The market for plant-based foods has never been higher, hitting $7 billion in the United States in 2020, up from $5.5 billion the year before.
Global Food and Ingredients supplies premium, sustainable plant-based protein ingredients sourced across North America, from farmers to consumers right across the globe.
As more consumers than ever before seek to reduce their meat consumption, they are looking for more and better alternatives.
To tell us more about that tasty subject, we are pleased to be joined today by the company’s President and CEO, David Hanna. David, thanks for taking a few minutes out of your day for us.
TMH: To start with, give us an overview of your company. Tell us about your products and your production operation in Saskatchewan and Alberta.
DH: Okay, great. GFI is a fully integrated farm focused on peas, lentils, chickpeas and beans. We source at the farm. We process locally and we ship to 37 countries around the world. We’re organized according to four product lines. We have our pea protein inputs business, which is focused on supplying specialized peas for the pea protein extraction industry. We have our plant-based ingredients, which is everything from peas, lentils, beans and chickpeas, as well as derived ingredients, such as fibers of flowers, and then we have our pet food ingredients business, which is focused on supplying blended and milk-based combinations of peas, chickpeas and lentils for the grain-free dog food market. Finally, we have our plant-based packaged goods lineup, which is focused on supplying consumer products that are made with our own ingredients.
TMH: What’s the biggest or most important thing you want your investors to know about GFI?
DH: So, we’re a very high-growth company. We’ve increased our sales over three years from $15 million to over $120 million. We’re vertically integrated and participate in every part of the supply chain for plant-based proteins. So we give investors a great opportunity to participate in the growth of this market through every segment of the supply chain.
TMH: You recently announced a brand refresh ahead of a major expansion into the U.S. and Canadian markets. Tell us about that and what you’re aiming to accomplish.
DH: Yeah, so we recently acquired two consumer products brands, one being YoFiit, a chickpea protein plant-based milk, and also Bentilia, which is a bread and lentil-based pasta that’s high protein and gluten-free. In both cases, these products have a phenomenal nutritional profile, a great taste and texture, and we felt that the opportunity was there to add some marketing dollars behind the branding and launch these products on a large scale in the U.S. market, and that’s what we’re in the process of doing right now.
TMH: You are convinced that demand for plant-based proteins is going to continue to grow appreciably over the coming decade; unpack that, and explain why that’s the case.
DH: Well, there’s been a huge shift in consumer behavior over the last number of years where people are getting more and more focused on health, looking at clean label ingredients in the products that they eat and also being more concerned about the environmental footprint of their food. Everything GFI does is focused on addressing these growing consumer trends. Everything we do is non-gmo and gluten-free. We are organic certified and we also handle products that are chemical-free such as glyphosate-free yellow peas. So we’re really focused on these trends. What we see is this trend continuing to accelerate and that’s driven our movement that we call flexitarianism, where people are eating more and more plant-based foods without necessarily going vegan or vegetarian, but reducing meat consumption and dairy consumption in their diet without giving it up and introducing more plant-based foods to compensate. This is a much more inclusive approach and it’s giving a much broader audience for our products and that’s what’s driving the exponential growth in our business.
TMH: Before you go, is there anything else we haven’t touched on that’s important for our viewers and your investors to know?
DH: Yeah, I mean, I just want to mention how engaged and committed our team here is. Management and insiders own over 70% of our stock. We’ve invested in every round of financing that the company has done since the beginning and we’re very engaged and proud of what we’re doing, and we’re looking forward to continuing to grow this business into a global leader and delivering shareholder value while we do that.
Thanks again for joining us at The Market Herald today, David. We look forward to chatting with you again soon.
We’ve been speaking with David Hanna, CEO of Toronto-based Global Food and Ingredients. The company trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the ticker symbol PEAS. You can also visit www.gfiglobalfood.com.
I’m Simon Druker for The Market Herald. Thanks for watching and we’ll see you next time.
FULL DISCLOSURE: This is a paid article produced by The Market Herald.