Olds College Innovation Centre has received $1 million for its
micro-processing facility.
Located on campus in Olds, Alta., the facility is developing new food
products from agricultural crops and has the ability to provide small
scale samples for processors to show potential clients.
“It’s one of the things we have dreamed about doing for a year and a
half,” said centre head Rick Tofani.
The Canada Foundation for Innovation provided the grant, which the
college hopes Alberta Agriculture will match. The college has already
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raised $1.5 million in government grants and private donations.
Projects come from agriculture, biotechnology, nutraceuticals and the
functional foods industry. Students and researchers will collaborate
on projects already under way.
“Our farming students are now getting exposed to value added,” said
Tofani.
Among the possible projects is the production of pine needle oil
samples that can be distributed to possible buyers.
The innovation centre can also test concepts such as concentrated
protein extracted from oilseeds or soluble fibre fractionated from
grains to measure whether projects can gain acceptance in the
marketplace.
While the Leduc, Alta., food processing centre takes projects and
scales them up for the marketplace, Olds will produce small samples and
examine them for quality and efficacy.
