Success in growing superfood quinoa in Southwestern Ontario has led to plans for building a home-grown Ontario processing facility.

About 100 Ontario farmers are either growing or are at the ready to start planting the healthy grain, which has edible seeds rich in iron, magnesium, vitamin E, potassium, and fiber.

Ontario quinoa has even higher protein than seeds that are grown elsewhere, making it “the super of super-foods,” said Jamie Draves, president and CEO of Quinta Quinoa.

The only thing that has prevented more acreage being grown here is the absence of a facility that would process the grain.

And plans are in the works to change that, with a 50- employee facility that would be built either in eastern Ontario or northern Ontario and be in operation within a year.

London was on the top-five list, Draves said, but investors stepped forward in three other communities before he was even able to woo London investors.

He said tentative plans are to expand to satellite locations elsewhere in the province after a main processing site is chosen. “Right now we’re exploring all the options,” said Draves, who also operates a store in Toronto that produces healthy fresh and frozen meals.

Quinoa was originally grown in the Andes, in South America, and has gained popularity in North America as an imported health food.

Several growers have started test acreages in Ontario, under contract to Draves. Despite the chilly and damp growing season, the harvest in fields ranging from Windsor to Waterloo was good, and in some cases higher than expected, he said.