GrainsWest Fall 2020

Fall 2020 grainswest.com 35 This is because it provides flexibility by consistently meeting customer needs while adapting to variability in the supply of smaller wheat classes. Today, most CPSR is sold by specification in blends known as CPS+, a blended end product that includes CWRS and CPSR. In the 2018/19 crop year, wheat sold by specification, including but not limited to CPS+, accounted for roughly 13 per cent of Canadian non- durum exports to the world, added Ramage. To further develop the market, Cereals Canada and the Canadian International Grains Institute (Cigi) recently delivered a four-day targeted technical baking program focused on promoting CPSR and CPS+ to Colombian millers and bakers. Yulia Borsuk, manager of end products at Cigi and resident baking expert, conducted the workshop. “It was very well received,” she said. Ramage suggested this approach has also been productive. “Continuing and expanding this training program will play an important role in strengthening customer relationships and establishing the understanding needed to build new opportunities for CPSR and medium protein blends in key export markets,” said Ramage. Currently, though, export demand exceeds supply. “If we had more production, we could sell more to the existing markets we already have,” said Rhyl Doyle, Paterson Grain director of export trading. “I mean, generally, we run out of CPSR.” Paterson’s export customers really like Canadian Prairie spring, he said. In Latin America, for instance, they use it as a substitute for hard red winter wheat and blend it with CWRS as a cost cutter. And some baked goods require lower protein flour. “When you’re selling for the next crop, you don’t necessarily know what the protein is going to be,” said Doyle. “In a year like this where it’s very wet, you can have lower protein. It’s risky to sell and guarantee 11.5 [per cent protein] without the ability to blend in some CWRS to bolster the protein if necessary.” Typically, there’s very little carryover of CPSR wheat from one year to another, so there’s no insurance to fall back on, either. Instead, they sell CPS+ and work with the customer to decide how much CWRS or Canadian Northern Hard Red (CNHR) can be blended in to bolster protein. Paterson’s export customers are now quite comfortable with this blended product, said Doyle. DEMAND FOR CPS+ GROWS The main markets for CPSR wheat are the Latin American countries of Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru. Indonesia and Sri Lanka have also been important markets. While at first glance it may appear that export volumes of CPSR are down, they aren’t. Over the past decade, CPSR production has increased. In 2010, CPSR production was 1.1 million tonnes. That number rose to 1.5 million tonnes in 2019. In terms of market demand, Ramage believes there is strong potential for diversification and growth in CPSR and CPS+. This, he said, could be accomplished through new approaches to market development that bring together key members of the value chain. In fact, market development projects are underway. Borsuk has travelled to all of Canada’s Latin American grain export market nations and witnessed first-hand the strong interest and appetite for CPSR and CPS+. “There is huge demand for this class,” she said. “They would keep buying more if larger volumes were available for export.” End users are very happy with CPSR and CPS+ blended wheat. The medium protein class is used in many applications, including baking, pasta and even noodles. Customers like its absorbency. It has good protein strength, which is important for baking quality. It’s tolerant to processing and long fermentation, has good strength and extensibility, which is very favourable for shaping. In a blend with CWRS, CPSR works well for high-volume pan bread and hard breads such as French baguettes, as well as flat breads, crackers and croissants. Cigi’s Yulia Borsuk,right, recently delivered a CPSR and CPS+ baking workshop for bakers and millers in Colombia.