This story was originally written by Karen Briere and published by The Western Producer.
A pea plant proposed for Moose Jaw in 2016 appears to be a no-go.
One of the two main German proponents pulled out of the project last year and the other is battling legal difficulties related to his previous job at the Emsland-Starke potato plant in his home country.
Michael Schonert, along with three others, was accused of bribery and corruption in relation to preferential transportation contracts awarded to another company.
The trial continues in Germany.
Canadian Protein Innovation was to be a 100,000-tonne yellow pea fractionation plant costing $75 to $100 million.
Saskatchewan growers were to supply the peas, and quality was not necessarily a huge factor because the peas would be converted to starch, protein and fibre.
At the time, Schonert said the market research had been done and the United States was the main target, followed by Asia. The components were to go into snack food, pasta, candy, pet products and industrial uses such as diesel particle filters and paper coating.
However, a year after the November 2016 announcement, nothing had happened. The city extended deadlines on the land purchase and servicing agreement twice, saying each party was doing due diligence.
“It’s a big project,” the city’s economic development officer, Jim Dixon, said in October 2017. “We’re very confident it will happen.”
But it didn’t happen and other pea plants, including one at Vanscoy, Sask., and another in Manitoba were announced. The Vanscoy plant is operating and the Roquette plant near Portage La Prairie is under construction.
The province’s trade ministry said it has never been officially notified that the CPI proposal is not going ahead.
Meanwhile, the other German director of CPI, Uli Duka, said he withdrew from the project because of delays.
The full story can be read on The Western Producer's website.
