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New Minneapolis company wants to increase non-GMO and organic crop shipments and processing

A new Minneapolis-based firm has begun working on infrastructure to focus on non-GMO and organic crops.

"Demand has outpaced the investment in the infrastructure," said Pipeline Foods chief executive Erick Jackson.

Jackson said his company is planning to invest between $300 million and $500 million on facilities, specifically focused on non-GMO and organic crops.

"The big guys don't look at this space yet as something very interesting," Jackson said. "Yet, it's gotten too big for all the little guys in it."

Jackson said there is a space for a middle-size player to come in and put capital to work.

Jackson said that would include elevators, processing and grain milling. Pipeline has purchased an elevator at Lignite, North Dakota, and is building a facility in Bowbells.

Jackson said the company is concentrating in North Dakota and Saskatchewan.

"We are talking to a lot of food brands,' Jackson said. "They indicate they have a backlog of product they'd like to put into the marketplace. They don't have certainty of supply."

Jackson said if Pipeline foods can provide that certainty of supply,  and one that happens, they believe the demand will rise.

"It's a lot of fun to be involved in a market driven by that kind of demand," Jackson said.

Jackson said he’s met with growers in Saskatchewan and North Dakota – and while the Canadian growers are well-established, they’re just getting started in North Dakota – and he's hoping interest will grow among US growers.

Jackson said the plan is to have the new Bowbells elevator ready for the next harvest season