Extending their season into the winter this way is new for this market, but it’s typical of the way farmers markets across the country are growing more and more ambitious.

Celebrating 30 years, St. Norbert welcomes about 10,000 visitors and 130 vendors on any given Saturday in summer, says executive director Marilyn Firth. This is the first winter the market has been open for business in the new heated structure with about half the number of vendors — a significant improvement after renting a small space for the last few winters across the street in a community centre.

“The new canopy is part of a 10-year infrastructure project that was divided into three phases: landscaping and drainage, permanent washrooms, and a new structure for year-round use,” Firth says. The canopy is enclosed in winter and opens up for summer when market activity spreads onto the adjacent grounds. “In total over $1 million has been invested in the site over the past decade.”

Firth says that getting the word out that Manitoba’s largest farmers market, a non-profit co-operative, is open for business during the winter has been a challenge. Most markets in the province are seasonal, which included St. Norbert up to several years ago. St. Norbert has been open Saturdays from late fall until Christmas and then bi-weekly Saturdays until May when the market is also open on Wednesdays.

Firth says the decision to open year-round came about partly in response to hearing that during the off-season, some producers were making special arrangements with individual customers to deliver their goods, which can be inefficient and expensive. Better production techniques and greater demand for local food products has boosted the potential for year-round business.

“For many years, producers in Manitoba focused on seasonal sales, but improvements in farm technology means that the season can be extended year-round,” Firth says. “For example, many of our vegetable vendors were interested in investing in better greenhouses and storage facilities, but without a regular sales outlet, those investments were questionable. So we worked in tandem with the producers. Once we were able to offer a year-round sales outlet, the producers stepped up and made those investments, and the winter market has grown steadily ever since.”

The response to a winter market has been “overwhelmingly positive” from both the customers and vendors, she says. “People who are really committed to supporting local are thrilled to find a regular space that fits their needs all winter long. And for our vendors, it has been a really great way to extend their season.”

St. Norbert has been both a regular sales outlet for producers and an ideal place for new producers to try out their product lines, she says. The winter markets have focused more on food items but with the new and larger space, other vendors are selling a variety of products such as arts, crafts and specialty items.

Diversifying “local”

This is the first year that award-winning craft distillery Capital K has set up a booth at St. Norbert. Assistant general manager Jesse Hildebrand, who offers visitors samples of Tall Grass brand specialty spirits, says setting up at a farmers market to promote a high-quality local product is an ideal way for the two-year-old operation to reach potential customers.

“There has been a lot of interest,” he says. “I’ve been here since May and now people even come to the distillery or I see them out at events and they recognize me. It’s good for us and for the farmers market.”

Many Manitoba farmers markets are “make it, bake it, grow it,” but St. Norbert is the only one that inspects their vendors for that assurance, says Firth. Although it involves extra work, the inspections guarantee that customers get the value they expect.

“There are a few other differences at St. Norbert,” she says. “The size of our market means that there is always a broad variety of products and it’s possible to price compare. We are also able to make going to the market an event with live music and workshops and other activities.”

St. Norbert offers activities on market days and occasionally on non-market days, giving visitors a taste of the country, Firth says. “We often provide demonstrations around local food and farming. With so many young families coming out, it’s a great opportunity to share some of that knowledge. Many people have never seen a sheep being sheared, or a jeweller shaping stones, or a cook making kimchi.”

One highlight is the annual Farmers’ Festival: Home Skills for the 21st Century featuring demos and workshops that can include everything from sour dough baking and sewing skills to fish filleting and mixing cocktails.

Like many farmers markets across Canada, St. Norbert has evolved beyond, though still includes, the traditional sale of staple products such as fruits, vegetables and baked goods. It also attracts a broader multi-generational consumer base than a decade or so ago, according to long-time vendors.

Helen Eidse, owner of Strawberry Lane Fruits and Flowers, has been selling products at the St. Norbert summer market since it started in 1988 with only eight vendors. She now focuses on flowers and flower/herb arrangements. One trend she sees is grandparents bringing their families to the market. “They are often gardeners themselves and know how good the market is, so they are teaching their children and grandchildren. I have customers now who are the grandchildren of my early customers.

“The trend I really see now is buying fresh and local,” Eidse says. “People are aware of the carbon footprint, especially young people. They care about the environment, the cost of fuel to ship products, chemicals being used, and things like child labour. If you come to a farmers market you can talk directly to the grower and ask questions.”

