A major pulse processing firm is running into a serious capacity problem – there’s no more room on the trophy shelf.
Saskcan Pulse Trading Inc. had a banner year on the awards circuit this fall, taking home the top prize at the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce’s 21st annual Achievement for Business Excellence, or ABEX, awards dinner.
In addition to being named business of the year at the Oct. 23 ceremony, the company collected the Saskatchewan Trade & Export Partnership award as the province’s best exporter.
It was a chest-pounding month for Saskcan Pulse, with company president Murad Al-Katib also taking home the Ernst & Young award for emerging prairie entrepreneur.
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Al-Katib said it has been a whirlwind couple of years since the company built its original $5.2 million red lentil splitting plant on the outskirts of Regina.
“I went from the basement of my house in 2002 to over 100 full-time staff.”
With the financial backing of his business partners, a Turkish pulse firm and two Saskatchewan venture capital funds, Al-Katib has added three other pulse processors to the Saskcan fold.
The company leases and manages the assets of two other Regina pulse processing firms and owns the former Saskatchewan Wheat Pool seed cleaning plant in Rosetown, Sask. The additions have expanded Saskcan’s product line to include green lentils, canaryseed, mustard, kabuli chickpeas and marrowfat peas.
In the 2003-04 crop year the firm exported to 35 countries, making it one of the biggest players in the Canadian pulse sector.
Al-Katib said it took some convincing to get buyers interested in his company’s product. Sales happened one container load at a time.
“Red split lentils from Canada was not an accepted product in the world market,” said Al-Katib.
The company’s perseverance in creating overseas demand for its product was the main reason Saskcan beat out the other 31 ABEX award finalists for the top prize, said selection committee chair Norm Halldorson.
He also credits the company for trumpeting its accomplishments, something many “low-key” Saskatchewan businesses seem reluctant to do.
“What we need is a little more confidence and enthusiasm to stand up and be recognized. I think Saskcan is one of those players that isn’t afraid to do that.”
While Al-Katib was humble about the entrepreneur award bestowed on him by Ernst & Young, referring to it as a “company award,” he had no qualms about basking in the limelight of the ABEX awards.
“We’re proud of the achievements of our staff,” he said.
The 32-year-old Davidson, Sask., native said Saskcan’s workers and the farmers who supply raw material to the company’s four plants are the reason the firm has become an instant success.
“In our first full year of operation we were a profitable company.”
Al-Katib is confident Saskcan will sustain its early pace of growth and prosperity despite another difficult production year for farmers.
Lentils fared better than many other Saskatchewan crops this year because they were one of the first crops planted. The volume is definitely there, but the company may have to devote more resources into developing markets for medium-quality product.
“I think we’re still looking forward to a good year,” he said.
Saskcan wasn’t the only agricultural firm in the running for the ABEX awards. The other finalists were:
- Morris Industries Ltd., a Saskatoon farm equipment manufacturer.
- Enviro-Test Laboratories, a Saskatoon lab that consolidated agricultural analytical services in the province.
- Perry Industries, a small farm equipment manufacturer from Hawarden.
- Pattison Liquid Systems Inc., a Lemberg-based liquid fertilizer equipment company.
