WINNIPEG – A gathering of crop and livestock industry leaders, processors, academics and government are coming together today to gain insight on new protein opportunities.

At the Manitoba Protein Summit, the province released a first-of-its-kind sustainable protein strategy, called the Manitoba Protein Advantage. This strategy will focus future efforts and encourage leadership and industry collaboration to make Manitoba North America’s protein supplier of choice, the minister said.

Earlier this year, the Manitoba government consulted with industry stakeholders to develop the new strategy. Manitoba held 77 individual meetings with more than 300 participants and received more than two dozen written submissions that helped develop the new strategy.

Key priorities of the strategy include attracting new investment and jobs in plant- and animal-protein processing, growing the hog industry to meet current processing capabilities, seeking opportunities to grow beef and other animal-protein production to meet market opportunities, and positioning Manitoba as a leading research and development centre in North America for plant-protein extraction technology. The strategy also has a focus on innovation while continuing to produce sustainable protein, including facilitating research to reduce greenhouse gases from animal-protein production by 15 per cent per kilogram of protein produced, as well as reduced water usage, energy use, and waste in production and processing.