Published in the November 2017 edition by Mark Halsall.
Quinoa, the ancient South American grain that’s been touted as a gluten-free superfood, is gaining popularity with Canadian farmers, but in commercial terms, it remains a small niche crop in this country. Jamie Draves is among those who believe made-in-Canada quinoa has great potential for expansion, especially if varieties can be produced here that are better than the competition from South America.
In 2011, the Ontario health food entrepreneur, dissatisfied with what he considered the highly variable quality of imported quinoa, decided to try to make a go of producing quinoa commercially. “My vision from the start has been the belief that with our soil conditions, our ag best practices, and by putting in a lot of research and development into finding the right varieties, we can provide the world’s leading quinoa with regard to nutrition,” Draves says.
There have been numerous challenges to overcome, but thanks to hard work and resolve – as well as a successful pitch on the CBC television show Dragons’ Den – the efforts of Draves and his team are paying off. Draves started his quinoa campaign by spearheading a government-funded project to investigate whether quinoa could be grown and processed on a commercial scale in Ontario.
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