MN food giants collaborate on plant-based proteins

Earlier this week, a consortium including Cargill, General Mills and Schwan’s announced an effort to develop new animal feed and plant-based proteins.

Joan Birkenkamp is Managing Director of the MBOLD Research Alliance. Traditional protein products, such as beef, are often taxing on the environment, she said.

“So MBOLD Protein Catalyst came together with a group of members and partners to address this question of how can the world’s protein needs be met sustainably in the coming decades?” She said.

The catalyst will focus on research and development that will be shared publicly across the industry. It will also provide guidance to startups.

The research will also benefit North American farmers who produce many of the crops used to make protein products, Berkenkamp said.

“We realized how important it was to collaborate at scale and across the supply chain, from farmers all the way to the fork,” she said.

This cooperation also crosses borders. Mehmet Tolbeck is president of the Saskatchewan Food Industry Development Centre, a Canadian food research organization.

“We have been helping American companies for a long time, and the opposite is also true,” Tolbeck said. “We look forward to growing and developing further relationships.”

Tolbeck added that while Canada and the United States are embroiled in a trade dispute, his group’s partnership with Minnesota Industries indicates a path forward for cooperation between the two countries.