Rural and urban

Phil Veldhuis, a long-time honey vendor at St. Norbert and chair of Direct Farm Manitoba, with a membership of about 50 farmers markets and 100 farms, says most growth in farmers markets has been in urban centres, while rural areas have the challenge of a more fixed customer base.

“There are small towns where they have a market, and down the highway there’s also one,” Veldhuis says. “So the number of people that are generally going to come to your market is your local population.”

Veldhuis says there has also been a gradual increase in ethnic diversity and ethnic foods in a market like St. Norbert, but it still has a ways to go to reflect the area demographic.

A study of Ontario’s Greenbelt surrounding Toronto shows that Canadian agriculture, dominated by generations of European-based farmers who have traditionally passed on their farms to family members, has been changing and opening up new opportunities for others. Canada’s shifting ethnic profile has been influencing new ways of food production and markets that offer a wider range of foods.

Iain Brynjolson has been selling at St. Norbert since 2015 as proprietor of Food for Folks. After working for more than a decade in produce, he decided a few years ago to try his hand at dehydrated foods, including products such as fruit jerky.

“There are still a lot of traditional farmers selling at the market but there are also people who are innovating, coming up with unique stuff,” Brynjolson says, adding that often, they hadn’t really planned on becoming vendors. “For me personally, I’m not following anyone else’s lead. I have been relying on my past experience.”

Brynjolson’s business has been doing well, but as a one-man operation he says he carefully balances his time between production and sales. He is opening up a small retail operation but enjoys selling at farmers markets and intends to continue on his own in winter at St. Norbert as well as at two other smaller indoor markets in Winnipeg. During the summer he says he sells his product at a couple of music festivals but doesn’t produce enough to sell all season.

Veldhuis agrees that with production requirements, vendors can spend only so much time on market sales. “There’s lots of vendors here who participate in three or four markets a week… it becomes a full-time job.”

Veldhuis points out that there has been “tremendous growth” in local markets with about 20 now in Winnipeg and about two or three new ones each year. Growth in local business associations and initiatives involving street level activity has supported an increase in farmers markets. “Sometimes it might be a couple of times a year, or a short seasonal market. Then some of them might find a niche and become self-sustaining.”

An economic impact study of Manitoba farmers markets was last conducted 10 years ago, Veldhuis says. “We haven’t looked at it significantly since that study was done. There certainly has been growth in revenue of the markets. I would think, for individual vendors, revenue is up 30 to 35 per cent.”

More, more, more

Farmers markets boost demand for local while contributing to the ag economy

The increasing popularity of farmers markets is borne out in a number of studies conducted by provincial or local organizations in Canada, although most of the information is older than a few years and there are regional variations. (The now-defunct Farmers Markets Canada conducted a national study nearly 10 years ago.)

A relatively recent study, released in 2016 by the Greenbelt Farmers’ Market Network in the Toronto and Niagara region, contains a number of conclusions including:

• Markets are growing as a trusted source for fresh local food.
• Farmers are deriving more of their business income from markets as secure and predictable sales channels.
• Sales are prompting farmers to grow new varieties and increase acreage for market production.

The study also shows that most farmers who participate in farmers markets believe demand for local food is on the rise, and some are expanding sales channels to include farmgate/farm stands and CSA sales/distribution.

As well, the study states that farmers markets help strengthen the local food economy, given their role in bringing together farmers with buyers including chefs, food service, caterers, local retailers, and small-scale processors.

Catherine Clark, executive director of Farmers’ Markets Ontario, which has 180 farmers market members, says the group last conducted a study in 2009. Sales in Ontario are estimated to have increased annually about 10 to 12 per cent to about $800 million with an economic impact of over $2.5 billion.

“Consumers want to buy from the farmer, not re-sellers,” Clark says of the Ontario market. “They want to know where their food comes from. That’s the new trend.”

According to the BC Association of Farmers’ Markets, that province has a high rate of direct marketing due to the prevalence of small farms. Georgia Stanley, membership and communications manager, says support for farmers markets is strong as customers have a desire for different types of shopping experiences that align with their values, and they want to build direct relationships with the farmers.

“There is a continued interest in accessing fresh, healthy, in-season and local food, and farmers markets are an excellent place for that,” Stanley says.

