The CEO of Roquette's excited about their pea protein extraction plant coming to Portage la Prairie.

Jean-Marc Gilson says with a $400-million investment on the line, it wasn't a quick decision.

"We're announcing a very large investment of 400 million dollars, and because of the investment, we've been very thorough in our analysis. So over the last 18 months we've looked into about 40 different sites in North America in the U.S. and Canada and then over the last 6 months, we've really looked into narrowing down and zooming in on the right locations. At the end of the day, we decided on Portage."

Gilson says they chose Portage because of the easy access to raw materials and a very good access to a good workforce. "Other things like access to renewable resources, hydroelectric power is very important to us too," says Gilson. "A great logistics hub and it will be easy to ship from here across North America. Last, but not least, it was a great and business-friendly environment for us. So when you put all of that together for us it seals the deal."

He adds at the end of the day they really enjoyed what Portage had to offer, and he's looking forward to the future.