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This article was published 28/9/2017 (1089 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A European-based food-manufacturing giant — Roquette — officially broke ground Thursday on its $400-million pea-protein-manufacturing plant in Portage la Prairie.

"We are thrilled to celebrate our new site’s groundbreaking today... and to start working with our local partners on the next phases of this project," said Roquette CEO Jean-Marc Gilson. "This represents a major step in our development strategy in North America and in the plant protein business, and we are looking forward to offering our pea-protein products from Portage la Prairie... to customers and consumers in America and worldwide."

Roquette announced in January it had selected Portage la Prairie over about 40 other Canadian and US. locations. Among the reasons it cited for choosing Portage were the availability of field peas, a plentiful supply of electricity, a highly-skilled labour force, and "a great business environment."

The provincial government said the French company also received $6.8 million in provincial and municipal tax-increment financing, and $2.5 million from the federal-provincial Growing Forward program.

Roquette said Thursday it expects the new plant to be operational in 2019. It also reiterated the facility will employ about 150 people when fully operational, and that most of the workers will be recruited locally.

Jerry Daniels, grand chief of the Southern Chiefs Organization (SCO), said Roquette will be utilizing the SCO's recently completed human resources data base to help find workers for the plant.

"Roquette’s commitment to this partnership will also stimulate the economies of our southern communities," Daniels added. "This partnership is the first of a wide range of partnerships that SCO is in the process of developing with industry to support its’ economic development goals."

Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister, who last January described the Roquette project as one of the largest private-sector investments in the province's history, predicted Thursday it will have a profound impact on Manitoba's agriculture industry and the provincial economy.

"This project and our partnership truly demonstrates that Manitoba is open for business and ready to compete for investment in the world market," he added.

Roquette said the Portage la Prairie plant will complement its pea-production facility in Vicsur-Aisne, France, and will help address the growing customer demand for plant-based proteins in North America and globally.

It said pea protein offers many advantages to farmers, customers and consumers. Its production is environmentally friendly and it is a great source of protein, with numerous applications in glutenfree foods, vegetarian foods, sports and slimming foods, senior nutrition and clinical nutrition.

— Murray McNeill