b'Central Alberta farmer John Kowalchuk knowsProtein Industries Canada CEO Bill Greuel believesAllison Ammeter, chair of the Plant Protein Alberta can be a major player with plant-basedthat plant-based proteins, specifically pulses,Alliance of Alberta, believes the province has a proteins and wishes there were more local value- represents a massive opportunity for the country tosmall window of time to refocus on value-added added opportunities.PHOTO: JOHN KOWALCHUKadd tens of billions to the national GDP. processing or risk being left behind, losing GDP and PHOTO: PROTEIN INDUSTRIES CANADA jobs to other provinces.PHOTO: ALLISON AMMETERto be a pulse strategy. It needs to be awe could sell the potential, wed seerecent years, its good news for farmers.protein strategy. more people jump on it. Theres so much opportunity here, Ammeter, who has also been the chairKowalchuk regularly grew faba beans,he says, adding that Alberta, despite for Pulse Canada and the Alberta Pulsebut with his local buyer going out oflosing the PPAA, has many reasons Growers, believes Alberta is about to bebusiness recently, he is now searchingto feel like the hopper is still half full, seriously behind in the Prairies as bothfor a new market, and not growing themnoting Alberta has all the underlying Saskatchewan and Manitoba continuein the meantime. He believes there isfundamentals to continue to be a their surge forward with processing. potential on fabas value-add, too. vital piece of the plant-based proteins Everybody is working together toAg is going to be the biggest industryindustry.draw in these companies. And Alberta?going forward for Alberta. We needSuch fundamentals, Greuel says, Giving lip service and saying, valueto look at adding to our industry,include raw materials, infrastructure, is important to us, and yet theyre notgetting some value-add, he says. Thecapital, talent, clean water, a competitive backing it up with anything and I havepotential is high there, so why arent webusiness environment, good tax rates no defence of them. processing them locally? Adding jobsand pulse acres which continue to rise.She believes Alberta has a three- tolocally? I see that as a farmer. For Canada as a whole, Greuel is five-year window to get serious aboutKowalchuk is not alone in seeing theexcited about where the country is value-add for pulses before its too late.higher value opportunities for farmersheaded. He points to Pulse Canadas Production will still continue, but thegrowing plant-based proteins.25 by 2025 initiative, a plan hatched GDP and jobs will be housed elsewhere. Bill Greuel is the CEO of Proteinfour years ago to have a quarter of all Central Alberta farmer JohnIndustries Canada based in Regina,Canadian pulses be used specifically for Kowalchuk is worried about lessSask. Greuel oversees the organization,new uses and market opportunities. opportunities for him with pulseone of the federal governments fiveWere a big country, but pretty small production and laments the loss of theresearch superclusters, designed to drivein terms of population, anything around PPAA. innovation, create wealth as well asthis growth should be thought of on a Its too bad because they were a groupjobs. He thinks across the country therenational basis, he says, that could have helped increase some ofis reason to be excited about the plantGreuel believes globally pulses will our pulse uses in this area for sure, heproteins. become a nine-figure business and if says. I think if some of these companiesWith more than 550,000 tonnes ofCanada can even capture 10 per cent of understood the potential a little more,value-added pulse processing capacity inthat total value, it would mean another 16seed.ab.ca'