Table of Contents. 2 Unleashing the Potential of Canadian Crops. Protein Industries Canada: More information? Executive Summary...

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2 Table of Contents Protein Industries Canada: Executive Summary The PIC Supercluster PIC Strategy PIC Innovation Ecosystem Economic Growth and Industrial Benefits PIC - Fostering a Collaborative Environment Market opportunities Protein Industries Canada Contributors and Supporters References More information? Protein Industries Canada protein@sasktel.net 2

3 Executive Summary Protein Industries Canada (PIC) is an industry-led supercluster comprising leading Canadian food and food ingredient manufacturers, agriculture and food service companies, agriculture technology corporations, economic development agencies, and highly experienced academic and financial institutions. This supercluster is unique in its focus to capitalize on Canada s world-class strengths in agricultural and food technology to advance economic growth through innovation in the area of plant-based proteins and co-products. PIC requested $300 million in funding from the Innovation Superclusters Initiative of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada in a Phase II submission made on November 24, As one of nine supercluster applicants chosen following a Phase I Letter of Intent process, PIC has since grown its member and supporter base by over 50 companies. This has increased financial capacity and PIC s reach to become a truly pan-western cluster. PIC has assembled over $222 million of cash, $70 million of in-kind support and venture capital commitments of $150 million to extend its funding request. The PIC cluster is projected to generate over $850 million in new commercial activity. An external, third party analysis, estimates that the PIC cluster will generate cumulatively more than $37 billion of new output, raise gross domestic product (GDP) by more than $15 billion and create 176,000 personyears of highly-skilled, highly paid, new jobs. This output will advance the Federal Government s commitment to create a world-leading innovative economy, by increasing R&D expenditures, boosting industrial productivity, and integrating Canadian small and medium business enterprises into global supply-chains. A growing global population, which is expected to reach 8.5 billion by 2030 and 9.7 billion by 2050, has opened a window for the next global-growthcycle in high-value products. An increasingly affluent middle-class (approximately 3 billion people worldwide in 2015) is seeking higher quality foods. Global middle-class consumption is growing at 4% annually in real terms and creating an increased demand for plant-based protein. As an existing leader in agriculture and food processing, PIC will accelerate Canada s position in this new growth arena and technology era by securing the country s success and reputation as a leader in agriculture and food development and commercialization. A central focus of PIC activities is to foster novel approaches to processing existing major acreage crops (canola, pulses and cereals) as well as creating fractions with increased commercial value and utility for both the human food and animal feed markets. A second phase of PIC projects will be directed to smaller acreage crops with significant growth potential including hemp, quinoa, flax, mustard, and others. The new processing technologies will provide valuable starches, flours, carbohydrates and compounds for biopolymers, textiles, industrial oils, functional foods, animal feeds, medicines and personal care products. PIC s value chain approach of enhancing production and processing innovation, improving export and market development, and scaling the ag business sector to compete on the world stage will grow the Canadian economy, create jobs, and reduce the country s carbon footprint. Canadian regenerative agricultural production technology can lead the world. PIC will move Canada to second place in global agricultural exports and fifth in agri-food exports, equivalent to an additional US$30 billion. PIC s aim is to achieve the vision for Canada s agrifood industry Canada will become the trusted global leader in safe, nutritious and sustainable food for the 21st century. 2 3

4 PIC Operations Protein Industries Canada (PIC) was officially registered in mid- November, PIC has been an active organization since March, 2017 when the initial correspondence with members and supporters began. Over 100 people were actively involved in discussions and deliberations leading to the development and submission of the Phase I letter of intent. Supporters included representatives from large, medium and small companies working across the entire supply chain for plant proteins all of whom had input into both development of the PIC strategy and PIC s overall organizational model. Private and public research organizations, venture capital entities and government organizations were involved. Over the past several months, PIC has continued to engage others from across Canada, including those who were part of Phase I but were not shortlisted. A Board of Directors is in place to lead PIC through the Phase II submission process and beyond. In the event of funding approval, an expanded Board of Directors and a Management team will be put in place to further develop PIC. PIC has obtained start-up funds from companies, trade associations, universities and provincial governments. PIC has hired an Acting President and engaged several consultants to work on various aspects of project development and other operations. PIC has delivered results already, including the establishment of formal engagements across the agriculture-foodtechnology-research sectors. PIC has already established some capacity to implement projects and programs and this capability will be more fully built over the next several months. 4

5 The PIC Supercluster Vision and Mission The vision of PIC to position Canada globally as a leading source of highquality plant protein and plant-based co-products, while substantially contributing to Canada s economic growth and international trade balance. The mission is to mobilize Canada s ag/food innovation to collaborate in support of industry driven market priorities and needs. Overview The growing world demand for plantbased protein and derived ingredients presents a unique opportunity for western Canada. Canada has a long history of pioneering achievements in crop development. The Canadian canola seed industry has developed a deep, local capability in plant breeding and trait development. Plant breeding expertise in support of PIC industry projects is available from PIC university associates, National Research Council (NRC) and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC). World-class genomics capability is available within industry and government laboratories and academic institutions. The PIC cluster is geographically centred in the three Prairie Provinces and will have nodes and partnerships throughout Canada. Western Canada is the centre of canola, pulse, cereal and specialty crop production and has developed associated processing industries and transportation infrastructure. The scale and knowhow of Canadian canola and pulse crop production cannot be duplicated in other countries. One significant aspect of western farming is the large size and technical sophistication of individual farms that readily lend themselves to adopt new precision farming technologies and emerging digital farming systems. Participants in a cluster can benefit from geographical proximity which physically encourages collaboration and synergy. An agriculture based cluster would not be as physically concentrated as other types of clusters because of the nature of agricultural production and research. However, many of the PIC members have facilities centred near Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Regina, Edmonton, Calgary and Lethbridge. PIC is establishing network spokes to B.C., Toronto, Guelph, Montreal, Quebec City and the Atlantic region. A major focus of PIC research and development will take place across the Prairies while stakeholders from support and service organizations may be distributed more widely across the country. The importance of the type of linkages that PIC will facilitate has long been stressed by proponents of successful clusters. For a knowledgebased cluster, the interaction between industry and academia is vital. Industry requires access to the research results, and academia needs access to a powerful industrial customer base. As technological development is at the core of competitive advantage, an important aspect of PIC is to create an environment conducive to joint development of new technologies, thus creating stronger science bases and commercial deployment. PIC will foster the establishment of start-up or emerging companies that may be physically located in proximity to shared facilities or shared services. Small and medium size enterprises (SME) and multi-national companies have common needs that could be met by physical location near organizations such as POS Bio- Sciences (Saskatoon) and the Food Development Centres in Leduc, Saskatoon and Portage la Prairie that assist in process development at a pilot scale level. Similarly, emerging companies focusing on precision agriculture and imaging for phenotyping may benefit from proximity to PIC members such as the Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute (PAMI, Humboldt, Portage la Prairie) who assist with design and construction of automated and robotic systems; 5

