Toronto organic and “natural” processing firm SunOpta Inc. has enlisted a Manitoba pea processor to produce the company’s new pea fibre line.
SunOpta’s Massachussets-based ingredients group on Tuesday announced a distribution agreement with Best Cooking Pulses of Portage la Prairie, Man., to produce pea fibre under the SunOpta brand.
The agreement comes as SunOpta announces an expansion in its portfolio of fibre products, to include SunOpta Pea Fiber as well as MultiFiber blends and SunOpta Soy Fiber blends.
Pea fibre comes from the hulls of field-dried peas as a byproduct of pea splitting, SunOpta explained in its release.
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“The process of making pea fibre is highly sustainable from start to finish,” the company said.
“Pea crops are not irrigated and the manufacturing process uses little water in the cleaning, splitting and milling into fibre. This insoluble fiber fits well with SunOpta’s line of natural oat, soy and barley fibres.”
Best Cooking Pulses operates a processing plant at Portage where it crushes and grinds peas, pea hulls and other pulses and grains, to produce fibre, bran and flour products for the food and feed markets.
The company operates a separate facility at Rowatt, Sask., just south of Regina, where it cleans, dehulls, splits and polishes peas for domestic and export markets.
“We are continually seeking to expand our healthy ingredient solutions and believe our new fibre blends and our relationship with Best Cooking Pulses are major steps in continuing to provide nutritious and functional fiber ingredients for our customers,” said Doug Shreves, president of the SunOpta Ingreidents Group at Chelmsford, Mass., about 40 km northwest of Boston.
“With the growing demand for fibre-fortified foods, we believe these additions are key to meeting market demand while at the same time positioning the SunOpta Ingredients Group for continued growth,” he said in the company’s release.
