Plant protein company Burcon NutraScience has entered into a joint venture partnership with an investor group to build a new C$65 million pea-protein and canola-protein commercial production facility in Western Canada.

The protein production facility, which is planned to initially process approximately 20,000 tonnes of peas per year starting in mid-2020, will produce Burcon’s Peazazz and Peazac pea proteins, as well as Burcon’s Supertein, Puratein and Nutratein canola proteins.

“Today’s announcements constitute a truly transformative event for Burcon, and a new chapter in Burcon’s development focused on bringing the company’s unique plant proteins to market directly as a producer,” said Johann F. Tergesen, Burcon’s president and chief executive officer. “Having the capacity to produce both our unique pea proteins, as well as our canola proteins, in our own production facility is a key pillar of our differentiation strategy. The ability to blend our pea and canola proteins to create nutritionally unparalleled plant protein combinations, while preserving the highly desirable functional properties the proteins naturally possess, will give us a true competitive advantage. We look forward to offering our pea and canola protein products to customers and consumers in Canada, North America and worldwide.”