Pulse Canada has announced a major new initiative aimed at increasing demand for the crop.
The organization has launched a campaign known as 25 by 2025, which aims to create new demand for 25 percent of the industry’s productive capacity by 2025 by targeting categories such as snack foods, tortillas and breakfast cereals.
“Our traditional markets will always be a top priority for us, and we’ll continue to invest into im-proving service and product quality for Canada’s long-standing customers,” said Pulse Canada chair Lee Moats.
“Pulse ingredients are also attracting a lot of attention from non-traditional markets, and we need to ensure that we sharpen our focus on that new demand in order to diversify our options and deliver the value we know that pulse ingredients can add to a wide range of new food products.”
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The organization is releasing its demand target as the industry considers a strategy for sustainable growth.
Production of Canadian pulses was up significantly last year.
Pulse Canada said lentil production increased 28 percent from 2015 and pea production was up 51 percent.
Production of the two crops is also expected to be above average next year. The vast majority of pulses produced in Canada are exported, but the interest in pulse ingredients is also increasing among food manufacturers and processors.
The number of new North American food products containing pulses and pulse ingredients increased by 30 percent last year.
Food companies view pulses as a healthy source of protein, fibre and slow digestible starch.
Pulses are also viewed as environmentally beneficial. In addition to fixing nitrogen, they are also being incorporated into crop rotations with increasing regularity, contributing to healthier soils and reduced insect and disease pressures that affect other crops.
The crop is also water efficient, meaning it requires less water than other agricultural commodities to produce the same amount of protein.
“As we look ahead, the definition of food quality will include social indicators like health outcomes, environmental indicators like greenhouse gas emissions and economic indicators such as affordability,” Moats said.
“Our journey to 25 by 2025 aligns well with the future of food, and we’re looking forward to working with our partners at home and around the world to meet the needs of customers of today and … tomorrow.”
Pulse crops are a Canadian success story.
Production has increased steadily since the 1970s, and the industry now generates billions of dollars annually.
According to Statistics Canada, the country’s farmers produced nearly 8.4 million tonnes of pulse crops last year.
Pulses were the country’s fifth largest agricultural crop by volume last year behind wheat, canola, corn and barley.
Canada now ranks as the world’s largest producer and exporter of dry peas and lentils with supply contracts in 150 countries.
