The Alberta Wheat Commission (AWC) is pleased to hear of a major investment in the value added agri-food industry in Alberta. The $10 million capital investment from the Government of Alberta for Agriculture and Forestry’s Agrivalue Processing Business Incubator and the Food Processing Development Centre at Leduc is a great advancement for wheat producers and the agriculture industry as a whole.
“As farmers in this province we are growing high quality food ingredients for international markets, so it is great to see this type of investment to further advance value here at home,†said Kevin Auch, Chairman of AWC. “Alberta’s agricultural products are a $13 billion industry and seeing the crops we grow being used as ingredients to make new and innovative products is exciting to growers.â€
Value-added processing provides farmers with local market alternatives and thus greater competition for the crops they grow.
The Food Processing Development Centre is a fully equipped product development facility that provides equipment and services to help new and established companies research new product ideas, develop their products and grow their business. They have a team focused on looking at new and innovative products using Alberta grown crops, particularly for bakery products.
“This expansion and investment in the Food Centre will help diversify our industry and promote economic growth, as well as provide consumers a perspective on the quality of Alberta-sourced grain as an important food ingredient,†added Auch.
This investment will help to increase capacity in value added processing of cereal grains, including fractionation to produce high value ingredients such as proteins and fibre.
