Asians are raising their eyebrows over western Canadian attempts to grow soybeans.
It’s a pleasant development for buyers from some of the world’s premium markets.
“In our notion, Winnipeg is not the place for growing soybeans,” said Japanese food industry journalist Chiaki Terada in an interview during a tour of the Canadian International Grains Institute.
“When I heard that people in the west of Canada were interested in growing beans, I was really excited to see.”
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Terada, who writes for Daily Soybean and Oil Seeds News in Tokyo, and Singaporean journalist Ong Tze Kian of Food and Beverage Asia toured soybean farms and research centres in Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba in September.
Canada is a small player in the world of bulk soybean trade but an important source of non-genetically modified crop.
Asian consumers have few qualms about eating GM soybean oil but are leery about buying food grade soybean meal that is genetically modified.
Until recently, American soybean growers produced enough non-GM soybeans to meet Asian demands, but recently many Asian food buyers have become worried about the GM takeover.
“Their numbers of GM soybeans are really high,” Terada said.
Up to 90 percent of U.S. soybeans are GM, Terada added, and it is getting hard to find reliable U.S. sources of non-GM crop.
However, 30 to 40 percent of the crop is non-GM in Canada, so Asian buyers hope to keep that base.
The strange growing conditions of 2010 made some overseas buyers anxious.
“Can you still provide non-GMO, food grade soybeans for us?” Terada said.
Asians are also interested in the range of varieties being grown in Canada because sophisticated food processors prefer certain varieties for certain products.
“It’s good to have choices,” Kian said.
However, Kian and Terada immediately smiled when asked about Canada’s reputation as a supplier.
“Great,” Terada said.
“Quality,” Kian added.
Terada said Asian buyers like working with Canadian soybean suppliers because they are helpful and open.
“You are more honest and (have more) enthusiasm compared with other countries, other suppliers,” Terada said.
She and Kian travelled with Michelle McMullen of the Canadian Soybean Council, who said Canada has focused on traceability because of overseas concerns.
“One of the things that is very important to our customers is a fully traceable product,” McMullen said.
“That’s something as an industry that we’ve worked to develop and improve.”
