Canadian Food Business
In June, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced almost $100 million of funding towards the new Winnipeg facility for Merit Functional Foods, a company that was established last year in a joint venture by Burcon NutraScience and three veteran food industry executives. The new company’s high-tech, 94,000-sq.ft. facility is expected to be functional by the end of 2020, becoming the first and only commercial operation that is capable of producing food-grade canola and pea protein.
Merit Functional Foods and Burcon NutraScience announced an agreement with Nestlé in January this year, indicating that Merit would supply novel proteins for use in plant-based foods and beverages. Burcon uses a proprietary, patented extraction and purification technology to produce plant protein, backed by more than two decades of development; the company holds more than 270 patents. For more information about these companies, visit meritfoods.com and burcon.ca.
