Nestlé SA, one of the world’s largest food companies, is going to buy a blend of pea and canola proteins from Merit Functional Foods of Winnipeg and Burcon NutraScience Corp., another Canadian company.
Nestlé will use the proteins for its plant-based burgers and nuggets.
The agreement with Nestlé is long-term, with no expiry, Burcon chief executive Johann Tergesen said in an interview with the Globe and Mail.
Merit is building a plant capable to producing 20,000 tonnes a year. It plans to have it open by the end of the year.
Merit will process the proteins using Burcon technology under a licensing agreement.
“It’s a little bit like Christmas morning for those of us who have been doing this for 20 years,” Tergesen said.
“In the early days, I had to explain to people what protein was. Now it has been a wild ride.”
With the deal, Burcon expects to report its first-ever commercial revenue and profit in 2021. Terms were not released.
Nestlé launched soy and wheat protein-based “Incredible Burgers” in Europe last year.
