Mickey Dumont/The Portage Citizen

Actor Allen Lulu, famous for his portrayal of an A&W manager in all of the burger chain’s commercials should have been in Portage la Prairie Oct. 29 as EF Moon equipment began again moving dirt for Roquette’s world-leading pea protein plant.

Lulu could have explained how some of us have been enjoying high-end pea protein products at one of our popular burger joints. It’s not common knowledge, not much is about pea protein, but A&W’s latest healthy choice addition to its menu is made with pea protein — specifically Roquette pea protein.

A&W has invested a lot of effort over the years in promoting its “the better tasting burger” and now “the beyond meat burger” ad campaign which is reaching its target audience that will add to Portage la Prairie’s bottom line.

The delayed construction activity at Roquette’s site could have used the A&W Root Bear’s song and dance to brighten up the overcast Monday morning.

Roquette, a global leader in plant-based ingredients for the food, nutrition and health markets, puts shovels to the dirt and resumes construction on the site of its pea protein manufacturing facility in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba (Canada).

The Portage plant will double Roquette’s global pea protein production capacity and will help address the growing customer demand for plant-based proteins in North America and globally.

Pea protein offers many advantages to farmers, customers and consumers, as its production is environmentally friendly and is a great source of protein, with numerous applications in gluten-free foods, vegetarian foods, sports and slimming foods, senior nutrition and clinical nutrition.

This plant will enable Roquette to extend its global leadership in the specialty plant-based protein market and help the Group to provide its customers around the world with high-quality plant-based ingredients.

When the plant in Portage la Prairie begins production in the second half of 2020, it will be staffed by approximately 150 people, mostly recruited locally. In addition, during the construction phase, most of the needed contracted jobs will also be recruited locally.