Calyxt enters commercial soybean crushing agreement with Landus Cooperative
Date:06-26-2019
June 24, Calyxt, Inc., a healthy food ingredients company, today announced that it has entered into a commercial crushing agreement with Landus Cooperative, significantly expanding Calyxt’s network of processing partners. With this agreement, Landus Cooperative, with decades of soybean crushing experience, will manufacture, purchase and distribute soybean meal.
This agreement positions Calyxt’s high oleic soybean meal as an ingredient for the dairy nutrition market with the benefits of Calyxt’s Identity Preserved model.
Landus Cooperative, a farmer-owned cooperative, is the sixth largest grain company in North America (based on storage capacity) aggregating more than 170 million bushels of corn and soybeans annually. Headquartered in Ames, Iowa, Landus Cooperative has locations in more than 60 communities in Iowa, approximately 7,000 members and annual revenues of more than $1.2 billion.
“We’re excited to work with another cooperative of superior caliber, thereby expanding our geographic footprint and improving scalability, which better positions us to operationalize our go-to-market strategy and serve large global consumer packaged goods brands,” said Jim Blome chief executive officer with Calyxt. “Landus Cooperative’s well-established position as a leader in the dairy nutrition space will only bolster our reputation and further establishes trust in us as a healthy food ingredients company.”
Calyxt high oleic soybeans will be processed in Landus Cooperative’s state-of-the-art crush plant in Ralston, Iowa which consumes more than 21 million bushels of soybeans annually.
“Calyxt is a bridge between consumers and food companies looking to domestically source healthier and more sustainable ingredients, and the potential benefits of high oleic soybean meal make this an exciting new alternative,” said Milan Kucerak, chief executive officer with Landus Cooperative. “We have long been the tie between the farmer and end-user markets. With Calyxt’s unique technology, our shared vision is now for specific acres to be planted for a targeted, consumer-destined purpose, in turn, elevating the value of what was once just a commodity.”