A Vancouver company and its business partner are poised to open up a new market for Canada’s top oilseed.
Burcon NutraScience has received the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s generally recognized as safe (GRAS) designation for its canola protein isolates.
“Achieving GRAS status is a major advancement in the commercialization of Puratein and Supertein, the world’s first food-grade canola proteins,” said company president Johann Tergesen.
Now that the U.S. government has given the food ingredient its approval, Burcon’s commercialization partner, Archer Daniels Midland, can proceed with building its first canola protein isolate manufacturing plant.
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“That’s why the GRAS announcement was so critical, because you can just picture all the big bureaucratic guys at ADM. They’re not going to start building a plant until they know they can sell the product for human consumption,” said Tergesen.
He expects ADM is making a decision right now on where the plant will be built and how big it will be. Possible locations include Canada, the U.S. and Europe.
Tergesen said the grain industry giant would likely follow the same model it uses with its three soy protein plants, which are built beside large crushing facilities.
A typical canola crushing plant processes about 1,000 tonnes of seed per day, which produces 600 tonnes of meal. The protein plant would consume one-third of that daily meal output.
One protein plant isn’t going to revolutionize the canola industry. But it provides another food application for the crop and will be the industry’s first foray into the multibillion-dollar protein ingredient market that has been dominated by soy, dairy and egg.
Tergesen expects products containing the company’s proteins will hit store shelves within 24 months. It will have been a long journey dating back to the 1992 formation of B.M.W. Canola, a protein isolate company Burcon acquired in 1999.
The company has invested $30 million in the development of Puratein and Supertein.
“We haven’t seen one penny of revenue yet,” said Tergesen.
That will change when ADM starts selling Burcon’s canola proteins to food manufacturers. Burcon will receive a royalty of between seven and 10 percent on revenues generated through those sales.
“Our expectation is to earn that ($30 million) back many, many times over,” said Tergesen.
Puratein is an isolate that can be used for emulsification, gel formation, thickening, binding and forming heat-stable foams.
One application is as a replacement for egg yolks in dressings and mayonnaise. Food manufacturers don’t like using egg yolks because it adds cholesterol to their products and can lead to salmonella.
“There are a lot of reasons why you would want to take animal proteins out of products and put plant proteins in. But the No. 1 reason is always going to be price. Animal protein is expensive,” said Tergesen.
Supertein is a transparent and soluble protein that can be used in aerated desserts, confectionary items and protein bars. Because it is invisible, it can add protein to sports drinks without changing the look of them, transforming what is essentially sugar water into a healthier product.
“That is one of what we believe is a killer application,” he said.
Unlike other proteins, Supertein doesn’t precipitate out of acidic beverages, making it possible to create protein-fortified soft drinks and beer.
Other companies are developing their own canola proteins. Last week, Ag-West Bio invested $300,000 in Bio-Extraction Inc., which is building a new facility in Saskatoon that is expected to begin commercial production of canola protein concentrates for the aquaculture and specialty animal feed markets by January 2009.
