Chocho (Lupinus mutabilis), grown at 8,200–12,500 ft
The First
Single-ingredient Chocho protein at U.S. scale
Accountable
Certified B Corporation™
Chapter 01 — Origins
Roots in agriculture.
Ricky Echanique grew up in Ecuador, in a farming family whose roots ran five generations deep. He learned early that food begins with soil — and that soil begins with the people who care for it. That connection, between land, community, and nourishment, never left him.
He eventually made his way to Santa Barbara — close to the ocean, close to the mountains, surrounded by agriculture. It matched everything he believed in. He knew he would build something there. He just hadn't found it yet.
The Andean highlands of Ecuador — where Chocho has been cultivated for more than 2,500 years.
Ricky, in a field of chocho in the Equator
Chapter 02 — The Founder
“Health is found not only in the food, but in the hands that grow it — and how they grow it.”
A fifth-generation farmer who left Ecuador, lost his health, and found his way back — to a crop his ancestors never stopped growing.
Chapter 03 — The Search
When the body asks for something different.
There comes a moment for many of us when the body stops cooperating. For Ricky, a series of life events took their toll — inflammation, digestive issues, fatigue, and an autoimmune diagnosis. Western medicine didn't have solid answers. As his frustration grew, he went looking somewhere else.
He traveled into the Amazon and spent time with the Shuar — an Indigenous people with generations of deep botanical knowledge. What he learned there changed the question he was asking. The Shuar don't think of nourishment as supplementation. They think of it as relationship: between a person, the plants around them, and the land those plants grow from.
His body had found its answer. The bigger discovery was still ahead of him.
Chocho above 10,000 feet — closer to the sun, where intense UV drives denser nutrition.
Chapter 04 — The Discovery
What he saw that no one else did.
On one journey home from the Amazon, the road carried him through the high Andes — past fields of purple flowers he had known since childhood. Chocho. A staple his ancestors had cultivated for more than 2,500 years, and a crop the modern world had largely forgotten.
There was no meaningful supply chain. No global market. Almost no infrastructure. Chocho grew remotely, was harvested largely by hand by Andean farming families, and was eaten locally — virtually unknown beyond the region.
Most people would have taken it as a personal health discovery and moved on. Ricky saw what no one else did: a crop whose nutritional profile stood apart from anything in the protein category — and a bridge that didn't exist yet, which he uniquely had the heritage, the relationships, and the knowledge to build.
The fields above 10,000 feetVolcanic soil, rain-fed, equatorial sunA staple since at least 1500 BC
2019
Ricky founded Mikuna — the first company to bring single-ingredient Chocho protein to American consumers at scale. He didn't just launch a product. He created a new category.
In Kichwa, a native language of the Ecuadorian Andes, mikuna means food, nourishment — the act of eating.
The Vision
“I believe Chocho has the potential to become one of the most important sources of nutrients and protein for the next generation.”
The Foundation
Built on four convictions.
01
The protein industry needed an alternative.
Pea protein can be difficult for some to digest. Soy and whey carry tradeoffs many consumers are moving past. Every major option had a compromise — and the gap no one was filling was a single-ingredient, whole-food protein that is genuinely clean, complete, and easy on digestion.
02
The answer had been growing for 2,500 years.
While the supplement industry engineered better blends, an ancient staple with exceptional protein density for a plant food grew quietly above 10,000 feet in Ecuador. Not a new discovery. Not a lab creation. A bridge waiting to be built.
03
Agriculture is the lever for planetary health.
Chocho fixes nitrogen, sequesters carbon, and grows without pesticides or irrigation — returning nutrients to the soil as it grows. Mikuna was built around regenerative farming and long-term partnerships with Andean communities as much as around a protein.
04
Transparency would be the standard.
Before the Consumer Reports protein study, before PFAS made headlines, Mikuna was commissioning third-party lab testing and publishing the results. Not because anyone required it — because consumers deserve to know exactly what they're consuming.
54g
Protein per 100g of whole milled seed — Eurofins verified.
9 of 9
Essential amino acids — a complete protein by definition.
80–92%
True protein digestibility in peer-reviewed literature.
<1g
Total sugars per 100g. No gums, no sweeteners, no fillers.
“Mikuna is the first vegan protein powder I've found that checks all my boxes: unflavored, unsweetened, and completely pea-protein free.”
