Katan Kitchens’ Quinta Quinoa brand, the first Ontario producers and processors of quinoa, is partnering with PANGEA, an agricultural company in Quebec and Ontario, to test Quinta Quinoa in Quebec’s soils.
Through this partnership, commercial scale acres of Quinta Quinoa, Katan Kitchens’ flagship product, will be planted this year on farmland operated by PANGEA’s agricultural partners in several regions of Quebec (Centre-du-Québec, Lower St-Lawrence, Lac-St-Jean, and Chaudières-Appalaches). According to PANGEA’s agronomists, Quinta Quinoa was selected as it promotes a growth in the commodities value chain produced by PANGEA’s Quebec partners.
“We are very pleased with this agreement because it will give our agricultural partners the opportunity to test a unique and successful variety of quinoa in Canada,” said Serge Fortin, co-founder and CEO of PANGEA and a farmer himself. “We are very excited to be embarking on this journey with PANGEA and its partners to develop high yield, high nutrient Quebec quinoa” added Katan Kitchens/Quinta Quinoa’s founder and CEO, Jamie Draves.
This partnership comes at a key time for PANGEA because the company has made commitments to focus on crops that provide additional value to its partners and Quebec as a whole.
“We are committed to contributing to a sustainable and respectful agriculture. To this end, we are working to perpetuate true agronomic best practices according to the crop, while giving our agricultural partners the opportunity to test seeds with a high marketing potential,” says Serge Fortin of PANGEA. Jamie Draves of Quinta Quinoa points out that “Quinta Quinoa has become a strong crop opportunity in Ontario as a result of long-term breeding and innovative seed development plan. We are able to use these practices to hopefully accelerate the development of growing Quinta Quinoa in Quebec with these progressive producers”.
