australia is similarly important across lentils, chickpeas, faba beans and field peas, with physical trading closely connected to grain-export infrastructure.
Other origins become more or less important depending on the crop. Myanmar has a substantial pulse industry, East African countries supply products including beans and pigeon peas, while the United States and South America are relevant across several dry bean and pulse categories.
Trading, Processing & Commercial Hubs
Saskatchewan, Melbourne, Dubai, Singapore, Istanbul, Mumbai and other agricultural trading centres
There is no single global pulse-trading capital.
Commercial expertise tends to form around major origins, processing industries and destination markets instead. Saskatchewan combines origination with cleaning, processing and export. Dubai is well positioned between suppliers in several continents and customers across the Middle East and South Asia. Istanbul connects Türkiye’s domestic pulse industry with Black Sea, Mediterranean and international trade.
Singapore and other Asian hubs provide regional commodity coverage, while Indian trading centres sit close to one of the largest pulse markets in the world.
These locations support physical traders, brokers, processors, importers and commercial teams rather than one centralised exchange-led market.
Import, Food & Ingredient Markets
India, China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Middle East, North Africa and major food-manufacturing markets
India deserves particular attention because of the sheer scale and variety of its pulse consumption.
Domestic harvests are enormous, but imports can still become significant when production, inventories or government policy change. Buyers may require lentils, peas, chickpeas, pigeon peas or other products at different points in the season.
Across the Middle East and North Africa, pulses are firmly embedded in everyday food demand. Elsewhere, processors are increasingly buying peas, chickpeas and faba beans for flours, protein concentrates, starches and other plant-based ingredients.
That produces recruitment demand well beyond conventional commodity trading, particularly across procurement, processing, ingredients and regional commercial sales.
Geography Means Something Different for Every Pulse
A lentil trader may spend years moving Canadian product into India, Türkiye or the Middle East. A chickpea specialist might know Australian crops and Indian buyers. Someone in edible beans could work with a completely different group of origins and customers.
Even people sitting in the same office can therefore have surprisingly little overlap in their commercial networks.
When we map a pulse search, product and trade corridor normally tell us more than location on its own.
Who We Search for Across Pulses
Pulse recruitment is usually driven by crop specialism, origin knowledge and established customer relationships.
The category is broad enough that “pulses experience” on its own tells us very little.
A red lentil trader working Canadian supply into South Asia, a chickpea merchant buying from Australia and a commercial manager selling pulse proteins into European food manufacturers may all sit within the same sector. Their markets, counterparties and technical knowledge can be quite different.
For Imperium, the useful detail is usually found in which crops someone knows, where they source them, who they sell to and how close they sit to the physical product.
Pulse Trading, Merchandising & Brokerage
Physical traders work across lentils, peas, chickpeas, edible beans, faba beans and other specialty crops.
Some manage several products and destinations. Others have spent years developing a narrow franchise around a particular origin or customer market. Physical brokerage also exists around specific trade flows, although pulses remain far less exchange-led than grains or oilseeds.
Crop knowledge, supplier relationships, quality judgement and an established destination network can all carry substantial value.
Typical searches include:
Pulse Traders · Lentil Traders · Pea Traders · Chickpea Traders · Edible Bean Traders · Specialty Crop Merchandisers · Physical Commodity Brokers · Export Traders
Origination, Procurement & Processing
A large part of the talent market sits between growers and the export customer.
Originators and buyers may source directly from producers, elevators and local merchants, while processors manage cleaning, grading, splitting and packing before product is sold domestically or overseas.
Food manufacturers and major buyers add another procurement market, often requiring people who can balance specification, price, availability and supplier performance across several origins.
Relevant appointments include:
Pulse Originators · Commodity Buyers · Procurement Managers · Sourcing Managers · Processing Managers · Plant Managers · Export Managers · Supply Managers
Ingredients, Distribution & Commercial Sales
Pulse-based ingredients have created a commercial market that looks quite different from traditional bulk trading.
Pea protein, pulse flours, starches, fibres and other processed products are sold into food, nutrition, pet food and industrial manufacturing. Those roles may demand a combination of agricultural-market knowledge, technical understanding and sophisticated B2B customer management.
Regional distributors and importers create another layer around foodservice, retail and smaller manufacturing customers.
Commercial roles can include:
Pulse Ingredients Sales Managers · Plant Protein Sales · Commercial Managers · Key Account Managers · Distribution Managers · Business Development Managers · Regional Sales Directors
Commercial Leadership, Research & Market Development
Senior appointments often involve building a stronger position in one crop, geography or customer group.
That might mean opening a new origination business, expanding a pulse trading desk, developing an ingredients portfolio or establishing stronger destination coverage. Market analysis is also important in a sector where acreage, weather, crop quality and government import policy can shift physical demand quickly.
Leadership and specialist searches include:
Head of Pulses · Head of Trading · Commercial Director · Trading Director · Procurement Director · Regional Head · Pulse Market Analysts · Market Intelligence Leaders
Good Pulse Traders Tend to Know Their Market in Detail
The strongest people in pulses usually carry a lot of knowledge that never appears neatly on a CV.
They know which crop years caused problems, which processors consistently deliver the right quality, which buyers are flexible on specification and which destination markets become difficult when freight or policy changes.
That depth is often what separates somebody who has worked around pulses from somebody who can genuinely take responsibility for the business.
Specialist Search Across the Pulses Market
Retained search across pulse trading, origination, processing and specialist commercial markets.
Imperium works selectively within each commodity market, which gives us the time to understand the detail behind a mandate before approaching the people most likely to fit it.
Across pulses, that detail can be unusually specific. A search may centre on lentils, peas, chickpeas, edible beans or broader specialty crops, with experience shaped by origin, destination, processing capability and customer network.
Our work can span physical merchants, processors, exporters, importers, ingredient businesses and agricultural trading groups, covering roles in trading, origination, procurement, processing, commercial sales and senior leadership.
For Clients
Looking for a specialist or senior hire across pulse trading, origination, procurement, processing, plant-based ingredients or commercial leadership?
We can build the search around the crops, origins and customer markets that actually define the role.
For Professionals
We do not carry a high volume of vacancies within any one commodity market. But if your background is in lentils, peas, chickpeas, edible beans, pulse trading, origination, procurement, processing, plant protein or commercial leadership, we are happy to have a confidential conversation where your experience may be relevant to current or future retained work.
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