6 and GIFS which is a leader in phenotyping and imaging technology development. Characteristically, clusters focus on specialized activities where members already have achieved leadership positions. The core of the PIC strategy is to increase the value of agricultural products by developing germplasm and processing methods to recover high-quality proteins to be used as ingredients in the manufacture of food products, natural health products, animal feed, biopolymers, etc. The production of novel high value protein ingredients will simultaneously result in production of additional co-product fractions, such as starches and fibres, that can serve as new feedstocks for the biomaterial or fermentation industries, as examples. Superclusters benefit from the scope and diversity of membership. The PIC supercluster comprises a very diverse group of members that includes large multi-national agbiotechnology and seed companies, medium-sized ingredient and food companies well positioned for expansion, and numerous small and emerging start-up companies. PIC includes academic researchers who can assist in breeding, imaging, data analysis, process research and downstream product development and marketing intelligence. PIC has engaged financial institutions and assorted additional service providers required to drive the growth of the cluster. Successful clusters are well-funded and able to support emerging firms through accessing funds, matching investment, and in some instances, offering venture funds to assist companies. Companies that are developing new innovations, and novel plant proteins and co-products will require access to financial capital and expertise to pursue scale-up commercial opportunities. PIC proposed to establish a $150 million venture capital fund which will assist in the development of new technologies, new companies and the expansion of existing small to medium sized companies. The key to the success and growth of any cluster is innovation, the commercialization of novel ideas to generate new and valuable technologies, products and intellectual property. Research and development activities are a fundamental measure of innovation capacity. It is only by building the ecosystem that a cluster can be sustained, where small companies grow, with new ones forming behind them. A number of PIC partners support its development and commercialization value chain. NRC, as one example, has made several commitments to core research, development and commercialization support programs to complement the activities of PIC, should it be successfully funded. Additionally, the Standards Council of Canada will partner with PIC in a number of activities focused on domestic and international standardization and will be important to PIC members in dealing with Canadian regulatory agencies. The private and public infrastructure of PIC spans across the western provinces which allow it to build upon, and capitalize on regional strengths. Further, PIC is developing relationships with research entities and companies across Canada enabling knowledge access and product utilization, giving it scope across the nation. PIC s Western Canadian network is ideally situated to commercialize PIC innovation, scale-up processing and production, develop and enhance new markets for novel products, and most importantly, export Canadians goods to market, thereby enhancing Canadian export growth and economic impacts. Port Alberta, the Calgary Region Inland Port, the Global Transportation Hub, and Centre Port represent four of Canada s nine Foreign Trade Zone points. These are located in the heart of the major crop growing areas in Canada and are perfectly suited for the attraction and retention of import/export trading companies and processors looking to access national, North American and overseas global markets. 6

7 PIC Strategy The PIC strategy is designed to improve the competitive nature of member firms and other stakeholders in three broad ways: 1) increasing the current productivity of industries; 2) increasing the capacity of PIC participants for innovation and productivity growth; and 3) stimulating new business formation that supports innovation and expands PIC. PIC has identified strategic pillars to further develop the Canadian agri-food ecosystem to address the demand for plant proteins and novel plant-based food and feed ingredients. Technology created throughout each innovation pillar will be directly used by the industry as well as by partners. This will ensure that the workforce obtains the foundational and technical skills to contribute to the evolving agriculture and food production industries. Focused activities undertaken within a supercluster are critical to enhancing competitiveness and productivity. The PIC strategy has been developed to address, as a high priority, key competitiveness and productivity challenges that are barriers to realizing the full potential of the sector. Within each pillar, several first module projects have secured industry leads and are anticipated to be initiated upon ISED funding. Second module projects recognize that the many opportunities afforded the PIC supercluster cannot all be undertaken at once. New projects may require additional research and consultation before they can be initiated. Some of the new initiatives will originate with SMEs and may require collaboration and financial support from larger cluster members and from public funding. These will be developed as PIC expands. PILLAR 1 Creation of High Quality Protein Germplasm Development of a sustainable plant protein economy begins with the seed. Many plant proteins face serious challenges including limitations on certain essential amino acids and the presence of antinutritional compounds. Utilizing modern plant breeding technologies to optimize seed protein for value-added end-use is critical for Canada to build on the long history of discovery and improvement in its oilseed and pulse sectors. This pillar is focused on improvements in genetics for seed protein and nutrient content, nutritional quality and processing attributes through genomic and proteomic technologies and modern gene editing and plant breeding techniques. The use of modern plant breeding approaches and rapid DNA sequencing technologies speeds development of germplasm with desirable protein attributes. Newly available, currently non-gmo, genome editing technologies can be used to introduce highly specific and desirable changes in seed protein genes. Strategic project outcomes include 1) Developing a trait by design team so that Canada is in position to respond to the consumer market, the processing industry and food regulatory bodies; 2) Providing the technical basis for differentiating Canadian protein crops and subsequent products in the international market place on the basis of quality or nutritional superiority; 3) Establish first movers in the global trend to increased consumption of healthy plant proteins by providing complete protein nutrition from protein crops while eliminating the sensory and functional challenges, and the antinutritional compounds which inhibit such adoption amongst consumers. PILLAR 2 Sustainable Production This pillar is focused on improving productivity by supporting farm production data collection, analysis and producer decision making and knowledge management. The use of smart production technologies can lead to increases in protein quantity 7

