Advancing fermentation processing in Western Canada
Infrastructure
Consortia Contribution
$611,196
Cluster Contribution
$704,802
The Saskatchewan Food Industry Development Centre Inc.
Global Agriculture Advancement Partnership
University of Saskatchewan
Ag-West Bio
Goal
Construct the first not-for-profit, pilot-scale fermentation facility in Canada, and develop training programs for industry members to improve their knowledge and capabilities in the field of bio-fermentation.
Project Summary
The Food Centre aimed to boost the plant-based protein fermentation ecosystem through pilot scale production, education, and the encouragement of entrepreneurship and collaboration.
The new facility will play a key role in small and medium sized enterprises (SME) having the ability to validate their processes at a scale that can provide enough material for new food applications. It will also address the gap between bench-top and large-scale production capacity, which has been limiting the growth potential for Canadian start-ups.
Bio fermentation process has the potential to become a preferred method for food manufacturers, and there will be an increased demand for highly skilled scientist, engineers, technicians and operators. Thus, the Food Centre offered hands-on training programs led by their fermentation expert.
Results and Impact
- This project provided international commercial opportunities for the Food Centre. They have signed over 20 NDAs from 5 different countries.
- The program helped build companies to scale up from 10-100L to 20000L in a commercial scale.
- Furthermore, the Food Centre established relationships with 20 new clients, one Memorandum of Understanding with Cintech Agroalimentaire and one Memorandum of Understanding with Istanbul Technical University Department of Food Engineering. These relationships will help improve sustainable growth and development of the Food Centre fermentation and bioengineering programs.
