It hasn’t officially started, but the Canadian Pulse and Special Crops Trade Association annual conference has already survived more drama than most commodity industries have seen in ages.
Just last week it looked likely that the conference would either be crippled or its attendees stranded by a labour breakdown at Air Canada, but just a day before many of the almost 400 attendees and organizers began lifting off for Winnipeg, the airline and its pilots agreed on a tenative deal that removed that fear.
Those attendees are still arriving from across the world, with much of the world’s land mass represented by industry and government representatives from a number of continents, highlighting the crucial role Canada’s pulse and special crops play in world trade.
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Canada isn’t the world’s biggest pulse producer. That’s India, with many times Canada’s – and every other producer’s – gross production. But Canada is a giant with pulse crop exports, fighting with Australia and Turkiye for dominance in chickpeas and lentils exports, providing crucial supplies for pulse-hungry countries short of either bulk supply or high quality product.
What will pulse industry people be most interested in in the next couple of days? Watch these videos to get a sense of that from Pulse Canada Vice President of Marketing Jeff English and Pulse Canada President Murad Al-Katib.
Jeff English:
Murad Al-Katib:
