Cedar Rapids Gazette. IA
12-29-06
Push for More Healthful Foods, New CEO Bring Good Times for Low Lin
Soybean Firm Asoyia
Gazette, The (Cedar Rapids, IA) (KRT): Dec. 24 -- WINFIELD -- Gregory Keeley
had his Cedar Rapids house on the market and was all set to move to Ohio when
he learned about an opportunity that would change his future.
"I had been
doing some volunteer work with Curt Nelson, the president of the Entrepreneurial
Development Center in Cedar Rapids," Keeley said. "He introduced me to
Asoyia, and the more that I found out about Asoyia, the more I became excited
about the company."
The company, owned by 25 southeast Iowa farmers,
contracts with growers to produce ultra low linolenic soybeans developed by
Walter Fehr, an Iowa State University professor. Growers receive a premium
of 80 cents a bushel for non-genetically altered Asoyia soybeans.
Keeley,
former president and general manager of Penford Products Co. in Cedar Rapids,
became chief executive officer of Winfield-based Asoyia LLC in September.
Keeley succeeded Vivan Jennings, who serves as chief technology
officer.
Soybean oil contains linolenic acid, which makes the oil rancid over
time. To prevent spoilage, the oil is usually suffused with hydrogen, a process
that creates transfatty acid.
Asoyia soybeans contain 1 percent linolenic acid,
which does not require hydrogen. That makes Asoyia's oil ideal for restaurants,
distributors and food processors eliminating trans fat in their products.
"Asoyia
has a great product and a built-in market," Keeley said.
"Last year, we
contracted with about 150 farmers. This year, we're hoping to contract with more
than 300 farmers to at least double or possibly triple our acreage in the next
growing season."
In addition to Asoyia, DuPont Co. and Monsanto Co. are
involved in soybeans low in linolenic acid. DuPont and Monsanto sell seeds for
soybeans with between 2.5 percent and 3 percent linolenic acid to
farmers.
New York City recently banned the use of trans fats in restaurant
food and Chicago is studying a similar ban. In January, the Food and Drug
Administration began requiring packaged-food companies to disclose trans-fat
content on product labels.
Rich Lineback, Asoyia vice president of sales and
marketing, said regional restaurant chains such as Diamond Dave's, Hoolihan's
and Pizza Ranch are using Asoyia oil to eliminate trans fat and improve flavor.
He said more than 20 national food processors also are testing Asoyia to
determine if it will meet their needs for niche products.
"Pepperidge Farms
(owned by Campbell Foods Co.) is using our oil to produce 60 percent of their
Goldfish crackers this year," Lineback said. "Next year, they plan to use it for 100
percent of their Goldfish cracker production."
Ron Dickenson, president of
Diamond Dave's in Cedar Falls, said his chain tested a number of trans fat-free
oils before settling on Asoyia.
"There's no reduction in quality," Dickenson
said. "We believe that the product that we're producing is actually better. It's
crispier and, we think, tastier.
"We've been making our own chips from tortillas
for 20 years.
There's no question that the texture of these chips is better and
less oil remains in the basket.
"More importantly, it's a much healthier trans fat
and cholesterol-free product."
Asoyia soybeans are processed into oil by
Cargill at its Cedar Rapids oilseed crushing plant at 1103 12th Ave. SW. The oil
is shipped by rail tank cars to another Cargill facility in Des Moines and packaged
by PDM Inc. of Des Moines.
Keeley said contracting with Cargill to process the
soybeans into oil makes financial sense.
"To build our own soybean-crushing
plant would cost $50 million or more," he said.
"Cargill has the proven
expertise to process our beans and document the linolenic acid levels."
Paul
Kerr, manager of the Cedar Rapids West Cargill plant, said the facility is ideally
suited to handle Asoyia and other specialty soybean oil products.
"We are a
smaller plant than the large commodity-run facility we operate downtown," Kerr
said. "We're able to shift from one type of product to another fairly easily. With
Asoyia, we need to use an 'identity preserved' process to ensure that it is
processed separately from our commodity soybeans.
"When we start an
Asoyia run, we flush out the commodity soybeans. We test the soybeans for
linolenic acid content, bringing it down to 1 percent for the run. At the end of the
run, we flush out the Asoyia beans with commodity beans. The 'sweet spot' in the
middle is what is made into ultra-low linolenic oil."
Jim Sutter, vice president
and central region oilseed processing general manager for Cargill, said the
Cedar Rapids West plant has seen a multimillion-dollar upgrade in recent years.
That includes the addition of two new 50,000-bushel dry grain storage tanks and
two new oil storage tanks.
"We let Asoyia use some of our existing grain
storage space as well as the two new tanks," Sutter said. "We see specialty
soybean products playing a major role in the future of this plant as well as five
others owned by Cargill."
Visit Asoyia's headquarters in a former bank building
in Winfield and you will likely find few employees at their desks.
"We employ
six people right now," Keeley said. "Most of the time, everybody is out on the
road. We're trying to sign up additional growers for next year and Rich is usually
calling on prospective customers.
"We have kind of a 'virtual' company in the
sense that we're focused on results, not how much time people spend at their
desks. I remember a recent board of directors meeting where most of the
directors were using their cell phones while driving their combines."
Author:
George C. Ford, The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa