Plant protein offers a chance for Alberta to diversify

But the province must act quickly, Allison Ammeter and Dan Brewin write.

The sizzle of the Beyond Meat burger. Adding oat milk to your lattes.

From fast food to the grocery store, no one can miss that the plant-based protein market is a full-fledged phenomenon. Mcdonald's will be rolling out a Mcplant menu around the world this year, Ikea has committed to making half of its food products plant-based by 2025, and major food companies like Tyson, Nestle and Cargill are aggressively expanding their plant-based lines.

Demand for these products far exceeds expected targets, and plant-protein growth is expected to explode as the world's population grows by two billion over the next 30 years.

All areas of agriculture will be needed to feed the world, but the greatest potential for growth is seen in plant-based protein.

This skyrocketing demand for plant protein, and other plant-based ingredients, presents an unprecedented opportunity for the longsought goal of economic diversification of our province's economy.

Alberta can add value through processing to many of our crops — fractionating the plants into ingredients such as protein, starch and fibre that will then be exported or further developed locally into commercial products for food, beverages, pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, cosmetics, pet food or livestock feed.

Take peas alone: if we process 35 per cent of the average pea crop grown in Alberta, it will add an additional $1 billion annually to the provincial economy compared to just exporting the crop as a bulk commodity.

But there is growing competition globally in plant-ingredient processing and there is already disparity within the Prairie provinces.

In Western Canada, $1 billion has been invested into protein processing plants in the past few years.

However, Alberta has not yet announced a single commercial facility that extracts pea protein, even though our farmers grow nearly half of the field peas in the West. Every tonne is exported.

Alberta is at risk of letting this moment pass us by while others move ahead decisively.

What needs to happen?

First, and most importantly, the provincial government must make the plant-ingredient processing sector one of its top priorities.

Developing a plan is key. Elected officials and bureaucrats at all levels need to demonstrate a depth of knowledge — publicly and in private negotiations — backed with a clear strategy and a true commitment.

Premier Jason Kenney and Agriculture and Forestry Minister Devin Dreeshen have said agriculture will drive economic recovery and have allocated funds for investing in value-added processing. Focusing on a cohesive plant-based strategy and making it a government priority will ensure we seize this realistic chance to diversify.

Alberta also needs to more widely share our story and actively pursue processing facilities to ensure national and global companies want to locate here.

Improved access to capital for entrepreneurs and companies is essential to grow the entire sector.

Investors need to see specific incentives available, similar to those that helped ignite and continue to back the oil and gas industry. Plant protein will not displace oil and gas, but it can be a significant economic driver and the same type of programs need to be in place. Deals will happen if we supplement our advantageous tax rate with the right investment incentives.

Groups like Plant Protein Alliance of Alberta and others are an asset the province has available to raise awareness about the opportunities and advantages of processing protein in proximity to the crops grown in Alberta.

Many interested global parties rely on these resources and connections as they explore investing in the province. PPAA works nonstop to promote Alberta.

Success will not be achieved in isolation, it requires government, industry, growers, economic development groups and postsecondaries working with the same plan toward a common goal.

Plant-ingredient processing offers us all an exciting future built solidly on our agricultural heritage. But if we don't act now, this opportunity for long-term economic growth in our province will be lost.