In addition to the benefits, growth in the number of markets has also brought some challenges in that B.C. farmers and other vendors may have to travel more to smaller farmers markets, she says. “Overall, they may get the same sales, but they’ve had to travel further and put in more time. Another challenge, which is often discussed across Canada, is the declining and aging population of farmers. Yet, despite the challenges, we know that farmers markets play a very significant role in marketing and sales for small farmers in B.C.”

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“The high-protein segment of the Nigerian market that was once (dominated by) U.S. wheat was completely replaced by CWRS in the last several years,” says Esey Assefaw, head of Asian products and pasta technology at the Canadian International Grains Institute (Cigi). “The remainder of the wheat needed by this market is from the U.S. and Black Sea region (Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan) and is medium to low protein.”

In 2016-17, Nigeria imported nearly 822,000 tonnes of CWRS — the highest in the last five years — in addition to 31,500 tonnes of Canada Western Amber Durum (CWAD), and smaller amounts of Canada Western Red Winter and Canada Northern Hard Red totalling 17,000 tonnes.

About 17 per cent of Nigerian wheat imports are currently from Canada, says Yvonne Supeene, Cigi’s head of baking technology. As a high-protein wheat, CWRS is primarily used for blending with lesser-quality wheats. “Bread is the main wheat-based end-product but pasta, rice and noodles are also eaten. This is a growing market for western Canadian wheat and the potential is huge.”

Supeene and Assefaw were part of a Cigi technology team that also included Norbert Cabral, acting head of Cigi milling technology, who visited Lagos, Nigeria, in March. While there, a technical workshop and seminar were held for customers on the fundamentals of CWRS quality related to milling, baking, and the processing of noodles and pasta.

The session participants represented 85 per cent of the market and other wheat classes such as CWAD and Canada Prairie Spring Red were also showcased, says Assefaw. He notes that pasta processing is the fastest-growing food manufacturing sector of the Nigerian market. “Although CWAD is used for pasta, price sensitivity in this market may also provide an opportunity for other wheat classes such as CPSR.”

Assefaw says another common Nigerian product for which CWAD may also have potential use is semovita, a starchy food made of wheat or white wheat, cooked into a paste and eaten with soups.

Supeene says bakers in Nigeria face challenges such as extreme heat and rudimentary processing methods. The marketplace does not have large industrialized bakeries and the infrastructure does not support wide distribution of bread products. “The baking industry is completely different from North America. There are about 90,000 small bakeries, mixing is done by hand, and bread is produced mainly for a local market.

“Customers depend on the high-protein, high-quality and strong gluten characteristics of CWRS to help overcome any processing challenges,” she says. “Improvements have been made to the CWRS class in the last few years and that quality and consistency needs to be maintained.”

Cigi began meeting with customers in West Africa several years ago and last December presented new crop seminars with a Canadian industry team in Nigeria and Ghana. The most recent technical visit to Nigeria was formalized at that time and more visits to this growing market are expected in future.

“It’s important that we maintain a presence in Nigeria,” says Assefaw. “Even though Russian wheat quality is inconsistent compared to CWRS, customers are getting used to it and may find ways to manage it. U.S. wheat was replaced by CWRS so we can’t take this market for granted. Ongoing technical support to this market is needed to maintain relationships so Nigeria will continue to buy from Canada.”

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José Fernando Chacón Valencia, production and project manager for Harinera del Valle, a major milling and food processing company in Colombia, says that in the past several years his company has exclusively purchased Canadian wheat. As one of the country’s leading pasta producers, it uses CPSR and CWAD, respectively, for lower- and higher-quality pasta as well as blends of CPSR and CWRS for bread flour.

“We use both common wheat and durum wheat for pasta,” Chacón Valencia said while on a technical exchange at the Canadian International Grains Institute in September. “The market for premium pasta in Colombia is very small, and we only use CWAD for that. For the rest we use 100 per cent CPSR.”

In Colombia, pasta is more often served on special occasions and may be sold in packages as small as 90 grams, particularly in less affluent areas, he says. “Even then it may be for two or three people. They are not concerned whether it is al dente (firm texture) or has a nice (yellow) colour (that durum wheat provides). They look more at the price so in this regard CPSR is a good wheat for pasta.”

Chacón Valencia says that a few years ago CPSR improved in quality and has consistently met his company’s needs. Although at times there have been supply issues, there are no recent concerns.

During his time at Cigi, he also looked at other Canadian wheat classes such as the new Canada Northern Hard Red. “I wanted to find out more about CNHR and it sounds very good.”

