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The Global Agri-Food Advancement Partnership (GAAP) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with 9 Mile Legacy Brewing Co. Ltd., formally establishing a collaborative framework to expand fermentation scale-up capacity within Saskatchewan's biotechnology sector.
The agreement, signed at the LGCY: Innovation Hub in Saskatoon, is designed to bridge the gap between early-stage research and commercial production for agri-food startups. By pooling infrastructure, the partnership aims to create a seamless developmental pathway for fermentation-based innovation.
Integrated Infrastructure: From Micro to Macro
The core of the collaboration involves integrating GAAP’s high-throughput screening capabilities with LGCY’s commercial brewing facilities. This creates a technical pipeline that allows innovators to transition projects from pilot-scale optimization directly to production-volume deployment.
The Scale-Up Pathway:
Stage 1 (GAAP): Utilisation of a 24 × 15 mL optimisation and selection bioreactor system for initial strain development and testing.
Stage 2 (LGCY): Transition to 3 × 600-litre production-scale bioreactors for real-world application and volume testing.
Adapting Beverage Tech for Biotech
Under the terms of the MOU, the organisations will develop integrated workflows that link these distinct operational capacities. A key focus of the partnership is the collaborative adaptation of traditional beverage fermentation equipment for advanced microbial fermentation applications—processes typically dependent on specialised bioreactors.
Furthermore, the collaboration will explore integrating GAAP’s advanced analytical tools into projects supported by the LGCY hub, advancing industry-relevant techniques while demonstrating the versatility of brewing infrastructure for the broader bio-economy.
The partnership underscores a commitment to strengthening Saskatchewan’s position as a global leader in the agri-food innovation ecosystem. By opening doors to shared infrastructure and specialised expertise, GAAP and 9 Mile Legacy aim to lower the barriers to commercialisation for startups in the rapidly expanding fermentation sector.
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