Canadian partnership forms to improve nutrition and functionality of plant-based food products

Toronto, Ont. — Protein Industries Canada is partnering with YoFiit, Avena Foods Limited and Roquette Canada to develop nutritionally and functionally superior plant-based food products and beverages.

The consortium will tackle technical challenges in formulating plant-based alternatives to conventional Consumer Packaged Goods. It is aiming to solve technical challenges in formulating plant-based milk, probiotic-rich yogurt and other functional plant-based analogues – with a key focus on maintaining the nutritional equivalency to animal-based products, achieving higher functionality than existing products in the CPG industry.

The $1.7-million project is intended to showcase Canada’s capacity – not only as a supplier of quality ingredients, but also for embracing food technology and patent-pending processes to develop products that are unique in the plant-based protein global marketplace, Protein Industries said in a news release.

YoFiit, a food-tech startup with nutritious plant-based snacks and milk alternatives, will lead the development of new food manufacturing techniques and novel food products.

Avena and Roquette Canada will build on success seen in their prior Protein Industries Canada projects, including the creation of new plant-based protein ingredients that use Canadian crops.

Avena and Roquette Canada will supply the ingredients for the project.

Protein Industries Canada is an industry-led, not-for-profit organization created to position Canada as a global source of high-quality plant protein and plant-based co-products, and one of Canada’s five innovation superclusters.

YoFiit is a plant-based food-tech company creating nutrient-dense foods such as plant-based milk alternatives that surpass the nutritional profile of cow’s milk. Avena Foods Limited is a specialty miller that provides food, pet food, and nutraceutical manufacturers with sustainably grown and milled purity protocol oat and functional gluten-free pulse ingredients. Roquette manufactures plant-based ingredients, plant proteins and provides pharmaceutical excipients.