8 and quality per unit of land while simultaneously reducing the ecological footprint, and enhanced biodiversity. Smart agricultural techniques can increase yield and profitability while reducing production risk, all in a sustainable platform. PIC will ensure that Canada provides global leadership to its producers and industry by utilizing artificial intelligence (AI), neural networks/deep learning and big data for landscape optimized decision support systems and robotics for optimized production of protein crops. These decision support systems will be linked backwards to the seed innovation platform and forward to the processing/fractionation and commercialization/trade pillars in order to ensure optimization on the farm is realized across the protein value chain. PILLAR 3 Novel Process Technology and Product Development Many plant proteins have limitations for use in food products. Oil-derived plant proteins often have off-flavours and oxidize on the shelf. Novel technologies for improved extraction and formulation of protein fractions from protein crops have been identified but commercial scale-up has proven elusive. Projects within this pillar will result in novel, scalable, economically viable technologies for extracting, fractionating, purifying and formulating plant-based proteins into food products. Emphasis will be placed on enhancing existing methods and platforms and accelerating adoption to achieve: Novel processing technologies for extraction and fractionation of protein and related co-products into high value ingredients, concentrates/ solates and peptides. These include (but not limited to) advanced fine milling and air-classification, ionic liquids, supercritical fluids, ohmic heating, pulsed electric field, and aqueous enzymatic processes; Advance purification and deflavouring technologies; Hedonic, functional and evidencebased clinical characterization; Development and prototyping including novel food and feed applications. The PIC cluster will support legacy facility upgrade and re-tooling, and the establishment of greenfield, valueadded processing facilities (biorefineries) in Canada focused on protein processing along with valueadded co-products (oils, fibres, starches, antioxidants, etc.). The results will be the advancement of cost-effective techniques to extract and formulate protein and co-product fractions. The development of environmentally friendly processes to extract, purify and use plant fractions from various crop sources will give Canada an advantage in the highly competitive plant protein market. A further advantage is development of expertise that will draw foreign companies to Western Canada to take advantage of the proximity to commodities and scientific knowledge. PILLAR 4 Company Support, Marketing and Commercialization This pillar is focused on providing the services and investment required by companies as they grow and advance to introduce products into the marketplace. Activities involve company-led initiatives as well as partnerships with government organizations. Marketing efforts will be directed to customer engagement and support through the development and/or acquisition of competitive intelligence and assistance with commercialization. PIC will enable developing and enabling trade specific infrastructure required to facilitate export of highvalue protein products. This is essential as industry shifts towards developing novel fractions, ingredients and finished products. This includes (but not limited to) containerization, traceability, and just-in-time logistics. This is a final step in creating a sustainable ecosystem for plant-based proteins and their co-products. Datahubs where stakeholders can contribute and utilize protein related data will be created to support 1) data collection 2) comprehensive data management 3) data tools and to 4) contain data sets/layers. This will enable execution of the PIC cluster strategy to address challenges of market access and commercialization for industry by leveraging data across the value chain and stakeholders. PIC will develop scalable/repeatable blockchain prototype that will enable traceability of oilseed and pulse crops from the farmers field, through storage, processing, transportation and store sale. The blockchain addresses the industry challenge of agri-food security, safety and waste through enhanced traceability in the logistics and supply of the agri-food value chain. 8

9 Protein Industries Cluster Strategy Create & Grow High Quality Protein Align with industry plans and objectives. Add in quality improvement research strategies. Leverage existing plant science expertise to accelerate outcomes. IMPROVE SEED PROTEIN QUALITY AND YIELD Advanced plant sciences, genomic technologies, plant breeding Seed company investments in breeding & trait conversion Increase canola and pulse protein content and quality Output Measures LONG-TERM SUCCESS MEASURES 1. Canada s global ranking of Agri-food exports Improve farm production data collection and producer skills with data and knowledge management. Opportunity to ally with IT. Create leading production skill set. SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION AND AG INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Advance regional agronomic & management practices Crop sensing, informatics, software, application validation, advanced weather data Sustainable production tech to adapt to climate change 2. Agri-food Sector GDP Growth 3. Agri-food Sector Employment Growth Novel Processing & Formulation Public/private investment in process & applications research. Functional characterization through to prototype development. Attract leading tech suppliers. PROCESS TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION FOR PROTEIN ISOLATES & CONCENTRATES Novel process technology application Separation, purification, isolation technologies and equipment, pilot plant capability Characterization, food and feed applications development and prototyping CLUSTER OPERATIONAL SUCCESS MEASURES 1. Direct Investment $ generated through Cluster 2. Direct Employment generated through Cluster Develop & Serve New Markets Human resource development. Skills and knowledge acquisition to effectively access new market opportunities. Build market/sell capabilities. GO TO MARKET & COMMERCIALIZE Build and scale-up new production capabilities, re-tool existing plants Customer engagement resources and consumer testing Market Insights & Intelligence, demand creation and commercialization 3. Number of patents 4. Number of businesses created 9

10 PIC Innovation Ecosystem PIC is building upon the regional strengths present in agricultural capacity in the Prairie Provinces to position this region as a supercluster. Canadian Protein Innovation & Technology Capacity Organization The Prairie Crop Innovation Network Ecosystem is a leader in the development and commercialization of a number of technologies and products which have been instrumental in Canada s status as a world-leading agrifood exporter. A number of world firsts ranging from crop genetics and Location British Columbia UBC, Food Science Group Vancouver, BC Alberta U of AB, Dept. of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Sciences Edmonton, AB Agri-Food Discovery Place Edmonton, AB Crop Protein and Cellulose Program Edmonton, AB Government of Alberta, Food and BioProcessing Branch Edmonton, AB Government of Alberta, Food Processing Development Centre Leduc, AB Manitoba U of MB, Dept. of Food Science Winnipeg, MB Richardson Centre for Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals Winnipeg, MB Food Development Centre (Portage) Portage la Prairie, MB Canadian International Grains Institute Winnipeg, MB Ontario University of Guelph Guelph, ON Guelph Food Technology Centre Guelph, ON University of Toronto Toronto, ON Prince Edward Island BIO FOOD TECH Charlottetown, PEI Quebec McGill University Montreal, QC U of Laval, Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences Laval, QC Saint Hyacinthe Research and Development Centre, AAFC Saint Hyacinthe, QC Saskatchewan U of SK, College of Ag and Bioresources, Department of Saskatoon, SK Food Feed and Bioproducts POS Bio-Sciences Saskatoon, SK SK Food Industry Development Centre Saskatoon, SK AAFC, Saskatoon Research Centre Saskatoon, SK National Research C0uncil of Canada Saskatoon, SK agronomics to processing and marketing have cemented the region s leadership position. A prime example is canola, now a $27 billion industry, developed in Canada with product innovation built on Canadian crop management strategies. Canada has emerged as the primary supplier and processer of high quality peas and lentils, and is now the primary exporter globally. Additionally, Western Canada is the world-leading exporter of flax, mustard, oats, and hemp. PILLAR 1 Creation of High Quality Protein Germplasm Capacity exists to increase the value (quality and quantity) of protein produced per acre. The Prairie region hosts a number of public breeding facilities and medium to large international seed companies. Global agricultural and biotechnology companies have a major presence in Canada, including BASF, Bayer Crop Science, Cargill, Dow, AgroSciences (DAS), DuPont Pioneer and Monsanto. DAS and Cargill have excelled in the development of canola cultivars with specific oil profiles for the frying market, and high protein meal for the feed industry. Monsanto and Bayer Crop Science have pioneered the development of hybrid canola varieties. The Crop Development Centre is Canada s leading developer of pulse crop varieties. On average, the industry invests annually over $110 million in crop variety research and development. 3 The private sector investment in crop development facilities is estimated at nearly $60 million. 4 Public investments in agri-food sector research and development represent a critical source of innovation and productivity growth. These expenditures, of which the majority are incurred by the federal government, were estimated to rise by 7.1% to $649.5 million in Most of the public varietal work occurs at Canadian universities and AAFC. The results are too numerous to list. However, as an example, the Crop Development Centre (University of Saskatchewan) has developed over 500 varieties. AAFC and the NRC have significant research and development capacity to support varietal development. Total public-sector investment in crop varietal facilities is estimated at over $300 million. 6 10

