REGINA — Scoular Canada has opened a flax processing plant at its site just east of Regina in Richardson, Sask.
The high-speed processing facility is the first new flax plant in Western Canada in nearly 10 years, according to the company.
Jeff Vipond, vice-president and general manager for pulses, seeds, distilling and milling, said Scoular is targeting the healthy food ingredients market and locating the plant next to its existing pulse processing facility made sense for added efficiency, leveraging resources and for the company’s grower base.
Scoular bought the former Legumex Walker plant in Richardson seven years ago and has continued to expand its flax intake.
Although Vipond declined to say how much flax the company will buy or move through the facility, he did say the focus of the new plant is to use automation and its high-speed line to clean to high standards.
“We’ll continue to grow our volumes but the big thing is to be able to clean flax to the purity requirements of our customers at an industry-leading capacity,” he said. “We’re targeting the healthy food ingredients, the expanded use of flax in the human consumption market. Their requirements are 99.9 percent plus purity. Also, there’s a growing usage of flax in the pet food market and they have very high strict quality requirements into that market as well.”
Flax is desired for its omega-3 fatty acids and fibre content. Scoular produces whole and milled brown and golden flax for breads, cereal, snacks, oil, livestock feed and more.
The company plans to export but the primary focus is North America, Vipond said.
The plant is certified organic.
The opening coincides with record-high flax prices and strong demand. Global supplies are tight after last year’s drought in North America.
Vipond said the decision to situate in Richardson made sense when looking at a map of the primary flax-growing regions. He said 80 percent of Canada’s production is in south-central Saskatchewan. Scoular has locations in northern Saskatchewan to handle flax grown there.
He also said Regina is ideal as a centralized logistics hub to service Scoular’s markets.
Scoular joins a list of several agricultural companies that have either built or announced intentions to build significant projects around Regina in the last couple of years.
Vipond said Scoular has spent about $10 million at its site over the last 30 months to build the new plant and add cleaning capacity to its pulse facility, where it handles peas, lentils and canaryseed.
The flax plant was commissioned earlier and is now fully operational.
Vipond noted Scoular has been licensed and bonded in Canada for more than 25 years, offering farmers comfort that they’re dealing with an established company.