Last June, Cigi visited Colombia, Peru and Chile and met with companies that import an average total of about 70 per cent of the wheat in each country. One objective was to learn about their use of CWRS and CPSR for flour and semolina production, both in blends and with other wheats as well as in end-use applications. At the time, the Cigi technical staff met with Cachón Valencia at Harinera del Valle where they found out more about the company’s operations and requirements.

Esey Assefaw, head of Cigi’s Asian products and pasta technology, says that the countries they visited have sophisticated milling and food processing operations, and as relative newcomers to pasta have assimilated it with softer traditional food products like rice.

“Typically they use 100 per cent CPSR for low- to medium-quality pasta and they will also do some blending with (higher-protein) CWRS or other wheats for baking and other end products such as noodles,” he says.

Yvonne Supeene, Cigi’s head of baking technology, says she was impressed with the amount of CPSR used in Latin American countries. “The biggest thing I took away was how valuable CPSR is in the market for pasta, as well as bread. They love it. There is a huge demand and if we had more they would buy it. They aren’t after really high protein, so a low-protein CWRS, or CPSR can meet their requirements. We noticed in those markets how CPSR is as important to them as CWRS.”

The Cigi staff also determined that if CPSR is in short supply it can be replaced with U.S. HRW, which used to be more commonly used than CPSR. Maintaining an ongoing relationship with Latin American customers is important as competitor wheats such as those from the U.S. and Black Sea region are slowly making inroads.

In 2015-16 Canadian wheat purchases totalled 916,000 tonnes (MT) in Colombia, more than 1.1 million MT in Peru, and 284,000 MT in Chile. Durum imports were about 31,000 MT for Colombia, 111,000 MT for Peru and 10,500 MT in Chile.

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Senior managers from Grupo Trimex, Mexico’s largest milling company and a customer of CWRS, attended a one-week technical exchange at the Canadian International Grains Institute in Winnipeg in June following a first-time visit by Cigi staff in Mexico last February.

Investigating other Canadian wheat classes was one reason Grupo Trimex accepted the invitation, according to one participant. The technical exchange featured hands-on demonstrations in Cigi’s facilities including the pilot mill and bakery as well as a tour of a Manitoba seed farm and a terminal elevator in Ontario.

“Mexico is a huge market which imported 4.6 million tonnes of Canadian wheat over five years to 2015, or about 17 per cent of their total,” says Juan Carlos Arriola, head of Cigi milling technology. “The Canadian imports averaged about one million tonnes per year but then dropped to about 700,000 MT in 2015-16 mainly because they bought more Russian wheat.”

Arriola says in his past experience working as a head miller in Latin America, Russian wheat was not considered a viable alternative to Canadian wheat. However, when in Mexico, Cigi staff discovered a significant amount was imported due to price, availability and improved quality.

Mexican milling companies import wheat from other origins as well, he says, such as France and the Black Sea region, often through brokers. While Canada exports mostly high-protein, high-quality CWRS, some customers purchase “grocery vessel” shipments of different quality and protein wheats from competitor countries for use in various types of bread.

Bread applications using CWRS are only 25 to 35 per cent of the Mexican market, Arriola says. “CWRS is often used for blending with local or other wheat to improve strength rather than using wheats like CPSR and CWRW because there is not always enough availability or knowledge about the different Canadian wheat classes.”

Luis Cortes, Grupo Trimex’s operations and technical director who is responsible for the operation of 10 mills across Mexico, says his company makes its own wheat purchases and imports about 200,000 MT of Canadian wheat annually, 99 per cent being CWRS. In total, Grupo Trimex imports about 1.2 million tonnes annually of which 70 per cent is from the U.S. as well as from Russia, Ukraine and France in addition to local wheat.

Cortes says his company mills a range of flours from low-protein cake flour to high-protein industrial bakery flours. Few of their customers require 100 per cent CWRS although some do for premium products.

“About 80 to 90 per cent of our production involves blending wheats, so we can use CPSR, CNHR or CWRS,” Cortes says. “Since Cigi’s visit to Mexico in February we found there are these other milling classes available. We have seen the (milling and baking) performance results of CNHR, all the technical data, and it looks very promising.”

Cortes says his four colleagues on the technical exchange also included the manager of the largest mill in Latin America and manager of the company’s second largest mill. “I asked them to come to Cigi as well because they are the largest users of CWRS and would likely be the first to use CPSR or CNHR.”

