Protein Industries Canada, one of Canada’s five Global Innovation Clusters, is looking to invest $10 million into projects that explore the blending of cereals and pulses, as well as projects that contain only cereals, with a preference toward wheat or barley.
“As people look to include more protein and fibre in their diets, we are seeing demand for new functionality in ingredients,” says senior director of programs, Lisa Campbell. “Combining pulses and cereals—two of Canada’s mainstay crops—can help food manufacturers meet the demand of consumers for healthy baked goods and snack food items.”
The company is now accepting expressions of interest (EOIs) for a new round of technology projects with the focus of blending these two staples of Canadian crops.
Previous project calls focused on establishing innovation infrastructure for crops such as peas and fava beans. This is the first time that Protein Industries Canada has put out a call specifically for cereal-based projects.
Another difference in this expanded call is the consideration of projects with a minimum two collaborators instead of the previous three. One partner must be an small to medium sized enterprise, and projects must include the use of a high-protein dryland crop.
Approved projects may receive up to 45 per cent reimbursement of eligible costs.
Interested consortiums are asked to visit proteinindustriescanada.ca/technology and fill out the form at the bottom of the page. If the project meets initial eligibility requirements, a member from Protein Industries Canada’s Project team will reach out to schedule a preliminary meeting. This first meeting must be held prior to an EOI being submitted.
Expressions of interest (EOIs) for projects may be submitted until Jan. 16, 2025; however, consortiums are encouraged to submit their EOIs as soon as they are ready. EOIs will be reviewed on an ongoing basis, allowing successful submissions to move to the next step in the process in a timely manner.