11 The public breeding community consists of over 100 scientists. The patents number in the hundreds from foundational molecular approaches to varietal technologies. Plant breeder rights protection exceeds 300. The University of Saskatchewan alone has 17 research chairs in agriculture, including one in lentil improvement and another in root development. GIFS has received over $90 million in research funding, including $35 million from Saskatchewan s fertilizer industry to address research directed to applying the latest digital technologies in genomics and phenomics to improve plant performance and composition. PILLAR 2 Smart Production The Prairie Crop Innovation Capacity is unique in being home to a significant agriculture machinery industry noted for the development of soil conservation tillage equipment which minimizes soil disturbance and improves crop fertilizer placement (i.e. air seeders). The farm machinery sector includes firms of various sizes, such as NH Case, Morris Industries and Bourgault Industries. This sector is known for innovation, such as enabling production of competitive machine solutions to enhance soil, water and air to reduce environmental impacts. Digital technologies will play a major role in reducing environmental impacts while increasing crop productivity. The University of Alberta hosts the Canadian Artificial Intelligence Consortium and has world recognized capabilities in Artificial Machine Intelligence (AMI) and has the potential to work with agriculture implement manufacturers to incorporate digital technologies and AI into equipment lines. The Prairie Agriculture Machinery Institute (PAMI), a collaborative venture with the Provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan and Canada s implement manufacturers, has successfully developed leading edge machinery design, including incorporation of digital technologies into farm machinery. PIC member Sightline applies AI to the production and management of various products; another member, Farmers Edge, uses digital imagery technologies to assess plant health, enabling more precise applications of fertilizers and pest control. ISM (IBM Company) has expertise in predictive analytics, cognitive computing, artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud, internet of things and security. An important component of sustainable food production is the development of processing technologies which reduce the demand for water. Food processing, in particular protein extraction, uses large amounts of water. A reduction in water usage would reduce cost and increase efficiencies while reducing the impact on water quality. Public organizations within PIC are developing processes to reduce water usage in wet processing of plant proteins. The agriculture industry has focused efforts on utilizing microbial systems to reduce fertilizer requirements to achieve increased crop productivity. The two major players in Saskatchewan, BASF and Novozymes, are pursuing microbial solutions. In addition, the cluster is unique in having some of the worlds largest fertilizer companies located in Saskatchewan, including Agrium, Saskatchewan Potash, BHP Billiton, K & S Potash Corp. These companies are collaborating with Universities in areas of crop nutrient utilization efficiencies. The industry has a particular interest in reducing the impact of nitrogen fertilizer on water quality. PILLAR 3 Novel Process Technology and Product Development The greatest challenge and opportunity for the cluster is in the processing of its crops into valueadded products to meet significant market demands. The cluster has substantial infrastructure capacity to support the development and scale up of crop ingredients for large-scale production. The majority are public/private partnerships with others resident in universities and government laboratories. These facilities work on both large and minor crops. There are 17 such entities across Canada, including 11 in Western Canada. 7 The estimated capital investment in facilities and equipment is $850 million. Globally leading technologies include processing and utilization methods for canola, pulses, hemp and flax. All the entities in this portion of the value chain protect IP. It is estimated that among all 17 facilities, over 500 patents have been filed. Key entities include: Leduc Food Development Centre has unique capabilities in fractionation of plant constituents and a state of the art sensory 11

12 facility. They offer an industry incubator. POS BioSciences established in 1970 with a mandate to develop processing technologies for the canola, peas and lentils. POS has substantial expertise in processing plant- based products for the food industry. Saskatchewan Food Development Centre develops a range of food and beverages from plant ingredients. Food Development Centre (Portage La Prairie) works with firms to produce innovative food and beverage ingredients and products. A relevant example is the development of North America s first plant (pea, wheat and potato) based burger. The agri-food industry is composed of small and large companies across Canada. There are approximately 15 large companies and over 410 SMEs involved in the processing of crops for proteins and associated co-products. There are 14 canola crushing plants, with 11 located in western Canada, which produce canola meal for feed applications. There are 98 cereal processing facilities across Canada which process wheat, oats, barley and corn. The capital investment in this infrastructure is estimated at $2 billion. 9 Small and medium firms have emerged as leaders in the processing and utilization of peas, lentils, flax and hemp. Examples include: AGT Food & Ingredients Inc. is less than 10 years old and has grown a $2.5 billion company based on peas and lentil processing with global exports. Bioriginal Food & Science was one of the first companies globally to produce and extract ingredients from flax and borage for the dietary supplement market. Richardson International is a large agriculture commodity company currently pursuing value-added ingredients from oats both domestically and globally. Burcon Nutrascience Corporation has a portfolio of composition, application and process patents around its plant protein extraction and purification technologies. Botaneco specializes in green oilseed processing technologies. There are a number of public and private investment programs to assist with early stage commercialization efforts. A sampling includes the Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP), Western Economic Diversification Canada, and the Business Development Bank of Canada. Importantly PIC will establish a $150 million venture capital fund. PILLAR 4 Company Support, Marketing and Commercialization The cluster has a wide array of companies commercializing products domestically and internationally. Numerous provincial and federal initiatives are available to support companies in pursuing markets. These include Saskatchewan Trade and Export Partnership, Manitoba Trade and Export, Alberta Economic Development and Trade, Global Affairs Canada and various technology commercialization offices across the West. Other enablers for industry growth include the Plant Protein Alliance of Alberta, Ag-West Bio Inc., Life Science Association Manitoba and the provincial food and beverage associations. Additionally, the pan-prairie cluster possesses significant enabling and policy expertise through organizations such as the Canada West Foundation and the Centre for the Study of Science and Innovation Policy (U of S). TRAINING AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT Training and skills development is extensive. Four of the universities associated with PIC (Alberta, Lethbridge, Saskatchewan and Manitoba) have a total student population of 90,000 students. Of these, over 4000 are in agriculture programs with women in the majority. There are numerous college and technical training organizations throughout western Canada. Lethbridge College is a key partner for training of the food sector. Also in Alberta, Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) works closely with Leduc Food Processing Development Centre, in product formulation and recipe development. Saskatchewan Polytechnic offers certificate, diploma and degree programs, and apprenticeship training in various agrifood disciplines. Red River Community College (Winnipeg) was an awarded $2.3 million five-year NSERC Innovation Enhancement grant to build Culinary Research & Innovation Program. These programs offer excellent capacity for prototype or idea generation, bench scale testing, food service applications and professional culinary expertise. 12

