Aamir Malkani
Founder & CEO,
Plant Up
Hailey Jefferies
Co-founder & President,
Prairie Fava
Canada’s agrifood sector is primed for growth, and strategic investment in ingredient manufacturing and food
processing can unlock a $25-billion opportunity.
Canada has long been recognized as a global leader in agriculture and agrifood production. With our abundant natural resources, strong R&D, stellar global reputation for safety and quality, and celebrated excellence in sustainable practices and environmental stewardship, it’s no surprise that Canada is a top exporter of grains, oilseeds, pulses, and more.
Despite this impressive history, we must push to realize the industry’s fullest potential. That means investing in sectors of the future, including ingredient manufacturing and food processing. And with its ambitious Road to $25 Billion initiative underway, Protein Industries Canada is leading the way.
Expanding on our success
In 2023, Canada’s agriculture and agrifood sector contributed $150 billion in GDP and employed 2.3 million people. That accounts for around seven per cent of our country’s GDP and one in nine jobs.
The growing demand for diverse protein options and sustainable food — both here in Canada and globally — presents an exciting opportunity for our agrifood sector. The global plant-based food market is expected to surpass $162 billion by 2030, and Canada is already a world leader in producing high-quality and sustainably grown crops like pulses (lentils, chickpeas, fava beans, and other beans and peas), which are key ingredients in plant-based foods.
Ingredient manufacturing and food processing provide the opportunity to add even more value — boosting Canada’s economic prosperity and strengthening our food supply chain.
The importance agricultural investment
Rather than selling commodities, value-added processing allows companies to manufacture, market, and sell components of the seed — like starch, oil, fibre, and protein — independently, thereby creating higher-value products and exports, while also bringing benefit to farmers. This evolution unlocks a $25-billion opportunity in food processing, ingredient manufacturing, and bioproducts for Canada. That’s the goal of The Road to $25 Billion, a roadmap led by Protein Industries Canada.
The Road to $25 Billion emphasizes investing in agrifood innovation — a critical step to reaching Canada’s potential. This crucial investment and its results — processing Canadian crops into ingredients and food domestically — can help create a Canadian food system worth billions, helping Canada keep its edge in an increasingly competitive global marketplace.
Planting the seeds of growth
A prime example of Protein Industries Canada’s investment in food innovation is its support of Plant Up, a Canadian plant-based food company specializing in high-protein snacks and frozen appetizers.
“When I moved to Canada from India, I was surprised by the lack of diversity in the plant-based space,” says Aamir Malkani, Plant Up’s founder and CEO. “Plant Up was started to bring more global flavours to the plant-based space.”
With products ranging from frozen dumplings and butter chicken bites to high-protein snacks like Maple Masala and Memphis BBQ puffs, Plant Up is making plant-based foods more diverse, accessible, and delicious. Just two years after launching, its products are already in over 1,500 grocery stores nationwide.
“We have a strong farm-to-fork Canadian supply chain,” says Malkani. “Our primary proteins —fava and pea — are 100 per cent grown and processed in Canada.”
We have a strong farm-to-fork Canadian supply chain.
With Protein Industries Canada’s support in R&D, functional ingredients, and scaling production, Plant Up continues to push boundaries in the plant-based space.
Unlocking the power of pulses
Working alongside Plant Up in their ingredient R&D work, as well as leading other successful Protein Industries Canada projects, is Prairie Fava, a Canadian farmer and ingredient processor focused on fava beans.
“Fava beans are a standout ingredient for plant-based food innovation,” says Hailey Jefferies, Prairie Fava’s co-founder and president. “From an agronomic side, they’re one of the highest nitrogen-fixing crops, making them a great choice for farmers for crop rotation. From a food-maker side, they’re high in protein and fibre and have a clean flavour profile.”
Prairie Fava processes fava beans into whole, split, and flour forms — expanding options for food makers and growers alike.
“[Protein Industries Canada] has been an amazing support system,” says Jefferies. “They support R&D and facilitate collaboration in the food sector. In bringing companies at each step of the value chain together, they’re not just enabling successful business relationships but also supporting the bigger picture, which is having a great Canadian supply chain from farmer to food maker.”
Learn more about Canada’s potential in the agri-food space at theroadto25billion.ca.
