NutraCea kicks off rice bran production at ADM plant
plant owned by agricultural firm Archer Daniels Midland (ADM),
following an agreement announced by the two companies in April this
year.
NutraCea, which has installed its proprietary rice stabilization technology into the Arbuckle, California facility, yesterday said the facility has been commissioned and is producing the ingredient. "We are highly pleased with the commissioning of the Arbuckle facility in such a timely fashion," said Brad Edson, president and chief executive officer of NutraCea. "The expedited installation of our equipment at the ADM facility was a direct result of pre-manufacturing components, making them immediately available for this project. In the future, this streamlined process should help speed up the overall construction phase of our plants when a similar infrastructure is in place at other rice mills," added Edson. NutraCea's stabilized rice bran is a rich source of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. The firm has been promoting the ingredient as a means of eradicating malnutrition around the world, through the use of what is generally discarded as a waste product. However, the company has been taking steps towards the mainstream food industry of late, and the ADM agreement is large step towards this end. The new plant will produce stabilized rice bran for distribution to the human and animal feed markets. "This agreement between NutraCea and ADM Rice is timely and a natural strategic step as it allows us to quickly increase our production while still maintaining product integrity of the finished SRB," Edson had said in April. "We have aligned ourselves with one of the most recognized and respected names in the agricultural industry with a global presence and look forward to significant additional opportunities to expand the current usage of our SRB by ADM as a value added ingredient."