Named Best Protein with Fiber
“This powder is unusual in that it's not whey-, soy-, or pea-based, but consists entirely of powdered Ecuadorian chocho.”
Best Protein Powders, Tested & Tasted
Named one of the best easily digestible proteins available — praised for its clean label, gentle digestion, and smooth texture.
Best Easily Digestible Protein
Featured in the routine of Vuori founder Joe Kudla — his go-to protein for a balanced, performance-driven lifestyle.
The Routine That Keeps Joe Kudla Strong
“Mikuna protein stands out for its regenerative, single-ingredient formula and its commitment to purity.”
Jason Widener — VP of Erewhon
“Chocho may be the next big plant-based protein. A native Ecuadoran athlete discovered the potential of the often-overlooked crop.”
Why Chocho May Be the Next Big Plant Protein
Mission & Impact
Not just a brand. A regenerative movement.
Mikuna exists to prove that the best nutrition for a human body can also be the best thing for the planet and the communities that grow the food. This is not a brand position — it's an operating principle. Every decision, from sourcing to packaging to pricing, runs through this lens.
Mikuna sources Chocho through long-term partnerships with Andean farmers in Ecuador, supporting regenerative practices that return nitrogen to the soil, sequester carbon, and require no pesticides or irrigation. Certified B Corporation status holds that commitment independently accountable — to the people and the land Mikuna depends on.
400 kg
Atmospheric nitrogen fixed per hectare and returned to the soil as chocho grows — regenerating the land instead of depleting it.
44–188%
Higher potato and quinoa yields when rotated after chocho — documented by Ecuador's National Agricultural Research Institute.
30%
More soil organic carbon stored by nitrogen-fixing legumes like chocho than by non-fixing crops.
100%
Non-GMO by nature. No genetically modified chocho seed exists anywhere in the world, and Ecuador prohibits GMO cultivation.
Grown in partnership with Andean farming communities — the stewardship that makes Mikuna possible.
Common Questions
Asked & answered.
Direct answers to what people ask most about Mikuna and Chocho.
What is Chocho?
Chocho (Lupinus mutabilis) is an Andean legume cultivated in Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia for more than 2,500 years. Per Mikuna's third-party Eurofins analysis, it provides roughly 54g of complete protein per 100g — all nine essential amino acids — plus about 24g of fiber and less than 1g of sugar. Mikuna grows it with Andean farming partners at 8,200–12,500 feet and mills the whole debittered seed into a single-ingredient protein.
What is the best plant protein for digestion?
For many people, the gentlest plant proteins are single-ingredient whole foods with no gums, sweeteners, or isolates — the common culprits behind protein-powder bloat. Chocho is gentle by nature: a whole-food legume with its fiber intact, negligible sugar, and nothing added. Vogue named Mikuna one of the best easily digestible proteins available.
Is Mikuna suitable for a low-FODMAP approach?
Mikuna contains exactly one ingredient — debittered chocho — and none of the additives that commonly trigger FODMAP-sensitive digestion: no inulin or chicory root, no sugar alcohols, no gums, and under 1g of sugar per 100g. Individual tolerance to legumes varies, so if you follow a strict low-FODMAP protocol, introduce it gradually and consult your practitioner.
What is the best protein for vegans?
A vegan protein should be complete — all nine essential amino acids — and digestible. Chocho delivers both: a complete amino acid profile confirmed by Eurofins analysis, with peer-reviewed true digestibility of roughly 80–92% for debittered Lupinus mutabilis, in a whole food rather than an isolate. It is also soy-free, tested gluten-free below 3 ppm, and non-GMO by nature.
How is Mikuna different from pea protein?
Pea protein is typically an isolate: fiber and micronutrients are stripped out by fractionation to concentrate protein. Mikuna is the opposite — the whole chocho seed, debittered with water only and milled, keeping its natural fiber, fats, and micronutrients. One ingredient, no solvents, no blending.
Is Mikuna third-party tested?
Yes — every lot. Eurofins Scientific independently screens for heavy metals, PFAS, pesticides, and microbial safety, and the Certificates of Analysis are published publicly. Mikuna began publishing results before the Consumer Reports protein study — and before PFAS became a news story.
Join the Mission
This is just the beginning.
Ricky found something in the Andes the world had been waiting for. Every scoop is part of that story — and the story of the farmers who grow it.
The Vision
