Pontus Protein is pleased with the progress on the development of its first commercial production facility. The 20,570 sq. ft. production facility is located in Surrey, British Columbia. "After years of planning and testing in our Victoria, B.C., test facility, I am very pleased to see the progress with the tenant improvements for the facility construction. I can see the floor plan coming to life," said Steve McArthur, Chief Technology Officer of Pontus, who has also provided a video of the progress here.
"Our entire team, from EllisDon, ICE Construction, and all their subtrades, engineering, and architectural consultants have been a pleasure to work with. We've been moving as quickly and efficiently as possible while staying on budget, and having fun while we do it."
Pontus received their work permit to begin tenant improvements from the City of Surrey in May 2021. Since then, the Company has secured EllisDon as its owner's representative, and ICE Construction as the general contractor. The Company has seen rapid progress in developing the shell of the building into a biosecure facility using novel technology to sustainably grow the rapidly growing and highly nutritious water lentil species. The internal walls and flooring are 95% complete. These are targeted to be complete by the end of next week. At that time, installation of the fish farm and shelving will begin.
The laboratory was completed mid-summer, as projected, and is currently awaiting electricity to be installed which is planned within the next two weeks. At that point, Pontus can start its initial production phase that will enable consumer acceptance testing to be completed, to finalize packaging development, and begin initial product sales.
Equipment for the facility has arrived and is in storage, including the custom-designed LED lights, shelving, drum filter and UV filter for the fish farm. Due to COVID, some items were predicted to take a longer lead time. For example, the air handling units in the HVAC moved to 30 weeks. The team has worked collaboratively to source new units that can be delivered in 10 weeks and re-engineered the design for these specific units.
For more information:
Pontus Proteins
www.pontuswaterlentils.com