New Cargill labs refine nature
Facility in Fort Collins works on adding omega-3 acids to canola oil
Scientists at a new $10 million Cargill Inc. seed-research facility in Fort Collins are working to create oils that are healthier than what nature produces.
Researchers at the Specialty Seeds and Oils Innovation Center are striving to breed canola plants that will produce oils very low in saturated fats and containing omega-3 fatty acids that don’t naturally exist in canola.
Cargill has been doing seed research in Fort Collins since 1967, starting with hybrid wheat, sorghum and sunflowers but switched gears in 1994 with the purchase of Idaho-based InterMountain Canola, facility manager Steve Stadelmaier said.
Now the Fort Collins site focuses exclusively on canola seeds and canola oil, attempting to look into the future of consumer demand to create a product in a process that takes eight to 10 years.
The new facility combines the site’s 48 employees from four existing buildings into one 45,700-square-foot high-tech center.
The site also has 26 greenhouses where researchers can grow three crops a year to hasten the breeding process. Another is in the works.
“This investment was made because of the omega-3 project,” Stadelmaier said.
Health-conscious consumers have become more aware of the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids, which come mostly from fish. Cargill already sells a product, IngreVita, which combines fish oil with canola oil, but it’s working on a way to cut the fish out of the equation.
Using a genetic modification developed by BASF Plant Science that allows the omega-3producing properties from algae and other plants to be inserted into canola plants, Cargill’s Fort Collins scientists are on track to put a product on the market by 2019, according to Jenny Verner, president of Cargill Specialty Canola Oils.
Cargill sells the seeds to farmers — mostly in Canada — who grow the canola plants and sell their crops back to Cargill, which crushes and refines the oil and sells it to companies such as McDonald’s, Chickfil-A and Marie Callender’s.
“We’re primarily an oil business,” Verner explained. But developing its own one-of-a-kind hybrid seeds creates an integrated supply chain that benefits the company, she said.
Although none of Cargill’s canola is grown in Colorado, Fort Collins is a natural fit for the R&D center, Stadelmaier said. The climate — low humidity and plentiful sunshine — works well for greenhouse plants, he said, and the company has a close relationship with Colorado State University.
“Fort Collins is a great place to bring customers,” he said, “and it’s a great place to do business.”