Meeting with Cigi technical staff in Mexico and coming to Winnipeg has opened doors, he says, adding that also establishing close working relationships with wheat suppliers is key to doing business with Grupo Trimex.

“The relationship with traders is very important for us,” Cortes says. “We need partners who can provide solutions for our needs.”

The post Competing with Russian wheat appeared first on Country Guide.

Couscous is a popular traditional dish in the region, a granular product made from durum semolina, a coarse flour which is produced by milling the kernel’s endosperm. It is cooked by steaming and typically served with meat and vegetables.

Earlier this year Cigi conducted its first durum investigative mission to Morocco and Algeria, gathering market information on behalf of the Canadian value chain to ensure CWAD quality continues to meet customer requirements. Cigi staff visited mills and couscous- and pasta-processing companies in both countries as well as an Algerian testing laboratory.

“We don’t have a lot of experience with couscous and have tried to find out more from customers on programs at Cigi but unless you visit their facilities and talk to people there, you don’t get the same sense of what they require,” says Elaine Sopiwnyk, Cigi’s director of grain quality. “It may sound simplistic to say it’s all about colour, but we found out it is all about colour.”

Esey Assefaw, Cigi’s head of Asian products and pasta technology, says the visits revealed that customers were more than satisfied with higher-quality CWAD of which 100 per cent is usually used in premium products, adding that there is market segmentation with low-, medium- and high-quality products. Companies that Cigi visited manufacture both couscous and pasta, with the latter usually viewed more as a value-added side product in bigger processing operations in the region.

“This was Cigi’s first mission to North Africa aside from new crop missions where we present annual crop-quality data to customers,” he says. “We haven’t had an opportunity before to visit mills and processing companies in these countries to get a firsthand look at their markets. We found that the most important requirement in their products was the excellent yellow colour that CWAD gives and which currently faces no competition in the market.”

In Algeria, CWAD is occasionally blended with locally grown durum for a lower-quality pasta product for the domestic market or for export to price-conscious Sub-Saharan African markets, Assefaw says. CWAD is only rarely blended in Morocco with durum from another origin such as France when availability of higher-grade CWAD is limited. More couscous is produced in Morocco than in Algeria which processes more pasta.

“We were told that women, who are primarily responsible for grocery shopping, can go to the supermarket and determine couscous quality based on colour,” Sopiwynk says. “It’s common that their couscous or pasta is purchased from stores selling bulk products and pasta is sold as short goods like rotini rather than spaghetti which would break if sold that way. Middle- or upper-class consumers might go to a grocery store where premium products would be sold as packaged goods with brand names.”

Sopiwynk says the only concern raised during the visit was about DON levels and the impact on imported durum, which emphasizes a need to look at developing fusarium resistance in CWAD (DON or deoxynivalenol, also known as vomitoxin, may be present in fusarium head blight infecting wheat or barley).

Customers indicated protein is also important but not as critical as colour, Sopiwynk says. Hard vitreous kernels or HVK (vitreousness, or translucence, indicates kernel hardness) are related to protein content and milling quality. A certain percentage is required to achieve a higher grade of CWAD from which a better quality semolina is milled.

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“The aim of Cigi’s pilot bakery is to replicate what the industry does,” says Yvonne Supeene, head of baking technology. “We reduced the salt level in all bread formulations, and in our test bakery as well. It’s a great initiative, and the right thing to do.”

Supeene says that, in addition to Canada, bakers in many other countries are reducing salt use, with the U.K. taking an early lead.

Cigi’s baking technical specialist Yulia Borsuk concurs. “When we visited commercial bakeries in Latin America last year, for example, sodium reduction was of primary importance.”

The Canadian baking industry, has been gradually reducing salt levels in commercial breads in response to a Health Canada initiative aiming to decrease sodium consumption as a health risk contributing to rates of hypertension and heart disease. According to Health Canada, Canadians consume twice the recommended amount of sodium, largely from processed foods.

In 2008 Health Canada established the Sodium Working Group to set guidelines for a gradual voluntary decrease of sodium in the Canadian food supply by December 31, 2016. A document Health Canada published for the food industry in 2012 set a target level of 330 mg per 100 g for pan bread.

The Baking Association of Canada says that between 2009 and 2015 the industry voluntarily reduced sodium levels by 13 per cent in white pan bread and 16 per cent in whole wheat breads.

Lower salt requires better wheat

However, Borsuk says salt is an essential ingredient in baking around the world.

