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Cargill invests in pea protein company
Cargill has invested in a pea protein production company by signing a new joint venture agreement with PURIS.
PURIS President Tyler Lorenzen tells Brownfield the partnership will expand their processing facilities in Iowa and Wisconsin as well as allow for investment in new sites. “We’ve always earmarked our production from the seed to the manufacturing facilities as U.S. dominate. We want to focus on the United States and with this, it allows us to expand our production facilities and acreage base.”
The vertically intergraded Minnesota-based company offers non-GMO and organic seed to growers and processes peas into a plant-based protein for the food industry. Lorenzen says as the company grows, so will their need for farmers. “We’re working with growers that are working to transition to organic, make more non-GMO acres, and are trying to do something more valued-added and different that can be a benefit to their soil health as well as to the bottom line.” He tells Brownfield PURIS has adapted varieties that work in southern climates to allow for double cropping, expanding their grower network from Montana to Arkansas.
PURIS is the largest producer of pea protein in North America.
AUDIO: Interview with Tyler Lorenzen
Tags: Cargill, consumers, crop rotation, Crops, non-GMO, organic, peas, protein, soil health, vegan
There is a big trend in consumption of plant protein products. High protein isolates became popular as an ingredient in many food products to enrich the nutritional value. One of the big challenge with plant protein product is the organoleptic properties specially the taste and the physicochemical characteristics specially viscosity and dispersion. Good luck Cargill.