Unlocking the full value of Canadian pulses through innovative foods and ingredients

Apr 16, 2026

Today, Protein Industries Canada announced a new project in partnership with AGT Foods and Sweet Nutrition aimed at advancing the next generation of pulse-based ingredients and food products. The project will improve the functionality of pulse proteins, starches and fibres, while expanding production capacity and bringing affordable, nutritious products made from Canadian-grown crops to market.

“This project will strengthen Canada’s ability to transform homegrown pulses into nutritious, affordable foods for Canadian families, while creating new opportunities for farmers and processors,” said the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions. “The project, which is supported by Protein Industries Canada, reflects our government’s commitment to supporting Canadian jobs and building a resilient economy.”

“Canada’s pulse sector is a strong driver of our agri-food economy, and projects like this demonstrate how innovation can turn Canadian grown crops into high value food products,” said the Honourable Heath MacDonald, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. “By supporting companies as they develop new ingredients and processing methods, we’re strengthening our food supply chain and helping deliver high quality, affordable food to families across Canada.”

Through the project, AGT Foods and Sweet Nutrition will develop improved pulse ingredients derived from peas, lentils and faba beans that will be used in finished food products such as cereals, baking mixes and high-protein snacks. By linking ingredient innovation with real-world food applications, the companies will drive value across the food supply chain—bringing a boost to Canada’s economy.

“This project is a strong example of how food production and value-added agriculture can unlock new markets for Canadian crops and create new economic value for Canada” Protein Industries Canada CEO Tyler Groeneveld said. “By improving the functionality of pulse-based ingredients and connecting them directly to consumer products, these Canadian companies are creating affordable, nutritious food options while strengthening Canada’s food security.”

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Video: Western Canadian Agriculture: Hard Times Made the World's Best Farmers

Western Canadian agriculture produced the most advanced farmers in the world not through abundance but through adversity. The crow rate fell. The wheat price went nowhere. The brown envelopes stopped.

When the subsidies disappeared, the bad farmers left and the good ones stayed. And the ones who stayed could not just grow wheat anymore. They started growing lentils and canola and peas and flax and faba beans. They built crop rotation. They got serious about agronomy because there was no government backstop. That process produced the Western Canadian agriculture Dennis Bulani describes in this clip: the most advanced, most educated farming culture in the world.

His contrast with Iowa corn and soybean farmers is sharp. At a DeKalb farmer meeting in Okoboji, Iowa, he asked what crop rotation they ran. Beans on corn stubble, corn on bean stubble. How do you fertilize? The co-op agronomist handles it. Have you considered other crops? No need. We make so much money on corn and soybeans. Western Canadian agriculture was never allowed that comfort. And now those Iowa farmers are watching soybean markets lock up with China and corn prices slide, and they do not have the agronomy knowledge or the research base to pivot. Western Canadian farmers adapted on a dime because they had done it before.

Dennis also makes the case that Western Canadian agriculture keeps adapting in real time. Low commodity prices over the past year have pushed growers to look seriously at precision spot-spray technology. He knows a neighbor who bought a sprayer with the seeing-eye system and sprayed only 80 out of 320 acres. As a chemical retailer Dennis acknowledges that will affect his sales. He supports it anyway, because if it advances Canadian agriculture and makes farmers money, that is a good outcome.

The lesson Dennis draws from the tale of two farms: continuous improvement is the only durable strategy. When canola was $22 a bushel some growers went to Arizona instead of the Crop Production Show. When the price came down those same growers came back to the research and the discipline. Products do not go on Rack Petroleum's shelves unless they pass a replicated trial first. That is what Western Canadian agriculture built through hard times: farmers who do the work whether the times demand it or not.

Dennis Bulani is CEO of Rack Petroleum and Ultimate Yield in Biggar, Saskatchewan. Dan Aberhart hosts GTF Productions, Western Canadian Agriculture's foremost live briefing platform and its foremost AI training platform for ag operators