Developing greater connections between food sectors in Canada and the United Kingdom is the goal of a new bilateral partnership.
CEO of Protein Industries Canada Bill Greuel says they’re partnering with Innovation U.K. to support innovations in plant-based food and ingredients.
Both also agreed to on “deeper collaboration on science and innovation between the two countries” according to a news release from Protein Industries Canada.
“What we’re looking to do is to create collaborations between Canadian-based ingredient manufacturers or plant-based food companies and U.K. companies that could be partners for them from an innovation perspective,” Greuel said. “But long-term we’re really looking at developing business relations where our ingredient manufacturers could be selling high-value ingredients to U.K. based companies for inclusion in plant-based foods for access to the U.K. market.”
Greuel says both countries have “a lot of opportunity for collaboration innovation” not just in the plant-based food sector but “across all industries”.
“Sometimes these things can be difficult and so a little bit of help from Protein Industries Canada in terms of funding and creating connections with U.K. companies will lead to better innovation, but I think the long-term goal again — supply chain integration between ingredient manufacturers here and U.K. companies is really the goal.” he added.
“Our vision is to enable people to live longer, healthier lives and we can achieve this by transforming our food system into one that is more productive, sustainable and resilient,” Executive Director, Healthy Living and Agriculture Domain at Innovate UK, Dr. Katrina Hayter said in a news release. “Having the opportunity to learn
and collaborate with counterparts in Canada is vital for ensuring that technology, practices and sustainability benefits continue to develop, and this partnership represents a landmark moment in bringing the expertise of both nations together in the plant-based foods space.”
There was a webinar on June 7th that introduced companies from United Kingdom and Canada, to start creating those partnerships, and this fall a delegation led by Innovate U.K. will attend Protein Industries Canada’s Conference and AGM on September 13th in Edmonton.
Greuel says later that month, a delegation of Canadian companies led by Protein Industries Canada will head to the U.K. for a conference in London.
“We’re creating opportunities for them to come together,” he said.
