Western Canada may soon get another multi-million dollar facility, capable of making protein products from field peas and canola.
Vancouver-based Burcon NutraScience Corp. announced May 23 that it has entered into a joint venture partnership agreement that will result in the formation a Burcon Functional Foods Corp., or Burcon Foods.
Through its investment partners, Burcon Foods will invest $65 million to build a new pea and canola protein production plant at an undisclosed location in Western Canada.
The facility will initially be capable of processing about 20,000 tonnes of field peas per year, beginning in mid-2020, the company said.
Read Also
Agri-business and farms front and centre for Alberta’s Open Farm Days
Open Farm Days continues to enjoy success in its 14th year running, as Alberta farms and agri-businesses were showcased to increase awareness on how food gets to the dinner plate.
According to Burcon, the joint venture agreement will also involve an investor group with “extensive manufacturing and sales experience in the protein industry.”
“The investor group has many, many years of experience within the protein industry,” said Burcon’s business development manager Paul Lam in a May 24 interview.
“They themselves are experts in the marketing, production and sales of plant-based food and protein ingredients and we’re very encouraged by this partnership deal.”
Burcon Foods will own and operate the new western Canadian production facility.
Burcon NutraScience will provide protein extraction technologies that will be employed at the new plant.
Burcon NutraScience is not currently involved in the production, of plant-based ingredients.
It is focused on the discovery and development of processing technologies that transform raw agricultutural commodities into specialized value-added protein products.
For example, Burcon developed and patented a unique protein extraction and purification technology for soybeans.
Archer Daniels Midland is licensed to use the technology to produce Clarisoy, a soy-based protein product for low PH beverage systems.
With the construction of a new western Canadian processing plant and the formation of Burcon Foods, Burcon NutraScience will now have a direct stake in the commercialization and marketing of finished protein products, expected to be used by food manufacturers around the world.
“Today’s announcements constitute a truly transformative event for Burcon, and a new chapter in Burcon’s development, focused on bringing the company’s unique plant proteins to market …,” said company President Johann Tergesen.
The yet-to-be named investor group involved in the joint venture partnership will contribute $16 million toward project costs and will control 60 percent of the outstanding common shares in Burcon Foods.
Burcon NutraScience will own the remaining 40 percent.
Additional funding will come from federal and provincial government agencies and organizations.
“Having the capacity to produce both our unique pea proteins, as well as our canola proteins in our own production facility is a key pillar to our differentiation strategy,” Tergesen said.
According to the company’s May 23 news release, the joint venture partnership, Burcon NutraScience will contribute 12.3 percent of total project costs, while maintaining a 40 percent equity stake in Burcon Foods.
The Burcon Foods facility is expected to process western Canadian field peas and canola into proprietary protein products marketed under trade names such as Peazazz, Peazac, Puratein, Supertein and Nutratein.
The company will also produce a pair of blended pea-canola protein products that will offer protein levels that equal or exceed protein levels normally found in dairy or meat products.
Nutratein PS is billed as a highly soluble protein product that can be used to fortify dairy alternative products such as almond milk or added to other beverages.
Nutratein TZ is designed for use in plant-based meat alternatives such as veggie burgers or veggie sausages.
Burcon NutraScience is headquartered in Vancouver. It also has a research and development facility for extraction technologies in Winnipeg.
