Lethbridge officially welcomed a new member to the city’s agri-food sector on Monday, with PIP International Inc. celebrating the launch of a new facility.
The wet fractionation pilot facility and commercial testing centre — located just off Highway 3 in east Lethbridge — will turn yellow peas from Alberta and Saskatchewan into plant-based products, like pea protein, starch and molasses.
“We are an ingredient supplier to the commercial,” PIP founder and CEO Christine Lewington said.
“We will most likely be over 90 per cent export until we get larger manufacturers in Canada that want it on this side of the border.”
Lewington believes pea protein can supplement traditional forms of the macronutrient while improving sustainability.
“Our pea protein takes one-sixth the amount of land and natural resources than it takes from how we usually gain our proteins,” Lewington said.
Provincial and municipal dignitaries were on hand for the kick-off. They say the facility adds to the local agriculture sector while opening the region to new opportunities.
“We are seeing issues with global food insecurity, so that’s why this particular opportunity is incredible,” Alberta’s transportation minister Rajan Sawhney said.
“Having such a large food corridor here in southern Alberta, it’s that diversification that makes us strong,” Lethbridge mayor Blain Hyggen added. “Having a plant like this with expansions in the future, what that really speaks to me is jobs, high paying jobs… which is fantastic for our region.”
“It’s a significant part of that diversification strategy,” Sawhney said. “There’s a value proposition here. Why else would this facility be here in place?”
PIP is currently constructing a second, larger wet fractionation protein processing facility in Lethbridge’s Sherring business and industrial park.
That facility has a forecasted annual capacity of roughly 126,000 metric tonnes.