RPI’s 20 Stories for 20 Years – Big Mountain Foods
To demonstrate the impact that applied research projects make on all Manitobans, we present RPI’s 20 Stories for 20 Years. A compilation showcasing successful partnerships from the past and the present, with a constant focus on the future.
Since its launch in 2022, Big Mountain Foods Soy-Free Tofu has become a bestseller for the company.
Most plant-based foods are made using soy, wheat, and yellow or green peas, so consumers are demanding a wider range of plant-based food products. Big Mountains Foods Soy-Free Tofu filled a gap in the market by being free from all common allergens, made with Canadian-grown fava beans and loaded with plant based proteins. It presents an alternative for people allergic to soy that are looking for the indulgence and benefits of tofu as this product presents the same taste, colour, functionality, and texture as traditional tofu.
It’s the world’s first allergen-free tofu, which is probably why this groundbreaking product took home Best in Produce and Best in Innovation and Originality at the 31st Annual Canadian Retail Grand Prix Awards in 2024.
RRC Polytech’s Prairie Research Kitchen (PRK) first developed the prototype and the bench top production process for fava tofu in 2019 alongside several research and industry partners as part of The Prairie Plant Protein Project. Canada is one of the largest producers of pulses and lentils globally, and the research project aimed to bring more plant protein consumer-packaged goods to market.
“We used different protein extraction methods and specialized equipment to make new types of tofu using Manitoba-grown beans, soy and hemp. The fava tofu had the best texture,” explained Elena Gomez Haro, PRK’s Industry Liaison Manager.
This research provided fundamental knowledge about how different plant proteins work as tofu and highlighted value-added uses for their by-products. Prairie Fava, a partner of the PRK since 2016, was an ingredient supplier and industrial partner in the project.
Then, in 2020, Big Mountain Foods approached PRK to commercialize the prototype by conducting product and process validation with their newly purchased state-of-the art equipment. The PRK team supported Big Mountain Foods in its process validation work and adjusted the product to their production capacity and facilities. Thanks to an investment from Protein Industries Canada (PIC), this partnership grew into an ongoing one, and PRK became Big Mountain Foods’s product development partner.
“The technical knowledge provided by the Prairie Research Kitchen team was crucial to our product development,” says Jasmine Byrne, President of Big Mountain Foods. “From many refinement trials to on-site troubleshooting, their expertise helped guide us to achieve the results we’d been looking for.”
The partnership turned out to be good not only for Manitoba but for the whole country since Big Mountain Foods now sells this product at over 3000 stores across Canada and the United States. Gomez Haro says the initial fava tofu prototype wouldn’t have been possible without previous product development work with Prairie Fava and the contributions of RRC Polytech students.
“Culinary students worked on recipes and explored creative ways to use fava while following a scientific method to ensure the results were backed by research. Life Sciences students also helped develop methodologies and techniques for instrumental testing,” says Gomez Haro. “Their contributions added immense value at every stage of the process.”
Internal collaboration across all areas of the College is one of RRC Polytech’s strengths, which maximizes facilities and expertise to provide clients with solutions.