White River Soy Processing purchases Benson Hill Ingredients

White River Soy Processing LLC, a developer and operator of oilseed-processing plants in the U.S., announced Feb. 14 that it purchased Benson Hill Ingredients LLC, which operates an established food-grade soybean-processing facility in Creston, Iowa, from Benson Hill Inc.

“We are pleased to add another valuable asset to our growing company,” said Walter Cronin, co-founder and president of White River. “We appreciate the collaboration from Benson Hill to successfully complete this transaction and admire its focused commitment to the Creston team members, the plant’s many valued customers, and the community of Creston to ensure a smooth ownership transition.”

Approximately 55 team members at the Creston facility became employees of White River when the transaction closed Feb. 13.

Plant operations will continue seamlessly to meet contractual obligations to customers at both ends of the value chain, from farmers to protein consumers.

“Today’s acquisition displays White River’s commitment to our company’s mission to supply better nutritional outcomes to our customers, as well as meet the growing need for high-quality soy protein products,” said Gordon Glade, co-founder of White River. “The purchase of the Creston facility allows us to expand what we started at the Seymour, Indiana, facility while also expanding our product offerings into the food-grade market.”

The Creston facility processes both non-GMO and GMO soybeans to produce soybean meal, soy white flake, flour, grits and soybean oil for domestic and global markets for use as food and feed ingredients and the foundation for the production of concentrates, isolates and textured soy-protein products.

White River, headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, separately purchased Benson Hill’s soybean-processing facility located in Seymour, Indiana, Oct. 31, and announced in December it had been selected to develop an oilseed-processing facility near North Platte, Nebraska.

The company is supported by agricultural-focused investors, and its team has decades of experience in grain processing, from plant operations to risk management and finance.