On Thursday, Bunge hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for its $550 million fully-integrated soy protein concentrate and texturing plant.
“This is a perfect fit for Shelby County,” said Brian Asher, Executive Director of the Shelby County Development Corporation. “It’s a perfect fit for the state of Indiana. Agriculture has always been the backbone of Shelby County’s economy and this kind of proves that and will magnify it for the future.”
The new plant, located at 700 N. Rangeline Road on Bunge’s 110-plus-acre property, will add 70 new employees and process an additional 4.5 million bushels of soybeans once operational.
“It’s not just the next chapter of this facility,” said Aaron Buettner, Bunge’s President of Food Solutions. “It’s the next chapter of (agriculture) and food in this part of the world and the power it has to connect to the rest of the world. Connection is something at Bunge that we embrace. It’s really core to our purpose.
“We say our purpose is connecting farmers to consumers around the world. That means buying it from farmers, processing and turning it into the final food products that our customers will consume.”
Congressman Greg Pence (photo) was one the dignitaries that participated in the groundbreaking ceremony and spoke at the press conference.
“I want to thank Bunge on behalf of Morristown and the whole Indiana sixth district,” said Pence. “This is such an agriculture area. Indiana being such an agriculture state, we really appreciate you not just being here for all these years but also for expanding and making an additional investment here.”
Bunge scoured several sites for its new facility but, ultimately, decided to grow the Morristown location.
“They looked at a number of locations in the Midwest area, other opportunities but it came back to the footprint we have here, the facility you see behind me,” said Brad Sommer (photo), who will serve as the new plant manager when it becomes operational. “It just made sense to choose Bunge Morristown as the site for this plant. We are extremely excited that Bunge chose us.”
Prep work has already started on the facility, according to Sommer, which is expected to become operational in mid-2025.
“We will be producing soy protein concentrate and texture products from beans that are grown local,” said Sommer. “We will be putting it into the form of a powder or texture that has structure that can then be added to food applications. It can be consumed in a vegetarian diet. It can go in a number of food solutions to feed people around the world.
“Bunge is known for connecting farmers to consumers and this is a huge piece of that chain we are going to connect. It is exciting to see Midwest farmers are going to have a role in feeding the world.”
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