Heyday Canning Co. Is Giving Beans the Love and Respect They Deserve

I’ll be honest, the tinned fish trend caught me by surprise. I always scoffed at the smelly little fish my dad would eat straight out of the can on weekend afternoons, enjoyed with a saltine cracker and raw onion. By mid-2020, though, tinned fish was seemingly everywhere, clogging up my social media feed, a budget ingredient gone premium.

And now, I truly believe it’s time for the humble bean to get its due. For too long, beans have been relegated to a few less-than-delicious recipes or otherwise forgotten in the back of the pantry behind the pasta and rice and, yes, tinned fish. But beans are incredible. They’re extremely nutritious, generally very affordable and are undeniably a more environmentally friendly source of protein than animal-based sources.

Still, though, many of us think of beans as a sad ingredient, something we eat when we’re desperate for a quick meal and don’t want to bother going to the grocery store or ordering out. Heyday Canning Co., however, is trying to change that perception with its line of thoughtfully flavored beans (and trendy branding). The company sells a variety of pre-flavored canned beans, with options ranging from Tomato Alla Vodka Cannellini Beans (delicious) to Harissa Lemon Chickpeas (obviously worth a try) and Kimchi Sesame Navy Beans (the best of the bunch, if you ask me).

Most Popular

I think too many people overlook beans simply because they don’t know how to season them well. Sure, a can of plain chickpeas has limited appeal, but once they’re doused in olive oil, feta, lemon juice and plenty of seasonings, they become something special. But not all of us have the time or culinary abilities to transform plain beans into a dish that actually seems appealing. That’s why I think Heyday Canning Co.’s beans are such a fun pantry staple to have on hand—they’re already pre-cooked and pre-seasoned, so you can experience beans at their best while exerting minimal effort in the kitchen. I’ve said it before: Canned beans are the ultimate fast food, and Heyday’s products make that clearer than ever.

The downside? These beans are not as cheap as the bagged dry varieties you’ll find at your local grocery store, and they’re even considerably more expensive than standard canned beans. A six-pack from the company’s website will set you back $40 before shipping, which is certainly out of a lot of bean eaters’ budgets. Admittedly, I don’t love the idea of a huge portion of the population being priced out of an ingredient as simple as beans. But even if you can only afford to spend the cash on these beans once in a while (or even not at all), I still love the message they convey: Beans can and should be treated like a luxury ingredient.

Whether you give Heyday Canning Co.’s products a try yourself (and you definitely should, if they’re within your budget) or you just take note of the ingredients listed on the label, I hope we can all start looking at beans and other sources of plant-based protein in a more favorable light. These ingredients have the potential to be as thoughtful, as special, as interesting as particularly well-cooked pork belly or rich, buttery Wagyu. We just have to treat them with the same kind of care and respect as we would an expensive slab of meat. Heyday’s beans seem like a step in the right direction.

Samantha Maxwell is a food writer and editor based in Boston. Follow her on Twitter at @samseating.