13 Economic Growth and Industrial Benefits The Canadian agriculture and agri-food system (AAFS) includes a wide range of input and service suppliers, more than 200,000 primary producers, 9000 food processors, over 1700 beverage manufacturers and a host of food retailers, wholesalers and foodservice providers (Figure 1). Pesticide, fertilizer & other agricultural chemical mfg. Warehousing & storage Farm product wholesaler distributors Figure 1: The Agricultural Cluster (Spenser, 2014) Farm, lawn & garden equipment wholesalerdistibutors Farms Agricultureal supplies wholesale - distributors Meat product manufacturing Metal service centres AAFC (2017) reports that in 2016, the AAFS directly contributed $112 billion accounting for 6.7% of Canada's GDP. The sector directly employed 2.3 million workers, or 12.5% of Canada s total. Canada was the world's fifthlargest exporter of agriculture and agri-food products after the EU, US, Brazil and China in 2014; Canadian export sales totaled $56 billion in 2016, or 3.6% of the total world agriculture and agri-food trade. Approximately 58% of the value of primary agriculture production in Canada is exported, either as primary commodities or as processed food and beverage products. The Canadian canola industry, of which 90% is based in Western Canada, has an economic impact of C$26.7 billion, employing 250,000 people, with wages of C$11.2 billion. Valueadded production is C$3.1 billion. 1 2 Canadian farmers seeded 22.8 million acres of canola in 2017, surpassing wheat in Western Canada for the first time. 1 3 Support activities for farms Animal food manufacturing Motor vehicle body & trailer manufacturing Architecture and structural metals manufacturing Fruit & vegetable preserving & specialty food manufacturing Dairy product manufacturing Boiler, tank and shipping container manufacturing Agricultural, construc. & mining machinery manufacturing The pulse industry is on track to meet or exceed goals set out for canola production. 1 4 Canada accounts for 41% (nearly 100% originating from Western Canada) of the world s trade in pulse crops. In 2015, Canada exported six million tonnes of pulses worth more than C$4.2 billion. 1 5 Canadian wheat is a key global source of protein and contributes over $11 billion annually to Canada s economy. 1 6 In 2016, the Canadian hemp industry was valued at $340 million, including exports of $146 million, domestic sales of $35 million, job payroll of $89 million and investment capital of $70 million. The Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance (CHTA) has set targets of an industry with $1 billion in sales by 2023, based on whole crop utilization. The CHTA strategic plan aims at the creation of $496 million in payroll, 6000 jobs, capital of $389 million and R&D investments of over $40 million. As these examples show, with global protein market growth, opportunities exist to develop unique value-added products from other Canadian crops such as oats, flax, sunflower, mustard, and quinoa. In 2016, the food and beverage processing industry was the largest of manufacturing industries in Canada, accounting for 16% of the sector's total GDP in 2014 and the largest share (17%) of jobs. The processing sector produces goods using both primary and processed products as inputs, with about 50% of the raw agricultural products produced in Canada being used as material inputs by the food processing industry. The value of processed food shipments more than doubled between 1992 and The Advisory Council on Economic Growth signaled the strategic importance of agriculture and food, citing exploding market demand for proteins (with estimates of >70% growth in global demand by 2030) and Canada s strong position as an efficient and trusted producer and exporter. 1 7 Farm Credit Canada (FCC) 1 8 amplified this research and reported Canada to have a comparative trade advantage in 18 different agricultural commodities and 23 processed foodstuffs. Canada, especially the western provinces, has a strong comparative advantage in the production and export of three main sources of plant proteins (canola, pulses and wheat) and related processing activities. These sectors are well positioned for substantial future growth. Additionally, a number of meat sub-sectors exhibit high potential, mostly based on the availability and competitiveness of the feeds sector that is integrated with the plant protein industry (beef, pork and chicken in many ways are simply 13

14 NL NS NB PEI QUE ONT Prairie MB SK AB BC Total Table 1: Farms, acreage, economic activity in the crops, livestock and related services and number of food manufacturers, by province Number of Farms (2011) 510 1,495 3,905 2,611 29,437 51,950 47% 15,877 36,952 43,234 19, ,730 % of Acreage (2011) 0% 0% 1% 1% 5% 8% 81% 11% 38% 32% 4% Value Added ($M) (2016) ,863 4,289 9,450 1,925 3,920 3,605 1,471 20,012 % provincial GDP (2016) 0.5% 0.8% 1.3% 4.4% 1.2% 0.7% 2.4% 3.4% 6.7% 1.3% 0.7% 1.2% % of activity across provinces (2016) 0.6% 1.4% 1.7% 1.1% 19.3% 21.4% 47.2% 9.6% 19.6% 18.0% 7.4% 100% Number of food manufacturing ests. (2016) ,174 3,352 14% ,440 9,077 dominant cluster in the grains and oilseed sector, and has the highest average incomes of all the agri-food clusters in Canada. Brandon and Lethbridge, while relatively smaller and with lower incomes, are fastgrowing clusters, delivering job growth of 40% and 128% respectively during the period (Figure 2). Agriculture and food production, and related services, have among the highest output and employment multipliers of any of the industrial sectors in Canada, both at the provincial and national levels (Table 2). (Source: Statistics Canada)1 processed grain). This data validates the choice of focusing on plant protein as a high impact growth area. Both farmers and the agri-food system have demonstrated innovation in areas such as new crop varieties and livestock breeds or processes and practices such as soil management methods, fertilizer application methods, precision farming and marketing methods, with about half of Canadian farms (48%) adopting at least one type of new or significantly improved product, process or practice between 2011 and 2013, which is on par with the rate of innovation in other sectors. This is reflected in productivity measures: total factor productivity (TFP) in Canadian agriculture rose more than 2.4% per annum in the , with stronger growth in the Prairies; in contrast, TFP for the market sector in Canada declined 0.24% per annum over the same period. 1 9 This activity is distributed in all provinces (Table 1). The three Prairie Provinces, the host of PIC, are home to about 47% of the nation s farms, cultivate 81% of all the farmed acres in Canada, generate about 47% of the value added in crops and livestock and are home to about 14% of the food manufacturing firms. Apart from PEI, agriculture s share of GDP is higher in each of the Prairie Provinces than any province. The Saskatoon cluster is the third largest agri-food cluster in Canada, the Furthermore, unlike many other sectors, industrial gain in the protein cluster would generate significant highly skilled jobs and careers both in the province of the activity and in other provinces, especially BC which benefits from transportation flows to Asia, and Ontario and Quebec which benefit from easterly shipments and offer a range of higher order financial and logistical services for the Canadian industry. 14

