Protein Industries Canada has partnered with Burcon NutraScience, HPS Food & Ingredients and Puratos Canada to announce a new project to increase the value of sunflower and hemp products. The project will have a total investment of $6.9 million, with Protein Industries Canada putting in $3 million and the remainder being pooled by the partners.
Burcon is working to extract hemp protein isolate, sunflower protein isolate and sunflower protein concentrate from hemp and sunflower flour, respectively. PIC said these ingredients are in demand from food and beverage companies.
These first-to-market ingredients will meet the growing needs of food and beverage companies looking to provide Canadian consumers with a wide range of nutritious, sustainable and flavor-neutral protein options.
HPS is partnering with Burcon to evaluate hemp cultivars to determine which varieties are best suited for new ingredients, as well as to develop, commercialize and scale the technologies needed to process hemp into new ingredients.Further up the value chain, Puratos and Burcon will focus on using hemp and sunflower ingredients, respectively, in new food and beverage products, particularly baking applications, beverages and meat alternatives.
