Ingredion to expand plant-based protein facilties in Canada as Maple Leaf Foods unveils "aggressive new growth goals" for plant-based brands
The new facility in Vanscoy, which is expected to be operational in the second half of 2020, "significantly increases the company’s food processing capabilities to meet the growing consumer demand for plant-based proteins," said Ingredion CEO Jim Zallie.
Ingredion is also making significant capital investments to transform a processing facility it acquired in South Sioux City, Nebraska last year, to produce pulse-based protein isolates.
By end of 2019, it will produce ingredients that enhance Ingredion's VITESSENCE pulse protein isolate line, to include higher protein isolates primarily for the nutrition, health and wellness categories, he added.
Plant-based protein potential
Ingredion's announcement came as Canadian firm Maple Leaf Foods said it would "pursue aggressive new growth goals focused on expanding sales and accelerating its leadership in the refrigerated plant-based protein market" under its Lightlife and Field Roast brands in its second quarter earnings report this morning.
Maple Leaf - which has also invested in edible insect firm Entomo Farms - said it was "targeting 2020 sales [in its refrigerated plant-based protein portfolio] to exceed $280m with an opportunity of greater than $3bn in sales on a 10-year horizon, based on the plant-based protein market's growth potential and the company's anticipated share of the market."
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