Plant-based demand driving growth for Bunge in Shelby County
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St. Louis-based grain and soybean manufacturer Bunge North America Inc. broke ground Thursday morning on a more than $500 million soybean processing facility in Morristown.
The new facility, which will employ about 70 full-time workers, will produce soy protein concentrates and textured soy protein concentrates for use in the production of plant-based foods.
Aaron Buettner, president of food solutions for Bunge, said building the plant in the Shelby County community where it has had a large soybean processing plant operating since 1995 was an easy decision.
“It’s really the relationship that we have with community and the farmers,” he said. “This is a part of the world that grows soybeans very, very competitively. And then the quality and the relationships that we have with our farmer customers to grow the types of soybeans that our customers [who] are consumers on the other side of the chain want is really high and strong here.”
When fully operational, Bunge says the facility will be able to process an additional 4.5 million bushels of soybeans in addition to the existing plant.
Plant-based food ingredient growth in Indiana
As demand for plant-based foods increases, so too does the need for ingredients to make them, and Indiana is beginning to carve out its place in that market.
Last week, New York-based Liberation Labs broke ground on a $115 million biomanufacturing facility in Richmond. The facility, which will add 45 jobs, will produce alternative proteins for use in food products such as almond milk and plant-based meat.
The existing Bunge plant in Morristown, Buettner said, is largely focused on processing soybeans for animal feed as well as oil extraction for further food processing. The new facility will take the proteins that have historically gone to feed and further process them for human consumption.
Buettner said growing consumer preferences has led to greater demand for plant-based food alternatives.
“I think the consumer bases that are developing and entering the workforce today have a different perspective on what’s important to them, and are more driven by the environmental or sustainability concerns and then also from a nutrition perspective, look at this as an addition to maybe a traditional protein diet,” he said. “So, there’s a lot of flexitarian demand that’s emerged around the world and we see that continuing to grow for for decades.”
“A big step forward”
The new Morristown facility gives Bunge a production base that can serve not just North America, but a number of export markets as well, Buettner said. The company plans to focus on the nearby market in the short-term, but officials are looking beyond.
“Our business is global, and we do have the aspirations to be a leader in our business everywhere in the world,” he said. “We’ll be looking for other opportunities to grow this business in due time in other parts of the planet.”
The 70 new jobs will add to the 100 Bunge employees already employed in Morristown. Buettner said the company is confident it can find the workforce it needs because of its reputation in the community.
“We’re always concerned about getting the absolute best people that we can, and you see what’s happening in the world; it’s getting more and more difficult to find the right employees. But I think we’re very confident in our ability to do that here in Morristown. The track record and the quality of the team that’s been on the ground here gives us that confidence.”
The current Bunge plant sits on 116 acres in Morristown and produces a variety of products, including soybean meal and soybean oil, with about 80% of the beans that are processed coming from Indiana farmers.
Buettner said the success of the plant made it easy to select Morristown for the new facility.
“We wouldn’t be making the kinds of investments we’re making in the facility if we weren’t really comfortable and confident that we have a great team here that’s hungry to grow the business and that will put our investors’ money to work in the community here.”
The new plant is expected to be operational in mid-2025.