Protein Industries Canada (PIC) has announced its first call for proposals, allocating $40 million for co-investment into projects that will “position Canada as the centre of high-quality plant-based protein products and co-products,” according to the group.
“We are eager to collaborate with businesses, big and small, to co-invest in projects that have the potential to transform the agriculture and food processing industries in Canada,” says PIC CEO, Bill Greuel in a news release. “We already grow the crops, but we need to add more value to our primary production here at home. This is our opportunity to leverage our strengths from across the value-chain to produce new ingredients and products.”
Protein Industries Canada (PIC), is one of Canada’s five Superclusters announced last year. PIC will spend a total of $153 million, made available by the Government of Canada’s Innovation Superclusters Initiative, across the value chain over the next four years.
PIC is looking for projects in four key areas to create, grow, make, and sell. Funding will be matched up to 50 per cent of industry investments on all eligible expenses for successful projects, and applicants must be a member of PIC to apply
“We know that the opportunity for plant protein is massive, and we know that Canada is one of the only jurisdictions in the world that can meet the growing demand for plant protein-based food and livestock feed. To capture this opportunity, we must work collaboratively to share risk, leverage our strengths and accelerate innovation. The Supercluster initiative is more than just investing money – it is about doing business differently –to overcome barriers and explore new opportunities,” Greuel says.
The deadline to submit interest is by midnight on June 28, 2019. A second call for proposals will take place the beginning of September.
