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 The global pea protein market has seen a sharp rise in recent years,
mainly driven by increasing demand for processed and healthy food.
The new factory, representing an investment of more than 400 million
Canadian dollars ($306 million), will be located in the central
region of Manitoba in Canada, the world's largest producer of peas
with 30 percent of global output.
"It was a really perfect fit for us putting a plant right in the
middle of the largest pea producing area in the world for probably
one of the fastest growing markets for pea protein, i.e. North
America," Roquette chief executive Jean-Marc Gilson told Reuters.
The facility is due to start production in 2019.
Pea protein, extracted from the yellow pea, is used in a range of
allergen-free and vegetarian food products including snacks,
nutrition bars, soups, sauces, pasta, biscuits and meat
alternatives.
Hospitals have also turned to vegetable protein as it helps rebuild
muscle mass and for elderly people who have difficulty digesting
animal protein.
The global pea protein market is expected to grow by 13.5 percent
per year in volume to reach around $200 million by 2023, research
firm Global Market Insights said in a report.
The launch of its Canadian unit will make Roquette the word's top
producer of pea protein for human nutrition, Gilson said.
Family-owned Roquette has been extracting protein from peas since
2005 in France, where it has been expanding output to meet growing
European demand for the product.
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Roquette, which has sales of around 3.3 billion euros ($3.5
billion), expects to process up to 250,000 tonnes of locally-sourced
peas by 2019, a volume split equally between the French and Canadian
factories, Gilson said.
Asked whether the group had other plans in the sector Gilson said it
was too early to say but he hoped the Canadian investment would be
followed by many others.
"We are at the beginning of a new market segment, a new industry,"
he said.
(Reporting by Sybille de La Hamaide, editing by David Evans)
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