Funding will enable Merit to significantly expand its new and disruptive plant protein technology
WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Merit Functional Foods, in consortium with Pitura Seeds and The Winning Combination, announces today that it has received a co-investment from Protein Industries Canada (PIC), which will facilitate the rapid growth of the new company.
PIC is an industry-led, not-for-profit organization committed to positioning Canada as a global source of high-quality plant protein ingredients. It is one of Canada’s five innovation superclusters, which are government-initiated efforts to significantly boost Canada’s job market, GDP, groundbreaking research, and bold innovations.
“This investment is exciting and empowering for Merit as it grows as a company,” Merit Co-CEO Ryan Bracken said. “It is helping us overcome many of the hurdles that new companies typically experience and, instead, unlocking numerous opportunities for us – including job creation, technology expansion, and more.”
With PIC’s support, Merit can now rapidly expand its ability to meet market demand for its plant-based proteins, including pea and canola. Merit is using Burcon NutraScience’s patented and disruptive protein extraction technology, which has been in development for more than 19 years.
The funding will also help bolster throughput, increase efficiency, decrease energy consumption, and reduce Merit’s environmental footprint. Merit anticipates adding more than 240 jobs over the coming months and years to support its growth.
“This project is a great example of why the Innovation Superclusters Initiative was created,” Protein Industries Canada CEO Bill Greuel said. “The consortium consists of businesses from across the value chain coming together to create new products not currently produced anywhere else in the world. This will increase the demand and value of some of Western Canada’s biggest agricultural commodities – peas and canola – and create new products to sell to customers across the globe.”
Merit is currently building its plant-based protein processing facility, where it will produce the world’s first high-purity, non-GMO canola protein. This will create a new value-added revenue stream for canola grown in Western Canada, which was previously limited to the extraction and sale of canola oil.
Further partnerships will involve Merit Functional Foods and Pitura Seeds of Domain, Manitoba, to develop best practices as it relates to pea and canola genetics, as well as to build standards for seed cleaning specifications necessary to achieve optimal protein.
“Pitura Seeds is proud to partner in this new project, which will bring significant value to Western Canadian farmers,” said Tom Greaves, Pitura Seeds President and General Manager.
Additionally, a partnership with The Winning Combination of Winnipeg will help Merit assess and confirm pea and canola protein functionality and stability.
“We are very excited to be working with two local businesses to produce a Manitoba product that meets the growing global demand in this space,” said Mark Colley, Chief Operating Officer of The Winning Combination.
Merit is also collaborating with the Manitoba Food Development Centre to perform functionality and applications work on Merit’s various by-product offerings to understand how they can be utilized.
Protein Industries Canada and Merit held an event to formally announce the grant on Jan. 10 at Merit’s site in Winnipeg.
“The support we’ve received from Protein Industries Canada thus far has been outstanding, and it is a crucial driver for our continued growth,” Bracken said. “We’re entering the new year grateful and determined, and we’re eager to start offering our protein to the market when our facility is completed in the fourth quarter of 2020.”
For more information on Merit Functional Foods, visit meritfoods.com.
About Merit Functional Foods
Established in 2019, Merit Functional Foods is committed to exceeding expectations for plant-based protein, providing the market with the highest quality protein ingredients and blends that offer unmatched purity, exceptional taste, and excellent solubility. Merit is building a state-of-the-art 94,000-square foot production facility in Winnipeg, where it will produce a portfolio of pea and canola protein ingredients with exceptional functional and nutritional values. For more information, visit meritfoods.com.
About Protein Industries Canada
Protein Industries Canada is an industry-led, not-for-profit organization committed to positioning Canada as a global source of high-quality plant protein ingredients. It currently has 22 projects being evaluated for investment. The projects represent potential investment of more than $130 million and include projects from Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario. For more information, visit proteinindustriescanada.ca.
