“We strive to create high-quality proteins that can feed the world.”
Our Commitment
At Merit Functional Foods, we’re committed to sustainability and improved outcomes for our planet. That’s why we’re working so tirelessly to develop plant proteins that can change the way the world’s consumers get their protein—a necessary nutrient.
We strive to create high-quality proteins that can feed the world and improve the life of our planet and our planet’s people.
100% Grown & Processed on Canadian Soil
We believe that quality comes not only from the richness of the soil but also from how the product is handled once it’s harvested. This is one of the many reasons why we strategically built our state-of-the-art production facility in Winnipeg, Manitoba, close to sources of non-GMO canola and peas.
In fact, 85% of Merit growers are within a 349 km radius of our facility, with 95% of them located in Manitoba. This closeness to our growers and partners allows us to be involved in every step of our supply chain, ensuring we produce only the highest quality plant protein ingredients.
Keeping our supply chain local also helps reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and food miles, from farm, to production, to final customer – traceable every step of the way!
Merit’s Non-GMO Yellow Peas: A Sustainable Crop
In addition to being an excellent source of nutrients, the Canadian peas used to produce our pea protein have numerous sustainable traits, including:
Nitrogen Fixation: Plants require nitrogen, but over time nitrogen in the soil is depleted. Peas convert nitrogen from the air to the soil, and therefore require little to no nitrogen fertilizer to grow.
Preserving Resources: Peas are adapted to drier soil and therefore require less water to grow. They also extract hydration from a shallower depth than most crops, saving water for the next growing season. And because they feed soil microbes, peas can also be used as a rotational crop to improve soil health for other crop yields.
Sustainable Farming: Merit’s grower partners are as efficient as possible in their farming practices, including minimizing tillage, which reduces environmental impact for future generations.
Merit’s Non-GMO Canola: A New Plant Protein Ingredient
Not only do we source 100% of our non-GMO canola from Western Canadian growers for the production of our canola protein, we are also fully committed to:
Only Using Non-GMO Seed: We exclusively use non-GMO seeds to produce our canola protein. Our final ingredients offer transparent and rigorous certification through the Non-GMO Project, the most recognized third-party certifier of non-GMO food and beverage products.
Expanding Value of Canola Plant: Our patented technology is the first in the world to extract high-purity food-grade protein from canola, a crop typically used for oil, and often turned into meal for livestock and animal feed.
Innovative Canola Farming Practices: We encourage responsible management of nutrient resources for social and environmental benefits.
Ecosystem Diversity: The symbiotic relationship between canola and insects like honeybees, promotes healthy biodiversity*.
Designed For Sustainable Manufacturing
Our state-of-the-art facility was mindfully designed to optimize operations and deliver significant energy savings through:
We are proud to say that our efficiency efforts have resulted in significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, as well as natural gas and electricity savings.
*Estimates based on calculations from Efficiency Manitoba.
Learn more about the energy efficiency of our production facility
Quality – from Farm to Facility
Our commitment to quality starts by obtaining a pedigreed seed declaration from our grower partners as evidence of purity.
Our contracted acres undergo a field inspection to ensure contract requirements and quality guidelines are met. We proudly have a firm ban on Glyphosate usage, and require our growing partners declare all chemicals used on their farm.
Allergen control starts at the farm level through crop rotation, isolation strips, sanitization, field inspections, and testing. Our QA team performs on-site and off-site testing to ensure our facility and final product is free from allergens.
Our pea and canola are pre-cleaned off-site, reducing the risk of foreign contaminates at our processing facility.
All trucks transporting our pea and canola are thoroughly cleaned prior to loading and must not have carried non-food or high-allergen products before hauling to Merit.
Our patented protein extraction and purification process is fully automated and fueled by green energy. Our processes and procedures ensure the production of high purity and highly functional pea and canola protein. All product is evaluated for colour, taste and functionality by a trained scientific sensory panel.
As our company continues to grow, our sustainability practices will remain a top priority. Please get in touch to learn more!