GFI announces acquisition of Alberta pet food ingredients production facility

Global Food and Ingredients Inc. of Toronto has announced the acquisition of a plant-based pet food ingredients production facility in Bowden, AB, and the creation of GFI’s new Plant-Based Pet Food Ingredients business unit. The facility produces custom blends of milled red lentils, green lentils, chickpeas, pinto beans, yellow peas, and green peas to produce specific nutritional profiles for pet food manufacturers.

The ingredients are said to offer a nutritious input into both dog and cat food, providing manufacturers with a healthy, environmentally sustainable plant-based protein source that serves as an alternative to animal-based ingredients.

The ingredients are also said to deliver economic benefits by reducing the overall production cost of pet food for GFI customers. In addition, the Bowden facility is designed to extract valuable ingredients from the by-products at GFI’s other facilities, greatly reducing waste through the extraction and segregation of by-products into pet food ingredients and other feed ingredients.

“This acquisition provides a significant growth opportunity for GFI to enter the fast-growing pet food market, furthering the plant-based movement. We can now offer healthy and sustainable, high protein formulated plant-based ingredients for pets that are cost effective and replace animal-based ingredients,” said David Hanna, CEO of GFI.

“The new capabilities acquired through this acquisition enhance the Company’s operations and represents a key step forward in realizing GFI’s zero waste strategy, maximizing the value of every step throughout our production systems while boosting profitability.”

According to the American Pet Products Association, sales of pet food and treats in the U.S. were US$42 billion in 2020 and expected to reach US$44.1 billion in 2021. The 2021-2022 APPA National Pet Owners Survey Statistics showed that 70% of American households own a pet, up from 58% in 1988, that 69 million American households’ own dogs and 45.3 million own cats. Lentil, bean, pea, and chickpea ingredients are a key component of many grain-free dog and cat food brands in North America.