South Australia will miss out on thousands of local jobs with the Malinauskas and Albanese Labor Governments cutting funding for a project to turn the state into a world-leading plant protein manufacturer.

The plan to build new plant protein manufacturing hubs, in partnership with private enterprise, would have created 3,000 local jobs and a further 5,000 nationally and generated billions of dollars in exports.

The project, which was announced by the former Liberal State and Federal Governments, would have created a large-scale plant-based food and beverage value chain for South Australia and unlocked an entirely new export industry for the state adding more than half a billion dollars a year to the economy.

Shadow Minister for Trade and Investment, Tim Whetstone, said the establishment of state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in South Australia would have allowed the state to capitalise on rising global demand for plant-based foods and exports.

"This is a huge blow for South Australian jobs," Mr Whetstone said.

"While the world is now more than ever wanting protein as a stable food source, Labor is walking away from a massive global trade opportunity.

"The plant protein industry is one of the fastest growing in the world and our state was set to lead the way with the potential to create more than 8,000 jobs.

“South Australia is already world-renowned for our premium produce and this project would have allowed us to capitalise on the emerging global demand for plant protein-based food.

"Both State and Federal Labor have disappointingly walked away from this project in another example of Peter Malinauskas failing to stand up to his mates in Canberra."

South Australia already produces around 75 per cent of Australia’s lentils, 40 per cent of fava beans, and almost 35 per cent of field peas along with a well-established cropping sector but up until now these goods have been generally exported as bulk commodities.

The project would have meant that South Australia could exponentially increase the value generated from lentil and legume crops by creating a new range of high-value plant protein food. It is estimated that the value of plant protein increases 20-fold across the value-chain, turning commodities into a new multi-billion export industry.