Tala Mobayen is the director of Victoria Pulse Trading Corporation as well as an active participant within GPC Young Professionals. Drawing on her experience working with Saskatchewan pulse growers, she discusses the challenges facing Canada’s exporters and the role Young Professionals have to play in revolutionizing pulses.

The GPCYP Internship Program will launch this September in Canada. To apply, fill in this form by August 20. For more information, contact youngprofessionals@globalpulses.com. 

Originally from Iran, Tala Mobayen was raised in Dubai before moving to Vancouver at 18 to study engineering. Settling in the city after university, she worked as a structural engineer before deciding to enter the pulse industry - a family business. Mobayen completed business school to equip her with professional expertise but, when it came to the challenges of working in a male-dominated industry, she was well prepared.  

“At one stage I thought about becoming a structural engineer”, she told GPC, “but I decided it wasn’t really what I was looking for; I wanted to be in more of a dynamic industry.”

The Mobayen family goes way back in trading, having been in the tea business for many years. Her father started Victoria Pulse Trading 20 years ago.

“I’ve always been drawn to the agri sector” says Mobayen. “I’m passionate about pulses and feeding the world; it’s an interesting, politically-affected, ever-changing industry.”

With engineering a heavily male field, Mobayen was already used to what she says is a similar sort of environment in agriculture. 

“In fact, I would find myself displaced if it was the opposite way; if I was working with lots of women, that would take more getting used to” she smiles. 

For Mobayen, herself involved in the recruitment process, the most important factor isn’t necessarily ticking gender and diversity boxes: 

“It’s really a combination of various attributes altogether. I’m always keen to get the best candidate, not only because of gender.” The area in which she’s focusing her attention is on the youth: “Whether they’re male or female, we absolutely need a drive to get more young professionals.”

GPCYP: the next generation of industry leaders 

Five years ago, during the late Hakan Bahceci’s GPC presidency, Mobayen joined the organization as a Young Professional and the experience helped propel her career. 

“The GPC Young Professionals is a step-by-step way to get more involved”, she says. “You make friends, foster connections and because of that you can trade and learn a lot from each other.” 

A few of the Young Professionals graduated to GPC executive roles: living proof that the community’s goal of training and informing young people works. 

“The idea is that when these fresh faces enter the industry, they’re welcomed in and educated so they know who to contact and who to connect with and can get their hand in.”

Mobayen asserts that while YPs bring new technology, ideas and innovations, the industry veterans’ knowledge base is gold.  

“The industry has evolved a lot, but the veterans have so much experience and trading knowledge.”

What needs to happen, she believes, is for the two to synchronize. 

“Traditionally the pulse sector was always trading- and volume-based but today, with all the young professionals coming in and talking about nutrition and sustainability, we really need this young mindset to integrate with the foundational wisdom of the veterans. This will foster advancements and benefit the pulse industry as a whole.”

One figure who stands as a role model for those entering the field is GPC President Cindy Brown. 

“Being the first woman president of GPC, Cindy Brown acts as a big advocate for attracting more women and young professionals into the industry”, says Mobayen. 

Liaising with the Young Professionals Committee, Mobayen is the boots on the ground in Canada for the GPCYP’s internship program, which will pilot in her home country in September 2022. The idea is to educate young professionals currently in the pulse industry about the different pulse-producing regions; learn about the value chain, about startups, tech and innovation, and the food ingredients sector.

“The internship program will take place every year in different pulse producing regions and this year as a pilot program we’re going to have it right before the Canadian Pulse and Special Crops Convention in September” she explains. 

Challenges and opportunities for Canadian pulses

One of the massive challenges facing existing and potentially future industry workers is supply chain issues and food insecurity. 

“Just in terms of getting product and food to countries and logistics issues, such as the availability of containers, has been a huge, huge challenge in terms of our planning” says Mobayen. 

“Supply chain has been extremely difficult; the price of commodity obviously makes it less affordable. The freight, the price of oil just adds onto it. The price of oil is probably 20% of the cost of increasing commodity prices here in Canada.”

Vital to focus upon in the future, she says, is an awareness of how to collaborate with governments and different organizations in order to secure availability and access to food. 

“That’s one thing I hope we as young professionals can target in the food sector. I think we need to get involved and be involved in order to bring change and make an impact.”

The main crops Victoria Pulse Trading exports are lentils, peas and chickpeas, with the majority being lentils. In light of both rising export costs and the plant-based boom, Mobayen envisages concentrating on domestic markets for the foreseeable future: 

“As we’re extolling the benefits of pulses and nutrition, domestic markets in North America and the ingredients sector, that’s where I think the next steps will be: different avenues where pulse protein is utilized. Security, accessibility and affordability are all big concepts.”

Pulses: the future of food

Stressing that she’s not a nutritionist, Mobayen avoids taking a hard line when it comes to diet, instead listening to her body and eating in a way that works for her. 

“I love pulses – I eat pulses at least twice a week – but I also eat meat, fish and chicken. I eat a well-rounded, balanced diet and I consume more whole pulses as opposed to processed pulses. For me, it’s about eating whole foods.”

Because they’re so nutritious and sustainable to grow, Mobayen says she sees pulses having a huge, positive impact for the planet. It all comes down to education. 

“I’m very pro pulses for the future of the world. We should be educating future generations, especially on the nutritional aspects of pulses – that has to start from a young age, even in kindergarten. Teaching children, because there are so many people who still don’t know what a pulse is. Education is going to be key.”

Post-pandemic: a return to in-person business

According to Mobayen, the nature of the pulse industry, with its many conferences and trade shows, usually allows for plenty of face-to-face conversations and meetings. 

“Because of the international trading environment,” she says, “we’re able to meet most of our clients during trade shows a couple of times every year. 

“I find our industry is a very relationship-based, peoples’ industry. We’re a family business, and our belief is that we need to lead with integrity and walk the talk.” 

The past two years, when in-person meetings became scarce, highlighted just how critical meaningful interactions really are. 

“A face-to-face meeting has got so much more importance and value for our industry. Developing customer relations is a core principal of ours and we know how much communications affect how we run a business and trade with our buyers and clients. 

“We hadn’t seen our buyers in so long and the relationships we’d built prior to that, we tried very hard to strengthen and keep. Trust plays a big role in our industry.”