On Tuesday, May 24, a Calgary-based company announced that they will be building a state-of-the-art plant-based protein processing facility in Strathmore.
The $225 million plant targets net-zero emissions, which will make it the first of its kind in North America.
Phyto Organix hopes to push Alberta to the forefront of emerging markets with the key cash crops it already produces.
“We’re incredibly proud of the $120 million in GDP we’re going to have in our backyard in the process of making this a reality,” Chris Theal, the company’s president and chief executive, said in an interview.
The 100,000-square-foot facility uses a process that removes all non-nutrients from yellow peas before separating them into four final products. The rest is used for red and white meat substitutes and dairy substitutes, the manufacture of different starches, fiber in baked goods and meats, and applications for soluble and insoluble baked and processed meats.
The point is that the final product is taste and color free, making it easier to incorporate into a variety of foods without adding additional masking agents.
“One of the biggest challenges with using isolates on the market today is that they have a yellow color, which is very challenging to put into alternative milk beverages,” Searle said. “The high growth markets right now are chicken and fish. the white meat substitute market — which is in the early stages of growth for that market — and the dairy substitute market as a whole.”
Searle said plant location is key to helping achieve a net-zero state. Within 75 kilometers of the future factory, the company will be able to obtain more than 5 times the demand, which is 40,000 tons of yellow peas per year.
There are other pea processing plants in Canada – in 2021 Roquette opened the world’s largest pea protein plant in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. However, in 2020, Manitoba accounted for only 5.4% of Canada’s yellow pea crop production, compared with 40.2% in Alberta and 54.4% in Saskatchewan, according to Statistics Canada.
Phyto Organix’s process is also critical to the environment, using 75% recycled water, reducing pressure on downstream wastewater systems and limiting greenhouse gas emissions. Natural gas will be used to heat the water, but the heat recovery process will reduce the use of natural gas. The company also plans to use renewable energy to power the facility.
The project, which will be the largest in the history of the southern Alberta town, will span 15 acres at the southern end of the Orchard Way community. The area is currently used for agriculture and equipment storage.