A Minneapolis, MN, based company has agreed to a five-year purchase agreement to begin operating the South Dakota Pulse Processors LLC’s facility near Harrold, SD.
The Harrold facility will be the company’s fifth facility, joining four others in Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota. PURIS employs about 175 people.
The Pierre Economic Development Corporation, along with South Dakota Pulse Processors, LLC and 84 South Dakota members invested nearly $4-million to build the Harrold facility in 2016. PEDCO owns and leases the land and building for the facility. Several lenders also assisted in the building of the facility which included Dakota Resources, South Dakota REDI fund, Rural Electric Economic Development fund, SD Works and Hughes County Regional Rail Authority.
Jim Protexter, COO of PEDCO, says having PURIS take over the facility that has been closed since March is a good outcome for the area. “We remain convinced that pulse crop processing makes sense and can be successful here. If the South Dakota Pulse Processor’s board and investors can get behind PURIS like they did the initial concept, we will return to creating jobs and adding value to locally-grown crops and producers.”
PURIS is an end- to- end producer of organic and non-GMO plant-based pulse ingredients. Starting from their own proprietary seed varieties to pulse origination and ending with USA manufacturing facilities and plant-based product development, they are leading the fast-growing trend of plant-based nutrition.
The PURIS system provides the seed, production contract, and market access to area producers of yellow field peas. PURIS producers purchase the seed from PURIS, raise the crops, then sell all of the harvest back to PURIS for further processing into ingredients at facilities in the USA to complete the closed-loop system. The PURIS system provides producers, food makers, and consumers full transparency of the journey their products take from seed to plate. South Dakota Pulse Processors, LLC will be involved in connecting local producers with PURIS.
“We supply farmers with seed and support to grow successful Non-GMO and Organic crops, establish clean farming practices, and navigate the certification process,” says Tyler Lorenzen, President of PURIS Proteins. “Each variety is naturally bred for superior yield, disease resistance, and vigor while leaving the soil healthier than it started. It is a system that benefits the consumer, manufacturers, producers, and the soil. This allows us to deliver plant-based foods from sources you can trust, that taste great, and are all grown and made in the USA.”
PURIS is expecting production to start in early 2019. PURIS will begin discussion with local producers to purchase harvested peas for PURIS production and signing up conventional and Certified Organic growers for the 2019 planting season.
“Building agricultural partnerships that incentivize USA farmers to grow sustainable and regenerative crops is what PURIS is all about,” says Lorenzen. “By developing seeds, markets, and an equitable path forward, we can foster adoption across the supply chain to enhance what is possible with American farming and the good food movement.”
