Plant Protein offers opportunities

By Sharon McLeay Times Contributor

By 2050, forecasters say global population growth will reach nine billion people, which requires that protein production increase by at least 50 to 98 per cent to feed world populations. Canada already plays a major role in producing food for the world, but with new markets opening up, new opportunities present themselves for Canadian producers.
Wheatland County CAO Alan Parkin said a presentation from the Plant Protein Association (PPA) of Alberta, www.ppaa.ca , opened his eyes to the economic possibilities for aquaculture and plant based agriculture producers.
“A lot of these countries don’t want to consume meat, they want to consume protein from other sources,” said Parkin. “There is some pretty good potential there. They believe there will be a pretty big market developing.”
The Protein Industries Canada (PIC) supercluster, in western Canada, will share with other provincial superclusters, a $150 million dollar federal grant to develop plant protein opportunities within a five year deadline; that money will be aimed at crop breeding and production, export development and value-added processing.
“Companies, non-profits crop associations in a wide association of members, came together in an informal way and we submitted proposal to the federal government,” said PIC Acting President Roy Styles.
The government expects this to be a major boost for agriculture, creating more than 4,500 new jobs and adding $4.5 billion to Canada’s economy over 10 years.
Traditionally, Western Canada’s crops centre on whole grains or minimally processed grains like wheat, oats, canola, flax and forage grasses. Styles said that new protein crops are beginning to find their way into western Canada. He said it is similar to the early days of canola’s introduction to producers. With spring planting coming up, producers might want to consider diversifying their farm plans to cash in on new markets, by getting information on pulse crops like dry peas, lentils, beans, chickpea, quinoa and hemp.
“We want to create an ecosystem, a network and system in western Canada, to take advantage of the strengths we have when it comes to crop protein. This isn’t just about spending money; it’s about creating a system, an economic cluster that hopefully will continue long after PIC is gone. We are looking for a change in directions,” said Styles. “We are hopeful that over time it will attract other funding from government entities and agencies. After the five years we hope we will be a self-sustaining entity. Our focus is really on this first two or three years is making sure we get things organized to build the success necessary to see the growth in jobs and the GDP (gross domestic product) that is necessary to ensure the farmers and processors are successful as possible.”
He said they are beginning to define the terms of membership for PIC and members. Only members of PIC will be able to access the allocations. He said there would be structure put in place to eliminate conflict of interest for money allocated, and once organizational details, research and strategic goals are defined, opportunities will posted on the website and advertised.
“The information will be broadly distributed and people interested can get involved,” said Styles.
He said the efforts would build frameworks leading to benefits for secondary processing industries as well. He anticipates 50 per cent of the money will target processing and processing technology. The group will help businesses develop business plans and help establish secondary facilities. Once the protein crops are grown, they need to be refined through milling, fractionalization, blending and repackaging. This leads to opportunity chains for the refined products in the manufacture of baked goods, snacks, pasta, soups and sauces, health foods and pet and animal feed.
“The end result is going to be jobs and economic growth, just as it was with canola as a crop,” said Styles.
Several large secondary companies have already established themselves in southern Alberta.
LA Grain near Lethbridge has seen success through grading and bagging pulse crops, and a fractionalization plant near Bowden also expects business to be profitable.
Wheatland County is looking to advance their economic development. There may be opportunities for secondary businesses to set up shop close to where these types of crops are produced, developing businesses that would grow and sustain some of our smaller rural communities.
Styles said western Canada is not getting the maximum benefits from the crops we produce. He said there are so many other proteins and higher concentrations that can be used. As an example, he said plant protein used by aquaculture processes is giving farmers $80 a ton and he thinks that can be increased to $800 to $1,000 a ton in the coming years.
“That goes right into the pockets of the farmers,” said Styles.
As to whether this initiative will detract buyers from meat producers, Styles said there will definitely be markets for both.
“People always think it as a zero sum game, it’s not,” said Styles. “At a six per cent anticipated demand for protein, everything from chicken to crickets will be needed. We don’t think it is an either/or situation.”