Sunday, May 07, 2006

Soy Innovations to open Indianola production facility

By Joe Gardyasz
joegardyasz@bpcdm.com

Soy Innovations International, a subsidiary of Triple “F” Inc., an Urbandale-based natural foods company, is moving forward with a $5.1 million expansion project in Indianola.

Soy Innovations plans to modify a 54,000-square-foot building it’s purchasing on the northeast side of Indianola to serve as its primary production facility. The building, located in the city’s industrial park, will also house the research and development operation of another Triple “F” subsidiary, Insta-Pro International. Insta-Pro makes oilseed crushing equipment for the emerging biodiesel industry.

When the new plant is on line late this year, it will double Soy Innovations’ current production capacity, said Wilmot Wijerante, the company’s director of research and food technology.

At the existing Urbandale plant, “our capacity to manufacture is only about two tons [of soybeans used] per hour,” Wijerante said. “Over time, we have developed markets for our products so that today, we are pretty much up to capacity. And our prognosis is that the business is going to grow, and so to attract additional business it was necessary to expand our production capability.”

The new facility, which will be certified as both organic and kosher, will be staffed with 12 employees, a number the company expects to double within about five years as production increases.

Soy Innovations was launched by Triple “F” four years ago, after the company conducted extensive research into ways to create good-tasting soy food products for human consumption, using a non-chemical process to extract the oil. Among the Iowa companies that buy Soy Innovations ingredients are West Des Moines-based Heartland Fields LLC, which uses its textured soy protein in its frozen meals, and Natural Products Inc. of Grinnell, which uses textured soy as a meat extender and soy flour in its baked goods.

With the new plant, which Soy Innovations plans to open by December, the company will have enough space to eventually process up to eight tons of soybeans per hour, Wijerante said.

Soy Innovations’ main product lines include soy flour, textured soy proteins and soy-cereal combinations that its customers use to make retail products ranging from cake mixes to frozen meals. The private company sells to food businesses in 97 countries.

Triple “F” considered a number of possible sites in Greater Des Moines, among them the Agrimergent Park on the East Side, and locations as far north as Boone and south to Osceola, said Scott Fortune, director of operations for Insta-Pro.

“A site became available in Indianola, and between their economic development group, the city and their municipal utility group, they worked with us so well that they made us an offer we couldn’t refuse,” he said.

Last month, the Indianola City Council approved a $114,000 incentive package consisting of a $15,000 forgivable loan, a five-year property tax abatement and street improvements needed to handle truck traffic to the plant. Indianola Municipal Utilities separately approved a $20,000 loan, half of which is forgivable if the project creates 11 full-time positions within its first two years.

In March, the Iowa Department of Economic Development awarded a $100,000 loan to the company, half of which will be forgiven if the company meets a goal of creating 10 jobs with an average wage of $20.19 per hour.

The building, which had been used by a trucking company to store its vehicles, is owned by Downing Construction Co. of Indianola, which has also been contracted by Soy Innovations to complete the renovation work.

Besides adding $1 million in value to the city’s tax rolls, the project is expected to benefit local soybean growers. The company has contracted for 1,000 acres of farmland this growing season for its identity-preserved, non-GMO soybeans, for which local farmers will earn a premium of about $1.50 per bushel over the commodity price.

“To me, any time that a business that locates in the metro area that also uses resources generated in the metro area, that’s one of the best combinations,” Indianola Mayor Jerry Kelley said. “We’re talking about a product being generated, soy, that’s being turned into a value-added product in our area.”

Approximately half the building will be set up for manufacturing, with the balance used as warehouse space where the products will be held for several days for quality analysis prior to shipping. The manufacturing equipment to be used in the facility will be built by Insta-Pro.

In addition to having the plant certified by the Iowa Department of Inspections, which is U.S. Department of Agriculture-accredited, Soy Innovations plans to obtain kosher certification through the Orthodox Union of New York and organic certification from Quality Assurance International.

Soy Innovations plans to keep its Urbandale plant operating and will likely use it exclusively for producing its textured soy meat-substitute products, Wijerante said. All of its other product lines will be made at the Indianola plant.

“Ultimately, there may be other uses we can put this (Urbandale) building to so that we may eventually move everything out (to Indianola),” he said.

Click to view article in Des Moines Business Record Online