15 Table 2: Economic Multipliers for Agri-food Activities for the Provinces and Canada, 2013 $1 million of direct economic impact on GDP at basic prices and Jobs (FTE) Type II multipliers Impact in province Total impact all provinces Portion of impact outside province Source: Statistics Canada,15F0046XDB Up to 35% of the jobs and 25% of the output directly and indirectly generated in this sector accrues to other provinces. Development of the PIC supercluster will leverage and mobilize economic effort in a variety of ways (Table 3). including to focus: 1. on advancing basic and applied research to new varieties, new crops and new cropping methods, which will in the first instance create research and employment jobs in the industrial, public and higher education sectors; 2. on the majority of its efforts on creating new industrial capacity to add value through greater processing of the primary outputs from the sector, which will leverage both direct and indirect investments in new industrial capital, creating construction and engineering employment in the short run and manufacturing employment once the facilities begin to operate; and 3. on expansion of the export potential for Canada, which will require some investments in market expansion. The Canadian sector currently exports more than $51 billion of goods and GDP FTE Jobs GDP FTE Jobs output FTE jobs Sk crop production % 30% Sk grain & oilseed milling % 38% MB crop production % 34% MB grain & oilseed milling % 34% AB crop production % 29% AB grain & oilseed milling % 39% services. The goal is to expand that to $80 billion by Overall, PIC is expected to directly generate about $850 million of aggregate activity in these various activities. This direct effort is targeted to leverage an additional $15 billion of new exports, or 60% of the Barton Report targeted growth over the next decade. SJ Research Services used a proprietary integrated regionalnational IO model to simulate one possible feasible pathway of impact (Table 4). 20 To start, they applied the five impact streams to the model for Saskatchewan, which presents a mid- range of the impacts in the prairie region. A few basic assumptions were needed: investment in basic and agronomic research is assumed to be a straight influx of capital, so no import leakages are applied; GFCF is assigned to the final demand category of machinery and equipment (business) and adjusted downwards using default model leakages (largely imports); investments in market development (logistics) are assigned to the economic model category of transportation and warehousing and adjusted downwards using the default model leakages (largely imports); and exports are assigned to the economic model categories of grains and other crop products, live animals, and other farm products, and prorated accordingly without any import leakages assumed. The plan is for the R&D and construction work to be spread out over the first five years of PIC and then wind down (in absence of any recapitalization of PIC) while the processing and export activity will ramp up to a peak in 2025 and continue from there. The results are in (Table 4). Table 4: Economic impact of PIC activity by category, period and location Gross Output Impact ($M) GDP at Basic Prices ($M) Employment Impact (PY) Labour Income ($M) Government revenue ($M) Canada (TOTAL ACTIVITY Direct Impacts $15,592 $5,828 72,305 $1,494 - Indirect Impacts $13,408 $5,498 57,955 $2,706 - Induced Impacts $8,057 $4,435 46,294 $2,018 - Total Impacts $37,058 $15, ,561 $6,218 $4,355 By period (% OF TOTAL ACTIVITY % Activity % 29% 29% 31% 29% % Activity % 71% 71% 69% 71% By location (% OF TOTAL ACTIVITY % Activity in Prairies 53% 65% 37% 29% 53% % Activity in ROC 47% 35% 63% 71% 47% Source: SJ Research Services, Special Tabulations,

16 We estimate that the planned $850 million of direct and leveraged activity will deliver a range of strongly-positive impacts across Canada. In total, the venture will generate more than $37 billion of new output, raise GDP by more than $15 billion, and create 176 thousand person-years of employment with $6 billion of labour income. Given the nature of this activity, most of the new jobs will be highly skilled (esp., in research, construction, manufacturing and logistics) and highly paid (i.e. emulating the incomes in Saskatoon). In addition, under the PIC venture capital fund, expected outcomes are: 1) the incubation and growth of some 60 firms with capabilities to support and enhance the cluster growth (30 of which are expected to be lasting contributors); 2) commercialization of key technologies to support the cluster; and 3) investment returns of $150 million over a ten-year period. Two key economic considerations warrant further discussion. First, policy interventions can at times crowd out other activity, so that public money is not fully incremental. Second, market prospects in many sectors are transitory and require extensive, ongoing investment and innovation to sustain the opportunity. The protein cluster fares well on both criteria. There is limited evidence that public interventions crowd out private investment in the agri-food sector. The evidence is mostly to the contrary, with public investment in upstream research and downstream market development often leveraging multiples of private effort. Public investment keeps on giving, with lags of more than 20 years between the investments and the peak of the benefits. 21 The projected global demand for food is not transitory; it is for the foreseeable future both permanent and likely growing faster than forecast. Governments across Canada would recoup more than $4 billion of incremental revenues over the life of this venture, which is almost a 20:1 return. Between 25-30% of the impact would be generated in the first five years of the project. The distribution of benefits across Canada is impressive, with about 35% of the GDP impact outside the Prairie region, more than 60% of the new employment in the rest of Canada and almost half of the government revenues accruing to governments elsewhere. The protein opportunity presented by PIC builds on a large, competitive and innovative industrial base that is almost uniquely positioned to capture a significantly larger share of a strongly growing international market. The sector has already exploited some benefits of clustering but can realistically leverage supercluster funds to generate real, sustained, long-term growth at the local, provincial and regional level with significant spillovers to the rest of Canada. Ultimately, PIC will generate more than 176,000 high paying jobs that will produce a strong fiscal return to the public treasury. 16

