The thought of quaffing back a pea sandwich instead of the traditional barley sandwich might sound appalling to a Canadian hockey fan, but it is a hit with sumo wrestling enthusiasts on the other side of the world.
Sapporo Breweries Ltd. recently launched a new beer-like beverage made from a mixture of barley malt and Canadian pea protein. Since its Feb. 7 debut, more than three million cases of Draft One have been sold in Japan.
That pleases Ferdi Van Dongen, general manager of Parrheim Foods, the Manitoba company supplying Sapporo with its pea protein.
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Parrheim was approached by a Japanese trading house working on behalf of Sapporo looking for a barley replacement for beer. The business opportunity took Van Dongen by surprise.
“I certainly never had thought of this.”
His company specializes in converting yellow peas into high-value protein, starch and fibre products.
“The Japanese market is a market that we have been aggressively pursuing. The acceptance of this product in this application is a big step forward for us.”
Sapporo settled on pea protein after it determined soy protein was too expensive and had too many genetic modification concerns for Japanese consumers.
Draft One is part of a growing category of Japanese beverages known as happo-shu, or beer substitutes. The drink contains five percent alcohol and has a flavour similar to a light Canadian beer.
Malt is still used in the brewing process but the amount is greatly reduced, allowing Japanese breweries to avoid costs associated with high tariffs on imported barley malt. The result is a beverage that tastes like beer but is 50 cents per can cheaper.
Van Dongen isn’t a beer drinker but he recently taste-tested Draft One with his Japanese business partners, comparing it to some of Sapporo’s traditional beer offerings.
“I found very little difference, if any. It’s a smooth product, not an aggressive beer or a bitter aftertaste of any kind. I found it very similar to their other beer and they said that as well.”
Sales of Draft One have been stronger than anticipated. Sapporo recently revised its 2004 targets upward by 40 percent to 14 million cases due to positive consumer response. That is having a trickle-down effect all the way back to Portage la Prairie, Man.
“Our orders to them are certainly on target so we’re very pleased with this development,” said Van Dongen. “If you can sell to the Japanese from the perspective of quality, you can sell to anybody in the world.”
Van Dongen doesn’t expect other breweries to follow Sapporo’s lead by developing their own pea-based beers. Japan is an isolated market and its consumers have unique tastes that aren’t duplicated in many other countries.
Parrheim buys an estimated 7,000 tonnes of peas a year, a tiny portion of Canada’s annual supply of about two million tonnes. All of the company’s products are made from yellow peas because they retain the colour of the raw ingredient. Green is too hard to hide in food applications.
Saskatchewan Pulse Growers executive director Garth Patterson is pleased the company has found a new high-value market for Canadian peas, albeit a small one.
“It just goes to show (growers) don’t have to drive all the innovation. When others are willing to invest and do (market development) it’s real good news.”
