Fueling Growth: How Innovation Investments Are Shaping Canada's Protein Future
tl;dr
Driving Innovation: Protein Industries Canada fosters sustainable solutions, advancing plant-based and non-animal protein innovations to address global challenges.
Success Stories: Liven Proteins and Lovingly Made leverage support to scale operations, improve sustainability, and achieve key milestones.
Collaborative Impact: Investments and partnerships between industry, academia, and government are shaping Canada’s leadership in the protein innovation space.
Canada’s food innovation sector is thriving, thanks to strategic investments aimed at advancing plant and non-animal protein solutions. Helping to drive this momentum is Protein Industries Canada, whose support has been instrumental in helping companies like Liven Proteins and Lovingly Made transform their ambitions into reality.
“Our purpose is to accelerate innovation in the protein space to solve some of the world’s biggest challenges,” explains Kassandra Quayle, CFO at Protein Industries Canada. The organization’s commitment to driving innovation extends beyond plant-based proteins to encompass a variety of sustainable protein solutions. “We want Canada to be a global leader.”
Liven Proteins, a company specializing in fermentation-based non-animal proteins, has benefited from Protein Industries Canada’s support. “Protein Industries Canada has been one of the first organizations to believe in us and help us grow,” says CEO Fei Luo. Protein Industries Canada’s investment has allowed Liven Proteins to advance its innovative technology and scale operations. “Their funding has been instrumental in helping us reach key milestones,” Luo says.
“Our purpose is to accelerate innovation in the protein space to solve some of the world’s biggest challenges.” Kassandra Quayle, Protein Industries Canada
Similarly, Lovingly Made, founded by Heidi Dutton, has leveraged Protein Industries Canada’s support to enhance its vertically integrated supply chain. Working closely with a Hutterite colony in Saskatchewan, the company ensures its plant-based protein products are both sustainable and cost-effective. “The Hutterites produce the crops, and we do all the processing in-house,” Dutton says. This unique approach helps minimize environmental impact while maximizing quality. “We wanted to make plant-based proteins that didn’t require fertilizer and that were both good for the environment, good for the humans that need to eat them, and good for the planet.”
For Quayle, supporting companies like Liven Proteins and Lovingly Made is part of Protein Industries Canada’s broader mission to foster collaboration and innovation. “We look at how to unlock funding and foster partnerships between industry, academia, and government to drive innovation,” she explains. By aligning stakeholders and resources, Protein Industries Canada helps these enterprises overcome barriers and achieve growth that might otherwise be out of reach.
The success of Liven Proteins and Lovingly Made underscores the impact of investing in innovation. By prioritizing bold ideas and sustainable practices, Protein Industries Canada is helping Canadian companies redefine what’s possible in the protein space.
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