Protein Industries Canada, one of the country's five government-backed innovation clusters, has added nine start-ups to its Strengthening the Canadian Supply Chain programme, all working with plant proteins from Canadian crops. The cluster is investing a total of C$1.3m ($1m), and the companies are adding another C$600,000.
"Innovative companies across Canada see the potential in our crops, a potential that can only be reached through increased processing here at home," said Protein Industries Canada chief executive Tyler Groeneveld. The cluster has a 10-year, C$353m government commitment running to 2028.
The projects, from British Columbia to Nova Scotia, mostly aim to replace imported ingredients with home-grown pulses. Tartistes Tarts will develop two pulse-protein bakery technologies; Henri Nutrition will scale a pulse and seed snack bar; La Baguette will commercialise a pea and fava bean protein sourdough; Landish will launch a Canadian-origin protein powder; Nora's Non Dairy will use fermentation and freeze-drying for oat, pea and fava products; and Big Mountain Foods will install an industrial fry line for fava bean tofu cubes. Most grants are close to C$150,000 each.
Sperri will switch its meal replacement drinks to local pea and hemp proteins, and Nuts for Cheese will launch high-protein pulse dips. The one project outside pure plant formulation is Ontario's Kung Fu Duck, which will use C$121,500 to bring to market a pork floss blended with pea flour, replacing part of the pork to cut costs and raise yields.
For growers the point is demand: each project is meant to increase domestic use of pulses, oats and other crops by processing them at home. Green Queen cites survey figures that 54% of Canadians want to eat more plant-based food, while 36% name taste and texture as a barrier.
The report was written by Anay Mridul for Green Queen.
Photo: Vinayaraj / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
Source: Green Queen
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