3 Ways the Roquette Pea Protocol Helps Farmers

Food means togetherness. That’s true for families at the dinner table, and it’s true for industries collaborating to find more sustainable ways to feed the planet. Everybody eats. And everybody is invested in producing food.

That principle extends across Roquette’s supply chain, too. Collaboration with those at your ingredients’ origin – the farmers who grow Roquette peas – is an essential part of the process. And it’s important to ensure the relationship is mutually beneficial.

Roquette’s work with farmers begins with a single set of guidelines, the Roquette Pea Growing Protocol. More than a list of rules, the Protocol is a process that ensures ongoing evaluation and improvement. It’s a way of working better, year after year.

Here are three ways the Pea Growing Protocol yields benefits for farmers growing for Roquette.

1. Better compensation. Farmers working with Roquette add value to the process. They are paid a premium for their extra effort of following the Roquette Pea Growing Protocol.
   
   “We’re taking a commodity – field peas – and turning it into a specialty crop,” says Bruce Brolley, Senior Agronomist with Roquette in Canada. “Our farmers grow according to our protocol, and we ensure the quality of what they grow with traceability reports.”
   
   Because the quality of protocol-grown peas is higher, they’re worth more.
2. Guaranteed production schedules. Logistics and efficient processes are key in any business – but in farming, they can be the difference between having valuable crops to sell and having something no one wants to eat. Partnering with Roquette gets farmers access to a strong logistic network.
   
   “Roquette invests in research to guarantee solutions in terms of farmers’ production routes,” says Bruno Ben-Said, Raw Materials Purchasing Manager. “We work hand in hand with storage organizations to bring innovations for farmers.”
3. Long-term market viability. The future can bring opportunities – or threats. But one thing is clear: Plant protein isn’t going anywhere.
   
   “By 2050, we’ll have enough people on the planet that we can’t feed everyone with animals,” says Tricia White, a global account manager with Roquette. “The industry has evolved to ensure that we can meet the challenge of feeding the future population. We call the move to plant protein a trend – but I think it’s a change in thinking.”
   
   Roquette will dramatically increase its capacity in 2020 with the opening of a new facility in Manitoba, Canada and has expanded its pea processing capacities in France. Investments like that are long-term, and growing with Roquette means farmers are developing expertise that will serve them well into the future.