The Saskatchewan Food Industry Development Centre Inc., Canada, opened the state-of-the-art Agri-Food Innovation Centre.

The $15.7 million facility provides fully integrated concept-to-commercialization services through applied research for agricultural products, product and process development and incubation for entrepreneurs and agri-food processors.

Investments from the Western Diversification Program (WDP) enables the food center to purchase equipment to separate and isolate protein from alfalfa and split field peas on a pilot-scale level, purchase additional equipment and develop commercial uses for Western Canadian pulse starch byproducts left over from the protein separation process.

The food center is the primary provider of food product development, technology transfer, commercialization and food safety training for the Saskatchewan, Canada, food industry.

"With support from the Government of Canada, the Agri-Food Innovation Centre will further position our industry to be strong leaders in innovation and technology for the food processing sector. The new investments announced today, coupled with the food center's expertise in applied research and development, will pave the way for new food concepts in a changing market," says Dan Prefontaine, president.