“Sodium has a huge impact. It not only enhances the flavour but is also very important functionally in that it strengthens the gluten (protein) and makes the dough feel stronger in addition to other reactions.”

Supeene says salt is typically added at a level of 1.5 to two per cent, and slows the rate of fermentation, controls bacterial growth, and acts as a preservative. Salt reduction not only affects protein functionality but also end-product quality and shelf life.

“Salt is the major, but not the only, source of sodium in bread as even water contains it so the sodium level depends on the formulation of all ingredients,” she says. Cigi used a calculation to reduce sodium to the target level in formulations then sent the bread samples to a lab for verification.

Supeene points out that sodium reduction is also of importance to wheat growers because it affects the quality of wheat used for different commercial bread products.

“Globally, the expectation of high wheat quality is going to become even more critical because a lack of sodium stresses the gluten or protein quality.”

She says that when meeting with international customers who are reducing sodium levels, Cigi will need to demonstrate that Canadian wheat will still perform well, providing the end-product quality they have come to expect.

“Different markets have varying degrees of sophistication and knowledge and many customers prefer a higher protein class such as CWRS to blend with other (weaker) wheats for their products,” Supeene says. “We can help customers with any challenges they face with sodium reduction, provide technical information on alternatives or the impact of changing formulation. Some may be willing to lower product quality while others may want the identical quality and to know what they can do to compensate.”

She adds that for the 2017-18 crop year Cigi will use its lower sodium levels when evaluating bread quality for the annual harvest assessment in preparation for the new crop missions, as well as for potential new wheat varieties submitted to Cigi for Prairie Grain Development Committee testing.

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Together with Warburtons, the U.K.’s largest bakery brand, the Canadian International Grains Institute is undertaking its most comprehensive investigation into quality characteristics and functionality of pulses and pulse flours as ingredients in baked products, says Ashok Sarkar, senior adviser in technology at Cigi.

“Improving on common wheat-based food products by adding pulse ingredients — which are high in protein and fibre — or using them to create new products can open the door to greater demand for pulses and more opportunities for food processors,” he says.

Elaine Sopiwnyk, Cigi’s director of grain quality, adds that there are some positive aspects to combining pulses with wheat in food products. “They are complementary to wheat in terms of amino acids, so when you combine them you have a full or balanced protein.”

The three-year research project, which focuses on yellow peas, navy beans, red lentils and chickpeas, adds to the work Cigi has undertaken over the past decade in collaboration with pulse growers and industry on the functionality and application of pulse flours. It reflects growing consumer demand for new and innovative bakery products, Sarkar says.

“We know a lot about wheat but not as much about pulses as ingredients so we want to learn more. Pulses are very new in that respect. We have started looking at the impact of storage time and particle size on pulse quality and flavour when they are used in baking or for other end-products. This is a more structured study that includes components such as a G X E (genotype versus environment) study of pulses, pre- and post-milling treatments of pulses and how this all affects the final product with respect to flavour, functionality and end-product quality.

“From beginning to end we’re mapping everything out,” he says, noting that the information will be compiled into a database and made available to industry.

“We’ll know the raw material profile, the processing profile, and specifications of the flour. The information coming out of this research will help guide us and establish some standard specifications for pulse flour that will be suitable for baking applications.”

New Warburtons products

Working with Warburtons also helps bring the information to commercial reality, Sarkar says. Warburtons has worked closely with Cigi for a number of years on an annual harvest analysis and end-use evaluation of Canadian wheat varieties the company contracts for use in its baked products.

“Pulses are a great way to create a product with high protein and fibre,” says Adam Dyck, Warburtons program manager (Canada). Last September, the 140-year-old family-owned company launched four different new protein bread products containing pulse ingredients. He notes that Warburtons developed the products in response to increasing consumer demand for healthier foods. All of the pulse flours used are from crops grown and processed in Canada.

Dyck says that although the addition of pulses can present challenges in baked goods, he is pleased with the final quality of the new products. “We successfully increased the levels of protein and fibre with pulse ingredients while maintaining Warburtons’ superior quality that makes it the top-selling bakery brand in the U.K.”

In addition to in-kind support and funding for a pilot-scale fermentation tank at Cigi from Warburtons, Saskatchewan Pulse Growers provided $1.8 million for the project last year. Funds were also allocated from the governments of Canada and Manitoba through the Grain Innovation Hub, and from the Western Grains Research Foundation and Manitoba Pulse & Soybean Growers. Some research activity is also being carried out at the universities of Manitoba and Saskatchewan and at Warburtons’ facilities in the U.K. in support of the work at Cigi.

