British plant-based meat maker Meatless Farm has opened a new production and plant protein processing facility in Canada that is targeted to produce up to 14,500 tonnes of plant protein ingredients yearly by 2023.
The Calgary-based facility is part of a new business division of Meatless Farm called Lovingly Made Ingredients, which will produce plant-based protein ingredients to be supplied to companies across the globe, primarily as inputs for meat alternatives products. The subsidiary will construct another similar facility in the Netherlands following.
The Canadian facility will utilise new manufacturing processes that enable a massive reduction the water and energy required to produce plant-based protein, which has been a friction point for the sector.
Meatless Farm founder Morten Toft Bech explained the strategy behind the new plant protein processing facility: “It’s one thing to claim your fame and say you want to be global but if you have to buy your ingredients from someone else it dampens the potential. If any of these ideas we have in the plant-based sector about penetration are ever going to get to the levels [of the meat market], you need to build an infrastructure.”
Chris Shields, Vice President of Manufacturing at Lovingly Made Ingredients added, “The exceptional agricultural standards and investment in plant protein research attracted us to the Canadian market.”
Lovingly Made Ingredients says it will work directly with contract farmers to support the agricultural sector and sustainable farming practices across North America. “Sustainability, quality and transparency are integral to Lovingly Made Ingredients,” said Shields. “We love food and we want to get to know our producers and reconnect people with their food.”
Other players operating in this space include multinational ingredients firm Ingredion, which recently added two pea-based plant protein ingredients to the production line-up at its Nebraska-based pea protein factory. Ingredion is the only manufacturer in the region to offer plant protein isolate, concentrate, flour and starch produced in the U.S. and Canada.
Another ingredient provider, Minneapolis-based pea protein supplier Puris Proteins – which lists Beyond Meat among its clients – is expanding its range with organic pea syrup and sweet lupin flour. Puris is also constructing a second pea protein processing plant.
READ MORE: Meatless Farm Opens Facility In Canada To Produce 14,500 Tonnes Of Plant Protein Ingredients For Other Brands By 2023 [Green Queen Media] and Meatless Farm Introduces New Calgary-Based Subsidiary Lovingly Made Ingredients [Vegconomist]
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