17 PIC - Fostering a Collaborative Environment the Food Island Partnership in collaboration with Atlantic Growth Strategy Champions, the Atlantic Food and Beverage Association and Innovation Centres within the region. PIC has formed relationships with applicants from the following National Centre of Excellence (NCE) programs that complement the innovation ecosystem envisioned: The Precision Food & Nutrition for Health Network Center of Excellence will use new omics technologies, machine learning and other artificial intelligence platforms in personalized nutrition. Nurturing and growing PIC in Canada will require that robust collaborations and relationships be formed throughout the value chain from science to investor. At the outset, PIC will undertake themed workshops to bring together players throughout the value chain to discuss and create new project ideas. These workshops will be designed to foster coalescence around a concept and to pursue projects. PIC personnel will be embedded with the project stakeholders from the outset in formulating an idea into a project plan and the execution of that plan, thereby enabling PIC to guide and sustain the collaborative culture for the successful completion of projects. PIC will conduct informational sessions across Canada to enhance awareness of the supercluster, its activities and its stakeholders. These key events will encourage regional participation, diversity and collaborations. A key PIC activity will be facilitating the access to research, processing and scale-up infrastructure across Canada, by pursuing cross agreements between these entities and provide a single point of entry for industry. PIC will establish exchange programs to facilitate personnel business and technical exchanges between small and large companies to facilitate crossfertilization of knowledge and innovation. This will assist small and large companies in supporting the technology/product throughout development to commercial readiness. PIC has established relationships with facilities across Canada including Universities of BC, Ottawa, Guelph and the Institute of Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods (Quebec City); and industry focused nodes including Food Convergent Innovation (FCI) platform, led by the McGill Centre for the Convergent of Health and Economics and NRC and the Consortium for Research, Innovation and Transformation of Agrifood (both in Montreal). PIC will partner with Atlantic Canada s Regional Food Hub, an initiative led by The Canadian Vegetable Protein Promotion Network will develop plant-based meat analogues from Canadian crops. PIC members will be able to directly interact with scientists in food development and have health benefits tested. The Pan-Canadian AI Strategy promotes collaboration between Canada s main centres of expertise in Edmonton, Montréal and Toronto- Waterloo. The Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii) have committed to working with PIC to develop AI talent in Canada and support research and commercialization of AI across multiple sectors. PIC complements and is working with the Protein Highway, a binational Canada and U.S. initiative focused on long-term economic growth opportunities for plant-based protein production in the Canadian Prairies and the U.S. Midwest/Great Plains region. 17

18 Market Opportunities Plant proteins represent an area where Canada can differentiate itself globally and realize significant economic growth by capitalizing on these trends. Key demand signals that relate to the following as an illustration of the opportunities available: A changing food and feed industry is presenting unique opportunities for which Canada is uniquely positioned to meet the global demands for: Nutritious, high quality products for a $13 trillion agri-food market; a global population expected to be 30% larger by and requiring 59% to 98% more food. 2 3 An increasingly affluent and rapidly growing middle class (approximately 3 billion people worldwide in 2015) all seeking higher quality foods. 2 4 Global middle class consumption is growing at 4% annually in real terms. Satisfying Generation Z consumers who by 2020 will be the largest food purchasers, representing 40% of U.S. consumers with $44 billion of purchasing power and influencing $600 billion in spending. 2 5 Gen Z food purchases and eating patterns are geared toward natural, highquality, plant-based protein foods consumed largely through snacking. Sales of snack foods doubled those of staple foods in 2016 at over $100 billion. 2 6 Environmental considerations including the need for a reduction in the carbon footprint, are driving the movement to plant-based proteins. The burning of fossil fuels for animal agriculture is one of the biggest contributors (14% to 18%) to global warming, along with deforestation. 2 7 Feed demand, which has accelerated from 1.5%/year in the 1990s to 3.3% by Oilseed meal demand is forecasted to expand by 88 MM mt by with a value of over $31 billion. The aquaculture industry is expanding at 6% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) but the fixed supply of fish meal is beginning to limit growth; this has an estimated value of $3.5 billion. The industry is actively seeking new protein sources due to the limited supply of fishmeal. 2 9 Fish meal sourced from fisheries catch has been in a steady decline since the peak production of ~7MM mt in the 1990 s. Over the last 10 years, production has slipped to just over 4MM mt. The world price for fish meal (FM pellets Peru) has been trading in a range of $US1300/mt to $2300/mt over the last 10 years (US$1400/mt currently). Canola meal today sells for $250/mt but has potential to be an excellent replacement for fish meal with seed quality improvements and new processing techniques. Revenue (USD Millions) These key market drivers are creating significant new business and economic opportunities: Increases in global protein demand growing to CA$28 billion by 2025 as shown below. 3 0 A plant-based protein ingredient market valued at $10 billion with a CAGR of 5.7% to $13 billion by 2020; 3 1 by 2050, plant-based protein will account for 1/3 of the world s protein market 3 2, as noted here: Global food and beverage products featuring plant-based proteins such as soy, lentils, hemp and chia increased from 4% in 2011 to 6.5% in 2016; 3 3 A 74% increase in new product launches containing pulse ingredients occurred from The CAGR for the global plant proteins market is shown here: 3 5 Plant-based meat alternatives, which in the U.S. alone is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.6% to US$6 billion by Pulses, hemp and oats are common plant proteins used in dairy alternatives. 3 6 Global Protein Ingredients Market Estimates and Forecast, Volume (Kilotons) Revenue (USD Millions) Volume (Kilotons) 18

19 USD Millions 3,000 2,500 2,000 1,500 1, Figure 1: The Agricultural Cluster (Spenser, 2014) 14% 12% 10% 8% 6% 4% 2% 1% Global Plant Protein Ingredients Market Revenue, (USD Millions) Foods & Beverages Infant Formulas Personal care & cosmetics Animal Feed Global Plant Protein Ingredients Market, Compound Annual Growth Rate, (USD Millions) Wheat Lentils Barley Hemp Flax Oat Pea Canola Mustard Total Global Plant Protein Ingredients Market, Compound Annual Growth Rate, (USD Millions) Plant-based dairy substitutes, which are expected to reach US$16.3 billion in 2018, up from US$7.4 billion in New packaged plant protein-based foods to meet China s need for food security where food quality is a major concern and where the demand for high quality protein is on the rise. 3 8 Plant derivatives for pet foods are projected to grow at 4.8% CAGR from 2015 to 2020, and valued at US$10 billion in 2014 in dog food. 3 9 In 2015, 20% of global pet food launches featured a high in or source of protein claim. 4 0 Meet the challenges and opportunities of new policies, recommendations and regulations: Anticipated changes to NAFTA increase the necessity to export agri-food to the secondlargest global economy, China. 4 1 Since 2010, China has accounted for 24% of Canada s global food exports abroad, growing at 15% /year triple that of US exports. In the past eight years, it has risen to over onequarter of total growth and means that China will become the primary export market for Canadian agri-food by The big demand factor in China is protein, rather than vegetable oil. In , China will import between four million and 4.4 million tonnes of canola from Canada. Having a competitive product to soy protein will significantly expand this market for canola. 4 3 Validation of growth in this sector is seen in the existing and growing foreign investment in the region. Protein based and food related innovation is considered the new tech with investment players who are enabling innovation in new ways. 4 4 Investments in new companies provides access to innovation that drive growth. Examples include B.C. based Vega purchased by White Wave; Manitoba based Pizzey s Milling purchased by Irish firm Glanbia and Maple Leaf Foods acquisition of Lightlife Foods; Private equity firms are interested in food and beverage. Chicago based Compass Diversified Holdings purchased 87% of Manitoba Harvest in 2014, which in turn acquired Hemp Oil Canada, Inc. in 2015; 4 5 A $400 million pea processing plant is being built by Roquette in Portage la Prairie (Manitoba) to be operational by

