Why is Prairie mustard seed sent to other countries for processing?

If you’re dining in France and your food includes Moutarde de Meaux, it is highly likely the mustard seed came from Saskatchewan.

Wasabi in your sushi take-out order? It’s probably made with Saskatchewan mustard seed.

Yellow mustard on a hot dog at a Major League Baseball game? Same answer.

“We have the perfect climate for growing mustard,” said Rick Mitzel, executive director of Sask Mustard.

According to Mitzel, 50 per cent of the world’s mustard seed comes from Saskatchewan.

Regina-resident and mustard consumer Samantha Taylor wonders why we ship the seeds instead of processing them in Canada.

“We’re one of the biggest growers and we don’t actually process mustard here. We send it away and then we buy mustard,” she said. “Seems like a no-brainer to me.”

Taylor put her question to the CBC podcast Good Question, Saskatchewan.

Mitzel said it’s cheaper to ship the seeds, versus a jar of processed mustard.

He also said we don’t have the infrastructure to process mustard the ways Europe, Asia and the U.S. do.

We also produce more than we could ever eat.

“We would only use a fraction of what we produce, for sure,” he said.

Taylor said she believes this is a missed opportunity for the province.

“We have an entrepreneurial spirit here in Saskatchewan and we have lots of great things that we ship around the world,” she said. “Why couldn’t we ship mustard?”

Rick Mitzel, executive director of Sask Mustard, says about 50 per cent of the world’s mustard seed comes from Saskatchewan. (Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

Matt Sirois is trying to make the most of Saskatchewan mustard. He owns Gravelbourg Mustard, which purchases seeds from local growers to make seven types of mustard.

“It’s just nice for us to be able to refine it, and do that in Saskatchewan and sell it here.”

Gravelbourg Mustard is found in a handful of stores in Saskatchewan, B.C., Alberta, and Ontario, but not overseas.

“It’s kind of discombobulating to think that you could be at a fancy restaurant in Paris and be consuming Saskatchewan mustard.”

Mitzel said his organization is looking at all sorts of ways to expand Saskatchewan’s mustard industry and is not ruling out processing more here eventually.

In the meantime, Sask Mustard is working with the Saskatchewan Food Industry Centre to look at how mustard could be used in pet food. Mitzel said mustard can be good for an animal’s gut health.

“There’s a lot of pets in the world, right? So you don’t have to get much of that market in order to really boost your acres.”