Mulberry soybean plant to grow
Edamame processor is sole large-scale operation in U.S.
The only large-scale edamame processing plant in the U.S. is expanding and adding a new product line.
Located in Mulberry in Crawford County, about 25 miles east of Fort Smith along Interstate 40, the plant opened in 2012. During the growing season, which runs from early spring to summer, the plant processes edamame and, for the rest of the year, packages the frozen beans.
Edamame (pronounced eh-dah-MAH-may), young soybeans served in the pod or shelled, tend to be served cold or steamed, and are eaten as a side dish, a snack, or in salads and soups. It’s a popular food in Asia that’s seeing increasing U.S. demand.
Raymond Chung, co-owner and chief financial officer of American Vegetable Soybean and Edamame Inc., or AVS, said the expansion will allow more capacity for production and frozen packaging. And it also will provide space to make more of a new product, a snack made of dried edamame beans called Cruncha Ma-Me.
He said production at the plant was on target for the year but declined to give exact numbers citing competitive concerns.
A vegetable, edamame is the same species as the field soybean. The field variety of soybean is Arkansas’ secondhighest-valued agricultural commodity behind broiler chickens. In 2012, Arkansas soybean farmers planted 3.2 million acres of soybeans, and the state’s total crop was valued at $1.5 billion.
Mulberry Mayor Gary Baxter said the expansion is good news for the city. He said over the two years the plant has been in operation AVS has brought jobs and work for other companies in the city.
The company’s status as the country’s only edamame processor has brought national attention to Mulberry, the mayor said, adding the city is planning its first edamame festival for March.
“AVS has put Mulberry on the map,” Baxter said.
Arkansas edamame is distributed by AVS’ parent company, JYC International, a major edamame importer based in Houston. Chung’s father, Gene Chung, founded JYC in 2002. The company serves Costco Wholesale, Sam’s Club and major grocery stores. The Cruncha Ma-Me snack comes in six flavors and is sold in organic supermarkets in the U.S. and Asia and through online-retailer Amazon.
Raymond Chung said construction on the expansion should begin in the next few weeks and it will increase the plant’s size by about 50 percent. He said jobs would be likely added when construction is complete next year. The initial price tag for the plant was $5.8 million.
Linda Funk, executive director of the Soyfoods Council, said edamame sales from all channels in the U.S. were up 4.3 percent in 2011 to $59 million. In comparison, in 2011 all U.S. soybeans sales for human consumption totaled $5 billion. The vast majority of edamame consumed in the U.S. is imported from Asian markets.
U.S. farmers could grow soybeans for edamame but the lack of processing facilities limits production numbers, Funk said, noting that to remain tasty, the beans must be processed from within six to eight hours of picking. Without a plant nearby to process large amounts of edamame for freezing, farmers who grow the beans tend to sell them locally and on a small scale, like in farmers markets.
Nancy Chapman, executive director of the Soyfoods Association of North America said in an email that while at the Natural Products Expo East show in Baltimore this year, she found several new edamame products including a spread and freeze-dried products. She said big box retailers are carrying bulk frozen edamame and large containers of freeze dried edamame. Edamame also is a key ingredient in some trail mixes.
Lanny Ashlock, research coordinator of University of Arkansas special programs and director of research for the Arkansas Soybean Production Board, said efforts continue to gain approval for more types of herbicides for use in the 2014 growing season.
Since edamame is considered an edible legume, akin to the green bean, herbicides used in standard soybean production are not automatically approved by the Environmental Protection Agency for use on the edamame plants. Ashlock said the products that have been approved have a limited effectiveness.
Weed control is important for soybeans as invasive weeds make mechanical harvesting difficult, Ashlock said.
Scientists with the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture have been working to get more effective herbicides approved for use on the edamame crop and Ashlock’s hopeful more products will be given the green light shortly.
“A lot of the work is being done and it will pay dividends soon,” Ashlock said.