20 The development of new protein ingredients and co-products with differential functionality vs. soybean is where PIC can help lead Canada to excel in the world market. Large soy producing countries and companies focus mostly on volume, market share and being the low-cost producer. Canada has unique crop platforms, research capabilities, field production capacity and market access to the U.S., Europe, and Asia to be able to excel with new product offerings. When it comes to future agri-food sales [globally], Canada has a lot going for it. We have the resource. We have the know-how. We have the supporting infrastructure. And this is one of those rare industries in which we actually have the scale to meet global-sized needs. All of these attributes stay parked on the shelf without bold vision. 47 PIC provides this vision. Protein Industries Cluster Strategy BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES Create & Grow High Quality Protein Partner with public research programs Link processors with seed companies IMPROVE SEED PROTEIN QUALITY AND YIELD Plant varieties with increased protein and improved profiles Plant varieties with robust disease resistance and agronomic adaptation Plant gene IP Facilitate company to farm research connections, small to large Thematic workshops Business and market planning support SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION AND AG INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Digital technologies software and hardware for nutrient and pest management, machine navigation and operation Sensors for crop health analysis and monitoring Microbial nutrient inoculants Technology transfer Crop quality analytics Novel Processing & Formulation Small company access to infrastructure Business support technology transfer PROCESS TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION FOR PROTEIN ISOLATES & CONCENTRATES Protein and co-product fractions for food and livestock Protein feed products for aquaculture, livestock and companion animals Protein and co-product fractions for industrial applications Process technologies and equipment Develop & Serve New Markets Skills training programs Market intelligence and promotion GO TO MARKET & COMMERCIALIZE Access new markets and geographies Expand market base from traditional importers Market linkages international company attraction Field to plate tracking Transportation and distribution management systems 20

21 Protein Industries Canada Contributors and Supporters The list of organizations and individuals supporting PIC continues to grow. 3vGeomatics Inc. ABB Inc. AdFarm Agricultural Manufacturers of Canada Agri-Food Supercluster Academic Working Groups Collaboration Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Science and Research Branch (Prairie Region) Agrocorp Processing Ltd. AGT Food and Ingredients Inc. Ag-West Bio Inc. Alberta Agriculture and Forestry Alberta Canola Producers Commission Alberta Food Processors Association Alberta Pulse Growers Commission Archer Daniels Midland Company AVAC Ltd. Avrio Capital Inc. BioPure Oil Corp. Bioriginal Food & Science Corp. BioTalent Canada Bitstrata Systems Inc. Blockchain Association of Canada Botaneco Inc. Burcon NutraScience Corporation Canada West Foundation Canadian AI Consortium Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance Canadian Industrial Hemp Corporation Canadian International Grains Institute (Cigi) Canadian Light Source Canaryseed Development Commission of Saskatchewan Cando Rail Services Canola Council of Canada Cargill Limited Cereals Canada City of Lethbridge City of Medicine Hat CN Conexus Credit Union Dot Technology Corp. and SeedMaster Mfg. Dow AgroSciences Canada DSM Innovation Center DuPont Nutrition & Health DuPont Pioneer Canada Ecoation Innovative Solutions Inc. Economic Development Lethbridge Economic Development Regina Inc. Emerald Seed Products Ltd. Enns Brothers Farm Credit Canada Farmers Edge Inc. Federated Co-operatives Limited FHQ Developments FieldSmart Food Island Partnership Food Processing Development Centre, Leduc G3 Canada Limited Genome Alberta Genome Canada Genome Prairie Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition Global Institute for Food Security Global Transportation Hub Government of Alberta Government of Manitoba Government of Saskatchewan Gowling WLG Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce Greystone Managed Investments Inc. InfraReady Products (1998) Limited Institute of Nutrition and Functional Foods (INAF) International Institute for Sustainable Development, Prairie Climate Centre Invest Ottawa ISM Canada JCA Electronics Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy Leduc-Nisku Economic Development Association Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce Lethbridge College Lethbridge County Council Loblaw Companies Limited Louis Dreyfus Company Canada MacDon Industries Ltd. Manitoba Canola Growers Manitoba Pulse Soybean Growers Maple Grain Limited Maple Leaf Foods McGill University Microsoft Corporation Mitacs MNP Municipal District of Taber Mustard 21 Canada Inc. National Research Council Canada Natural Products Canada Inc. Naturally Splendid Enterprises Ltd. New Leaf Essentials Northstar Robotics Inc. Parmalat Canada Inc. Parrish & Heimbecker Ltd. PEST Surveillance Initiative Plant Protein Alliance of Alberta POS Bio-Sciences Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute (PAMI) Prairie Tide Chemicals Protein Highway Pulse Canada 21

22 Red River College Richardson International Limited Roquette Agri-Food Canada Rowland Seeds Inc. Saskatchewan Canola Development Commission Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce Saskatchewan Food Industry Development Centre Inc. Saskatchewan Polytechnic Saskatchewan Pulse Growers Saskatchewan Trade and Export Partnership Sightline Innovation Inc. Solido Design Automation SouthGrow Standards Council of Canada Stantec Consulting Ltd. T Base 4 Investments Corp. Tata Consultancy Services Limited The Canadian Chamber of Commerce The Consortium for Research, Innovation and Transformation in Agri- Food (RITA) The Food Development Centre (Portage la Prairie) The Manitoba Chambers of Commerce The Mosaic Company Town of Taber University of Alberta - Faculty of Agriculture, Life & Environmental Sciences University of British Columbia - Faculty of Land and Food Systems University of Guelph University of Lethbridge University of Manitoba - Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences University of Ottawa - Institute for Science, Society and Policy University of Regina University of Saskatchewan University of Saskatchewan Crop Development Centre University of Toronto - Faculty of Medicine Verdient Foods Inc. W.A. Grain & Pulse Solutions Warbuton Foods Ltd. Westcap Mgt. Ltd. 22