Pets and Pulses/
Dan Edwards on GFI’s new plant-based pet food-processing plant

Global Food and Ingredients Inc. is a plant-based food and ingredients supplier with headquarters in Toronto. Specializing in beans, peas, chickpeas, and lentils, GFI works with local North American farmers to process, clean, and export goods across the globe. In September, the company announced that it had acquired a new plant-based pet food ingredients production facility in Bowden, Alberta. We chatted to Dan Edwards, Pet Food Director at GFI, about this new venture and its significance for the GFI. 

Can we start with you telling us a bit about the new plant-based pet food plant? What does this mean for GFI?

We’re excited about the new pulse-processing facility, for sure. The Bowden facility will clean, mill, and blend pulses and edible beans primarily sold into the North American pet food market. The plant allows us to ship clean, whole pulses to customers, but we can also mill and blend these pulses into customer-specific products for pet food. It’s fantastic for us: the plant can clean 25 metric tonnes per hour and has approximately 5600 metric tonnes of dry storage capacity on-site, as well. Adding this facility to existing GFI operations provides a new domestic market and creates valuable production synergies for the company.

It sounds like the facility will be pretty sustainable. Can you talk us through GFI’s zero-waste goals?

The Bowden plant will source pulses directly from local farms and then process them according to our customers’ specifications. Any off-grade product extracted in our cleaning process will then be sold as feed, resulting in virtually zero waste. Previously, when we would clean pulses, a lot of quality product would be lost through a screening bin. Now, with the Bowden facility, we can re-clean those screenings and extract the valuable protein. Also, pulses are a sustainable crop in themselves; peas, for example, are nitrogen-fixing, so they essentially produce their own fertilizer and require very little water. From that standpoint alone, pulses are a very sustainable agricultural product.

How has the pet food industry increased the demand for pulses? Is that the only use for this by-product?

It is safe for human consumption, but primarily the human market is for whole pulses. There are two cleaning lines at Bowden: one is dedicated to pet food, and the other cleans products for the human market. This is a new venture for GFI; we’ve never focused on selling into the pet food market before, but pulses have been used in dog and cat food formulations for probably a decade now. It’s a growing market. Pet food trends tend to follow human food demands, and plant-based ingredients are certainly hot right now. We expect it to sustain this strong presence. Pulses are a cost-effective, sustainable source of high-quality protein, starch, carbohydrates, and vitamins, including vitamins A, C, and K.

Do you anticipate other companies moving into pet food production to try and be more sustainable?

There are certainly plenty of competitors in the business now, but we have a significant infrastructure in place that allows us to do this. Critical mass is necessary to make this all work. We have about 300,000 metric tonnes a year of processing capability, so if we’re putting that much product through our three other plants, we’re going to generate a lot of by-product to bring to Bowden. Undoubtedly, it’s a competitive landscape, but it’s also a good, viable domestic market. Pets have played a central role in comforting people during the COVID-19 pandemic, with approximately 70% of North American households owning animals. People love their pets and, as such, we believe this market will continue to thrive. 

Where are your biggest markets? Do you have any plans to export goods?

Our only market right now for the Bowden facility is North American pet food manufacturers. Logistics wise, pet food manufacturing happens worldwide: Europe is a significant player, and China is a growing market. These circumstances mean it’s difficult to export the product there and make it viable. So, we’re 100% focused on the North American pet food market, which is already a huge industry by itself.

Will the recent droughts in North America affect the plant initially? What measures are you taking to get around that?

The drought is going to be a major factor this year. Fortunately, some regions in Canada did achieve a good yield, but the demand will still outpace the supply. Prices will be high, and sourcing products might be tricky. But this didn’t happen overnight so it hasn’t come as a surprise. Everybody in the industry saw this coming as the summer progressed and, as a result, GFI will be careful of how much business we take on. We will focus on supplying the long-standing, loyal customer base that the Bowden facility has serviced in the past. If we have excess product to sell, we’ll be able to sell it. 

Was there any reluctance to take on this new plant while facing these shortages, or was it something you always saw as viable? 

Probably a little bit of both. We did have internal discussions about the availability of product to justify buying that plant at this time. That said, we were comfortable that our expectations were realistic and we could obtain enough product to justify purchasing the plant. 

Do you have anyone supporting you in this venture? Any new partnerships?

We don’t have any strategic partners; we’re running this business strictly off our existing infrastructure.

Is there an opportunity for growth with the Bowden facility? What are your projections for next year?

Certainly. Growth for us would be maximizing the existing facilities and selling to the total capacity of the Bowden plant. We’re looking to produce value out of products, and we’ll consider anything that comes across our desk, but we don’t have any specific expansion plans. Our main goal is to get this plant going and establish it as best we can.