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Since 2014 Cigi has been conducting a four-year project funded by Pulse Canada and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in consultation with industry to investigate the quality, functionality and nutritional value of pulses as a commercial food ingredient.

“We’re looking at the effects of processing and optimizing pulse ingredients for specific applications,” says Heather Hill, project manager, pulse flour milling and food applications. “Cigi has evaluated the use of yellow pea flour in instant noodles and breakfast cereals. Work on either pasta or extruded snacks is planned for 2017. Yellow peas were selected to explore potential opportunities as ingredients since acreage grown is relatively high but use for food is limited.”

• Read more: Boosting nutrition in gluten-free foods

Deep-fried instant noodles are consumed in more than 80 countries and are valued for their low cost, easy preparation, favourable flavour and long shelf life, she says. However, instant noodles are also high in fat and low in nutritional value (protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals).

Cigi has been investigating how particle size of the pulse ingredient as well as post-milling heat treatment affects end-product quality, Hill says. “For noodle work we heat treated the yellow pea flour through an extrusion process to partially cook or gelatinize the starch or flours to not only change their flavour profile and offset any strong raw pea taste, but their functionality as well.”

Yellow peas were milled into coarse semolina, heat treated, and then roller milled into flour. Non-heat treated yellow pea semolina was also milled and re-ground into flour. Each pea flour was then blended at a level of 20 per cent with CWRS flour for instant noodle processing. CWRS flour was also used to process a wheat control sample for comparison.

The right texture

Results revealed that the wheat noodles had the most acceptable texture followed by those made with non-heated treated pea flour and heat treated pea flour, respectively. Acceptable texture is characterized by a firm bite, a common consumer expectation from the traditional use of wheat and the gluten it contains in the processing of noodles. Noodle elasticity was reduced in noodles made with the pea flours.

Many consumers, depending on the demographic, prefer a rubbery elastic sensation with a smooth surface when eating noodles. In addition, noodles made with the heat-treated pea flour had less pea flavour.

“The non-heat-treated pea flour had a slightly stronger flavour whereas the heat-treated pea flours had less flavour but noodle texture became much softer,” says Hill. “This is interesting because different markets value different attributes. Consumers (of instant noodles) in Asia would find texture is paramount whereas in North America consumers are more sensitive to flavour. It’s very important to know how processing changes certain quality attributes.

“We are now looking at the next steps, taking what we have learned in this work to continue with optimization,” she says, noting that different ingredients can be added to improve flavour and texture.

An important benefit found in the analysis of the instant noodles made with 20 per cent yellow pea flour was a three per cent increase in protein over the wheat instant noodles, and a five per cent increase over a retail sample, Hill points out. The finding is significant as further optimization can be done to increase protein levels to possibly achieve a nutrient content claim. Levels of nutrients such as iron, niacin and potassium were also found to be higher in the noodles made with pea flour.

Hill adds that future plans include engaging a commercial noodle manufacturer to help direct noodle optimization and determine what nutrients are important to them in product development.

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“It’s important that we get the information out as quickly as possible on what’s coming through the system so customers can see what they’ll be getting and if there is any guidance we can offer on processing,” says Cigi CEO JoAnne Buth. “The crop is being exported as we are talking to them about it, so for customers it’s about seeing what changes in quality they may encounter.”

For the third year in a row Cigi is working with Cereals Canada, the Canadian Grain Commission, exporters and producers to meet with Canadian wheat customers. Starting in November, the group began visiting 17 countries in Asia, Latin America, Europe, North Africa and West Africa in addition to meeting with millers in Canada and presenting webinars.

Nine grain companies participated in Cigi’s harvest assessment program this year, submitting samples for milling and end-use quality evaluation, says Lisa Nemeth, Cigi’s director of international markets. “Grain companies have sent in more samples this year, which may be due to an increase in downgrading and the need to assess the lower grades that are available. We have had a very good response. The attention they’ve been giving Cigi’s harvest assessment this year is really positive.”

Samples from the different companies are blended into composite samples according to wheat class which undergo extensive analysis of milling and flour properties that include protein content, gluten strength, starch damage, colour and rheological properties as well as end-use suitability. Composite samples of CWRS are representative of east and west regions, while other wheat classes such as CWAD, CPSR and CWRW are made into prairie composites.

