Ingredient suppliers respond

Shifting consumer purchasing patterns have attracted the attention of fats and oil suppliers, and many have updated their product portfolios to reflect the potential demand for varieties with added benefits.

Cargill, Minneapolis, said in early March it has expanded the varieties of Non-GMO Project verified ingredients available to the market and introduced an identity preservation process in order to add more transparency to its production processes.

Oil varieties added to the company’s non-G.M.O. product line include mid-oleic sunflower oil, Clear Valley high-oleic canola oil and soybean oil.

Packaged Facts found that millennial and younger consumers seek to avoid overly processed foods and ingredients, potentially boosting the appeal of natural, unrefined oils.

“Cargill is uniquely positioned to help our customers translate growing consumer demand for non-G.M.O. products into profitable growth,” said Lea Buerman, food safety, quality and regulatory manager for Cargill. “Cargill’s combination of the industry’s broadest portfolio of non-G.M.O. ingredients, well-established crop sourcing programs and our KnownOrigins identity preservation process enables our customers to scale production with confidence and get to market quickly with new non-G.M.O. products.”

The KnownOrigins program features such protocols as traceability back to the producers of raw materials like soybeans, corn and high-oleic canola, according to Cargill. Testing to ensure ingredients are non-G.M.O. will be done on either harvest bin composites, incoming truck deliveries or finished ingredients depending on the raw material variety.

This past January, Bunge North America, St. Louis, said its Whole Harvest subsidiary was expanding its non-G.M.O. oil capabilities by adding plants in Modesto, Calif., and Oakville, Ont. The two plants allow the company to offer more soybean and canola oils verified by the Non-GMO Project.