Interest is strong in Canadian soybeans

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

by SUSAN MANN

There was a large turnout at seminars hosted by Canadian soybean groups during a trade mission to Japan, Singapore and Malaysia last month.

Canadian Soybean Council coordinator Nicole MacKellar says they don’t know how much Identity Preserved contracts are anticipated to expand due to the mission because “we’re not directly working with producers on setting up contracts.” The council just does generic promotion on the quality of Canadian soybeans.

But the large attendance at each of the seminars in the three Asian countries shows there’s a great interest in Canadian soybeans. She says buyers say “they’re quite happy with Canadian soybeans” and companies not currently using them are expressing an interest now that they’ve heard about the quality characteristics they can get from Canada.

MacKellar says the main objective of the trade mission, which was took place Feb. 18 to 29, was to build and maintain the relationships Canadian soybean groups have with industries in those counties. She notes Japan is Canada’s number one market for food grade soybeans.

Along with representatives from the council, other officials on the trade mission were from the Canadian International Grains Institute, the Canadian Soybean Exporters’ Association and the Canadian Grain Commission. The mission was partly funded by the Canadian government through the Growing Forward’s AgriMarketing program.

One of the next steps include passing along information to farmers that was learned through tours and meetings in key markets to expand the production of Canada’s high value Identity Preserved soybeans. In addition, major Japanese soybean buyers will be touring Ontario farms and handling facilities this summer.

Based in Guelph, the council was established in 2005 as a partnership between soybean growing provinces – Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec. Its focus is to identify and develop new export markets for high quality Canadian soybeans. BF