Burcon NutraScience Corp (TSX:BU, NASDAQ:BRCN) has said it expects its joint venture partner Merit Functional Foods Corporation to secure sales contracts with leading food and beverage customers that will “reap long term benefits” for the company.
Burcon, a global technology company involved in the development of plant-based proteins for food and beverages, is a joint venture partner and licensor of Merit’s pea and canola technologies.
In an update to shareholders, Vancouver-based Burcon said that Merit has fulfilled new and repeat purchase orders from consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies looking to incorporate Merit's best-in-class pea and canola protein ingredients into food and beverage products.
READ: Burcon NutraScience receives co-investment from Proteins Industries Canada to develop food-grade proteins from sunflower seeds
"Food ingredient sales tend to be recurring and long-lasting once incorporated into a product's formulation," Peter H Kappel, Burcon's interim CEO said in a statement. "The sell-in process takes time to materialize but we expect that securing sales contracts with leading food and beverage customers will reap long term benefits for Merit."
Kappel, the company’s chairman, is in the CEO role on an interim basis. The company told investors that its search for a permanent CEO is “at an advanced stage,” with a number of experienced candidates narrowed down to a promising shortlist.
Future opportunities
Burcon also said that it is advancing discussions with potential partners on other plant-based protein opportunities.
“We are very encouraged by the progress of our potential partnership discussions and continue to work towards reaching an agreement to bring our innovative protein technologies to market,” the company said in its update.
Burcon is also collaborating with food processors to explore opportunities to leverage its core protein extraction and purification platform for use in upcycled protein production arising from under-utilized crops or byproducts that are otherwise disposed as waste or sold as animal feed.
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