About Pitura Seeds
Pitura Seeds owns and operates the largest family-owned seed processing facility in Western Canada. With a commitment to pedigreed seed that dates back to 1950 and spans three generations, today the company grows and contract produces more than 35,000 acres of top-quality cereals, pulses, and oilseeds on a yearly basis. Its industry-leading quality control, highly efficient seed processing and treating, and top-tier agronomy team deliver the high standards its customers have come to trust. For more information, visit pituraseeds.ca.
About The Winning Combination, Inc.
Founded in 1999, The Winning Combination is one of Canada’s largest manufacturers of natural health products and nutrition supplements. Fully compliant with all Canadian and international quality control standards, The Winning Combination manufactures all of its products in accordance with GMP guidelines. Manufacturing and selling products in both domestic and global markets, The Winning Combination is active in virtually all health-related business channels leading to a better lifestyle and improving the lives of people. For more information, visit winning-combination.com.
TORONTO – Strength in the base metal and technology sectors helped Canada’s main stock index gain almost 100 points on Friday, while U.S. stock markets climbed to their best week of the year.
“It’s been almost a complete opposite or retracement of what we saw last week,” said Philip Petursson, chief investment strategist at IG Wealth Management.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 297.01 points at 41,393.78. The S&P 500 index was up 30.26 points at 5,626.02, while the Nasdaq composite was up 114.30 points at 17,683.98.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 93.51 points at 23,568.65.
While last week saw a “healthy” pullback on weaker economic data, this week investors appeared to be buying the dip and hoping the central bank “comes to the rescue,” said Petursson.
Next week, the U.S. Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut its key interest rate for the first time in several years after it significantly hiked it to fight inflation.
But the magnitude of that first cut has been the subject of debate, and the market appears split on whether the cut will be a quarter of a percentage point or a larger half-point reduction.
Petursson thinks it’s clear the smaller cut is coming. Economic data recently hasn’t been great, but it hasn’t been that bad either, he said — and inflation may have come down significantly, but it’s not defeated just yet.
“I think they’re going to be very steady,” he said, with one small cut at each of their three decisions scheduled for the rest of 2024, and more into 2025.
“I don’t think there’s a sense of urgency on the part of the Fed that they have to do something immediately.
A larger cut could also send the wrong message to the markets, added Petursson: that the Fed made a mistake in waiting this long to cut, or that it’s seeing concerning signs in the economy.
It would also be “counter to what they’ve signaled,” he said.
More important than the cut — other than the new tone it sets — will be what Fed chair Jerome Powell has to say, according to Petursson.
“That’s going to be more important than the size of the cut itself,” he said.
In Canada, where the central bank has already cut three times, Petursson expects two more before the year is through.
“Here, the labour situation is worse than what we see in the United States,” he said.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.61 cents US compared with 73.58 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down 32 cents at US$68.65 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was down five cents at US$2.31 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$30.10 at US$2,610.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents US$4.24 a pound.
— With files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was down more than 200 points in late-morning trading, weighed down by losses in the technology, base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets also fell.
The S&P/TSX composite index was down 239.24 points at 22,749.04.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 312.36 points at 40,443.39. The S&P 500 index was down 80.94 points at 5,422.47, while the Nasdaq composite was down 380.17 points at 16,747.49.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.80 cents US compared with 74.00 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down US$1.07 at US$68.08 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up less than a penny at US$2.26 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$2.10 at US$2,541.00 an ounce and the December copper contract was down four cents at US$4.10 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 150 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in technology, financial and energy stocks, while U.S. stock markets also pushed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 171.41 points at 23,298.39.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 278.37 points at 41,369.79. The S&P 500 index was up 38.17 points at 5,630.35, while the Nasdaq composite was up 177.15 points at 17,733.18.
The Canadian dollar traded for 74.19 cents US compared with 74.23 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was up US$1.75 at US$76.27 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up less than a penny at US$2.10 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$18.70 at US$2,556.50 an ounce and the December copper contract was down less than a penny at US$4.22 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 29, 2024.