This year, due to significant downgrading, No. 4 and 5 CWAD have been analyzed in addition to the higher CWAD grades, Nemeth says. The grain companies were also asked to submit samples of the new wheat class Canada Northern Hard Red (CNHR) for analysis.

New-crop seminars are important because customers need to understand the quality of the lower grades, she says. “Customers are going to want to see the data and how the wheat works in processing. It’s important to pass that information on and to have technical staff answer questions about the impact of downgrading. This is what new-crop missions are about, how customers transition quality-wise from one crop year to another. And it is even more important for us to be there when there is a shift in quality from the previous year.”

Buth notes that this year the CGC loosened the guidelines for mildew as a downgrading factor after two years of investigation. Cigi milling staff provided advice to the CGC for this change.

“Two years ago we were able to show customers that mildew wasn’t going to affect their end product and there were certain techniques in milling that would alleviate issues,” Buth says. “So the CGC studied it in order to address that. Cigi was working on how to help customers get the best out of the crop but also working with the CGC to make sure the grades that farmers are receiving are fair as far as how they relate to the customer use. These guideline revisions are good news for farmers.”

Buth says that after wheat, flour and semolina analysis, the processing and evaluation of end products such as baked goods, noodles or pasta is a crucial final step in completion of the quality assessment of the harvest for a given crop year. (At press time, the product evaluation for 2016 was not yet complete. For information on the 2016 western Canadian crop go to canadianwheat.ca.)

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In July, grain-grading seminars were held for farmers in Yorkton and Swift Current, Sask. for the first time as a joint effort between the Canadian International Grains Institute, Canadian Grain Commission and Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission (Sask Wheat), says Dean Dias, Cigi’s director of value chain relations.

A workshop was also held in Vermilion, Alta., hosted by the Alberta Wheat Commission. AWC conducted its first grain grading session for farmers in Olds in 2015.

“Organization was done by Cigi, and the CGC was invited to conduct the grading demonstrations and brought in samples showing the different grades and degraded wheat,” says Dias. “CGC staff were brought in from Weyburn and Saskatoon for the Saskatchewan seminars and Calgary for the Alberta workshop.”

He says that in Saskatchewan, in addition to hands-on grading demonstrations, presentations covered an update on Sask Wheat and Cigi activities, and the CGC’s wheat class modernization initiative.

Plans for the grain grading workshops have been ongoing for a couple of years, says Dias, adding that more workshops will be held. “Producers have been asking a lot of questions about grain grades. The biggest concern has been that at harvest the grain looks great but when they take it to the elevator they aren’t getting the grade they expect.”

Dias explains that the process is not just about the grades but how the grain affects the quality of flour and end-use products, and that a certain amount of damage can cause performance problems. Cigi technical staff gave presentations explaining the effects of degrading factors on end-product quality.

John Wozniak, a farmer who is also a director with the Alberta Wheat Commission, says he took the workshop because he wanted to find out why he thought his grain looked better than the grade assigned at the elevator.

“After 32 years of grain farming I never questioned the grading system till last year,” he says. “Now I understand because they look at factors like frost damage, colour, mildew, sprouting — there’s a whole combination of things, like weather patterns that can affect it. You can have light frost (damage) but buyers may not want frost at all because of the way it affects the quality of the dough.”

Glenn Tait, a farmer and director with Sask Wheat, says he also wanted to know more about grain grading and what to look for in his samples.

“We’ve all got a biased opinion of our own grain samples,” Tait says. “We want to be able to tell what the grading or downgrading factors are so if a sample looks a little rough we know why it can still make a No. 1 or understand if it has quality damage that isn’t immediately evident. We should be trained in what to recognize.”

He says that farmers should also be reminded that they have the option to appeal a decision on the grade of their grain made at the elevator with the CGC.

Randy Dennis, chief grain inspector for Canada, says the workshops provided producers with invaluable information. “The producers will now have a better understanding of how quality is assessed in the grading system, how to recognize and assess individual grading factors, the importance of and manner in which to collect a representative sample of their grain, and knowledge that there is an arbitration method if there is a disagreement on grade, dockage, etc. when they deliver to the primary elevators.

“What tied a lot of this together were Cigi staff explaining the relationship between grading factors and the impact on milling and baking, essentially demonstrating there is sound reasoning why our system operates the way it does.”

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