Cargill invests $75m in pea protein producer Puris

Global food company Cargill has announced an additional $75m investment in Puris, a North American producer of pea protein.

This investment will enable Puris to double the production capacity of pea protein at its 200,000ft² facility in Dawson, Minnesota.

In January 2018, Cargill entered a joint venture (JV) with Puris with an initial investment of $25m, which was used for the expansion of a production facility at Turtle Lake, Wisconsin.

The addition of pea protein has expanded Cargill’s alternative proteins portfolio, which includes cell-cultured protein, to meet its consumer dietary preferences.

Cargill texturisers and speciality lead Laurie Koenig said: “As consumer demand increases for plant-based proteins, we want to make sure that Cargill, with our partner PURIS, can deliver on that demand with great tasting, sustainable and label-friendly pea protein for customers in North America and across the world.

“This investment also provides significant support to the local economy with approximately 90 new jobs and a new revenue stream for Midwest farmers.”

The latest investment enables Puris to meet the increasing demand for its pea proteins, starches and fibre products, which are claimed to be grown and produced via its vertically integrated and transparent supply chain.

Puris operate three pea protein manufacturing facilities, Turtle Lake, Oskaloosa in Iowa, and Dawson in Minnesota.

With the completion of the engineering works at Dawson facility, the company is planning to immediately to retrofit the facility for pea production.

Puris expects to begin pea protein production at the facility by late 2020.

Puris president Tyler Lorenzen said: “The Dawson facility will not only support PURIS farmers in the US with a crop that regenerates their land and that is sustainable because it provides soil health advantages but will also support the growing demand for great-tasting plant-based products in the market place.

“This investment will grant PURIS the ability to support more food companies, more farmers and more consumers faster.”

Earlier this month, Cargill partnered with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the US to open an Innovation Lab.