ADM Completes Acquisition of Kansas Protein Foods, LLC

ADM continues to invest to ensure it can meet customer and global market needs for alternative protein ingredients and solutions. We’re pleased to have acquired Kansas Protein Foods. Through this acquisition, Kansas Protein Foods brings great flexibility and capacity in unflavored textured soy protein, flavored alternatives and non-GMO proteins to ADM and our customers – all part of ADM’s commitment to ensuring we remain your partner of choice.

Cassie Schneider, Quality Manager at Kansas Protein Foods in Hutchinson, Kansas, worked for Kansas Ethanol, LLC for about 5 years until 2017 before returning to its ‘sister company’ in the food products industry over 2 years ago. She has a Masters’ degree in Agribusiness which has given her the confidence, experience and skills required to help push Kansas Protein Foods’ business forward.

“A big reason why I chose to come to Kansas Protein Foods (KPF) is that I believed and trusted in what they were doing here. While I didn’t have specific experience in Textured Vegetable Proteins, I liked the apparent direction of the company. There is a KPF Way. Do all the right things, be as invested and efficient as possible – since we’re such a small company – and make things better as long as we’re not cutting corners in the process to get things accomplished. And I’ll add to that… if you’re not learning something every day, then you’re not looking around here hard enough!”

Cassie became Quality Manager when Cameron Vincent shifted responsibilities to R&D. “I have a lot of lab background and feel like I’m well diverse in ‘connecting the dots’ with my production background here as well.” She manages a team of 3 people in the lab where quality, product testing and micro-testing in-house allows KPF to approve and release products sooner. A quick turnaround time on lot number product to approval to shipping allows avoiding the outside time and cost of a third-party lab.

“New product ideas are driven by our customers and by market demand… we get more experimental based on our customer requests. Our Imagic® products like bacon, taco and chicken are very popular, and Ultra-Soy® products provide sustained sales for us. But more plant-based protein snacks are blowing up in the food retail marketplace as well.”

Cassie also has 4 Quality Assurance monitors on 4 shifts reporting to her, and one who is in charge of the sanitation process. Her QA monitors test for moisture, color, size, and rehydration right off the production lines. The plant has been running 24/7 with 4 shifts since February 2022, due to current volume of business at Kansas Protein Foods. Cassie oversees the Food Safety Team in a plant that is not only SQF Certified but also has 2 PCQI-certified people on staff including herself. This team handles customer documentation requests, plant procedures, and all documentation flows through quality as well.

“When a customer calls here, I can confidently say that our CSR team is #1. You will get someone live on the phone and/or get a timely call back from one of us. Whether it be for general product questions, documentation requests for their audits, or sample requests for them to try, responding to our customers to meet their needs is Priority One. Our goal is to turn any sample request into a customer of that product.”

Cassie is extremely optimistic about the future of Kansas Protein Foods. “We can see that the food industry is always changing – in sustainability, logistics, health, nutrition, etc. – this is how the food protein market moves forward. Soy protein is high in protein, low in fat, and very cost-effective as either a meat extender or complete meat replacement. Therefore, it is very desirable in today’s world. Overall, there’s a lot of pride here at KPF. I’m very excited about expanding our opportunities globally while at the same time increasing awareness of our presence locally, here in Hutchinson and surrounding areas, as well.”

                                                                                                                                                   

Cameron Vincent, in Research & Development at Kansas Protein Foods, recently presented at the IFANCA 40th Anniversary Conference. IFANCA is a global leader in Halal certification, and many of Kansas Protein Foods’ Ultra-Soy® and Imagic® products have been certified Halal since 2019. A couple key points made from Cameron’s presentation: 1) You can actually grow more protein per acre at a less expensive cost than raising cattle for meat, along with being much more water efficient in the process. 2) Dietary proteins are not all the same. Complete proteins contain all of the essential amino acids in adequate amounts, and Soy is a complete protein source with neutral flavor and no masking required. 3) Plant-based food sales reached a record high of $7.4 billion in 2021 [3/24/22 Supermarket News].

        

NEW Imagic® Plant-Based Bacon Crumbles IB 218

The newest addition to our Imagic® Plant-Based Bacon Products are IB 218 Crumbles – Chewy. For more information on this product, please call or email us today!

Ultra-Soy® Textured Soy Flour: Non-GMO Project Verified

Kansas Protein Foods IP Program is based on Non-GMO sources of origin, with documentation through all steps of sowing, harvesting, storage, transportation and all stages of processing. Our product testing is completed by an accredited lab to ensure our product meets Non-GMO standards. Our Non-GMO Textured Soy Flour products include:

Small Sizes

  • MINCED N (Neutral), 1/8″ Minced
  • 200 N (Neutral), 1/4″ Minced

Medium Size

  • 100 N (Neutral), 3/8″ Bits

But if you have other specific Non-GMO needs, just reach out to us and let’s talk!

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