At capacity, Roquette’s Portage la Prairie pea plant will be able to process 125,000 tonnes of yellow peas per year. (CNW Group/Roquette)

Pulse weekly outlook: Roquette plant now contracting organic yellow peas

Pricing to be at 'sustainable' level for growers

MarketsFarm — Roquette is now contracting for conventional and organic yellow peas for its new processing plant near Portage la Prairie, Man. After construction is finished at the end of 2020, the 200,000-square foot facility will work its way up to processing 125,000 tonnes of yellow peas per year. “We will be receiving peas in […] Read more



Roquette’s plant-based protein products include Nutralys T70S, billed as a plant-based, texturized protein that “guarantees a unique fibrous texture and great use adaptable to several types of meat substitute” such as burger patties, chicken-type filets and sausage. (Roquette.com)

Plant-based protein maker Roquette sees short-term COVID-19 impact

Demand could accelerate second Canadian plant

Paris | Reuters — The plant-based protein market has seen a slowdown in new product launches and lower sales in restaurants and cafeterias due to COVID-19 but benefited from more people cooking at home and trying new products, French manufacturer Roquette said. The market for plant-based protein such as meat-free burgers has surged in the […] Read more

(4loops/iStock/Getty Images)

Pulse weekly outlook: Peas, lentils see some strength

Lentil trade watching India

MarketsFarm — Canadian pea and lentil markets have shown some post-harvest strength in recent weeks, with good offshore demand providing support. “On the yellow pea side, it’s China, and on lentils, it’s basically India,” Marcos Mosnaim, of Globeways Canada, said of the strength in both markets. Yellow peas are currently trading as high as $7.50 […] Read more


Artist’s rendering of the Merit Functional Foods plant under construction in Winnipeg. (Merit Foods graphic)

Bunge buys into canola, pea protein maker Merit

Agribusiness giant takes quarter stake in processor

One of the world’s biggest grain companies is getting in on a processing facility under construction in Winnipeg to extract plant-based proteins from canola and peas. Winnipeg-based Merit Functional Foods announced Thursday it has received a $30 million “capital investment” from Bunge, giving the U.S. grain firm a “minority interest” worth 25 per cent. Burcon […] Read more

(Nestle photo)

Nestle launching pea-based vegan alternative to tuna

'Vuna' going first to Swiss supermarkets

Zurich | Reuters — Food giant Nestle is launching a new plant-based tuna alternative in Switzerland this month ahead of a global rollout, hoping that consumers eating at home during the COVID-19 pandemic will stay eager to try new products. Known for Maggi soups and bouillon cubes, Nestle has been investing in plant-based food to […] Read more


An artists’ rendition of the Merit Functional Foods plant under construction in Winnipeg. (Meritfoods.com)

Plant-protein processor’s new processing plant gets grant

Feds, province put up cash for new equipment

The federal and Manitoba governments have added a seven-figure contribution to their support for a new facility to process plant proteins from canola and peas. Merit Functional Foods will put the additional money toward “new equipment purchases that will support the transformation of raw inputs into value-added goods.” The unspecified new technology is expected to […] Read more



Video details pre-harvest timing for peas

Video details pre-harvest timing for peas

Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta Pulse Growers has posted a video on its website on pea staging. The video by the organization’s research manager, Jenn Walker, looks at desiccation and pre-harvest timing. It was shot last summer in a field that had some areas where plants were about 80 per cent brown and therefore ready for desiccation. But other […] Read more

Beyond Meat’s ‘latest iteration’ of its Beyond Burger gets to carry a Made in Canada label. (Photo courtesy Beyond Meat via Globe Newswire)

Beyond Meat lines up Canadian patty co-packer

U.S. company launches 'latest iteration' of burger line

One of the names tied closest to the plant protein-based meat substitute sector has enlisted an unnamed Quebec operation to make its beef-similar patties for the Canadian retail market. Los Angeles-based Beyond Meat on Wednesday launched the “latest iteration” of its flagship Beyond Burger, billed as “produced locally at a co-manufacturing facility in Canada” and […] Read more