Alinova to build $24M soymilk powder plant in Morrisburg; province to provide $1.5M

Alinova Canada Inc. will invest nearly $24 million to build a soymilk powder processing plant in Morrisburg that the Ontario government says will be Canada’s first non‑GMO facility, with $1.5 million in provincial funding and 15 jobs.

The plant will use Ontario‑grown soybeans and is expected to produce more than 1,200 metric tonnes of soymilk powder annually. Ontario accounts for 59 per cent of Canada’s soybean production.

Ontario is supporting the project with $1.5 million through the Eastern Ontario Development Fund, a stream of the Regional Development Program launched in 2019.

Alinova is a joint venture between Japan’s second‑largest soymilk producer, Marusan Ai, and Ontario‑based David J Hendrick International Inc.

“With their new Morrisburg facility, Alinova is onshoring key processing capacity from Japan for Ontario’s agri‑food supply chain,” Vic Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, said in the government’s announcement.

“For the past 20 years, our company has enjoyed a strong relationship with the non‑GMO soybean growers of Eastern Ontario,” said Nobuyoshi Sakai, president of Marusan Ai.

The government said Alinova’s investment is the second major investment it highlighted this week, with the two totalling $262.4 million in planned investment and up to 365 Ontario jobs.

Through the Eastern Ontario and Southwestern Ontario development fund streams, the government says it has announced more than $160 million for 131 companies, leveraging over $1.8 billion in industry investments and creating more than 3,300 jobs.

Ontario’s food and beverage manufacturing sector includes 4,675 businesses.