France-based Roquette, a developer of plant-based ingredients, plant proteins and pharmaceutical excipients, has opened the world’s largest pea protein plant in Canada. The new facility is located just outside of Winnipeg in Portage la Prairie in the Canadian Prairies. The region is the largest producer of peas in the world and is known as the ‘Silicon Valley of plant-based protein’.
The 200,000ft2 plant has the capacity to process 125,000 tonnes of yellow peas per year. It will help meet growing demand in North America and around the world. Industry experts predict that demand for pea protein will increase at an annual global growth rate of between 15% and 24% over the next decade.
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The opening makes Roquette the only company with major pea protein facilities on both sides of the Atlantic. The factory also benefits from easy access to the US and other international markets by road, rail and air.
Roquette previously announced plans to invest €500m ($563.2m) in plant proteins between 2015 and 2020, including equity investments, acquisitions and upgrades to its plant in Vic-sur-Aisne, France. With the new Canadian factory opening, Roquette has greatly exceeded this investment.
