Canada is the world's leading exporter of durum wheat, a crop grown in southwest Saskatchewan, and southeast Alberta.
Over the last five years over 23 million tonnes of Canadian durum have been exported to 49 countries including the U-S.
The major durum-consuming markets for Canadian durum are countries like Italy, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.
Durum is traditionally used in the production of pasta and couscous.
Leif Carlson, the Director of Market Intelligence and Trade Policy for Cereals Canada says customers may value different aspects of Canadian durum depending on the market.
"In general, our customers really value the cleanliness of Canadian grain. Our durum in particular, has a number of really great attributes. One of them is that our production is high quality, with high vitreous kernels. What that allows millers to do is create excellent semolina, that course durum flour that can be used to make pasta. Beyond that our durum has excellent colour, that bright yellow colour is really important for some of our markets, particularly in North Africa. And lastly, the quality of the gluten, the protein ingredient that makes pasta has a good bite and allows us to boil it and still have that excellent texture. Canadian durum is great in all those aspects."
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