This article appeared in the Winter 2014 issue of Pulse Crop News.

The 2013 Alberta Food Awards Were held on September 23, 2013 at the BMO Centre in Calgary. Local Pulse Grower and entrepreneur Joerg Klempnauer, won the “Best Value Added Snack Food or Confectionary product utilizing Alberta grown/raised ingredients” category for his snack food Crispeas®. Crispeas® are a Green pea (the same kind of peas used to make traditional “mushy peas” served with fish and chips) product that comes in many flavours. They are marketed as a healthy snack that consumers can enjoy without sacrificing taste.

Klempnauer also does sales and contracting for Columbia Seed Co. Ltd. He saw a gap in the market that was not being served and came up with the product. “We were shipping big amounts of tonnage (raw peas) to Asia, but did not have any domestic sales. Over the years traveling through Asia, I got the idea to make this product and one company in Thailand let me in the factory and that’s where it all started.” says Klempnauer. The journey from its inception to a finished product has taken about 8-10 years. “We wanted to make sure that they are gluten free so people with celiac are able to enjoy them.” Peanut and other allergies were also taken into consideration when coming up with the recipe.

Future plans for Crispeas® include getting HACCP certification (which is a certification process for the retail food supply chain) and being picked up by major grocery retailers. The biggest hurdle that the company now faces is figuring out which aisle that the snacks fit in in a store. “They are not a peanut, it is not a cookie, and they are not potato chips, this is the first product of this type produced on the Prairies.”

When asked about his thoughts on winning Klempnauer commented “Making something and it being good and winning awards is one thing, but the final end is the customer who makes the ultimate decision. You have many chances to sell the first package to somebody, but for us the main goal is to have repeat customers.”

For more information about Crispeas® visit http://www.crispeas.com