EMN, Acenzia, and Gruppo Nutrition to create plant-based protein products for health-conscious markets

Protein Industries Canada launches a new project with Enhanced Medical Nutrition (EMN), Acenzia and Gruppo Nutrition to bring new protein products for Canadians with special nutritional requirements. The project partners are utilizing innovative solutions to offer alternative plant-based protein options that meet the quality, sensory and muscle health benefits of whey protein isolate.

In addition to options that address medical nutrition needs, this project will create products for the active living and high-performance sports markets. The end products will contain a novel plant-based protein ingredient blend with high functionality and taste quality, reformulated from a past project.

The total project will see $5.4 million invested into the development, reformulation and commercialization of three consumer-ready protein products: a modular, a ready-to-mix and a ready-to-drink low-volume liquid protein. Protein Industries Canada will invest $2.3 million, with the partners investing the remainder.

“These innovative companies are rising to the challenge to provide Canadians with alternative options that offer exceptional health and nutritional benefits,” CEO of Protein Industries Canada Bill Greuel said. “With the support of the Global Innovation Clusters program, our partners are collaborating to bring important new products to the market that will offer Canadians a more diverse selection of protein-rich food choices to help them manage health challenges, as well as support a healthy lifestyle.”

Building from EMN and Gruppo Nutrition’s previous project of creating the original ingredient blend, this project will reformulate the blend using new inputs of yellow pea and canola protein isolates, while also researching other potential protein isolate options, such as hemp and sunflower. EMN and Gruppo Nutrition will collaborate with Acenzia to optimize manufacturing processes, to expand their consumer-ready products within current and new markets. This commercial scaling will allow for a larger return on investment for the consortium, product end-users and the sector.