SunOpta fires CEO and sells corn, soybean unit to Pipeline Foods
Summary
SunOpta is struggling to improve profitability despite operating in on-trend areas of the food industry with high consumer demand — like organic, non-GMO ingredients and fruits, beverages and nut butters. In recent years, the company has been in a constant state of change as it attempts to overhaul its operations by closing facilities, selling businesses and simplifying its supply chain. It has been acquiring or building grain elevators across the Midwest and Canada in hopes of becoming a convenient and competitive buyer of raw materials from farmers who use alternative growing methods. Overnight, the company went from six to 11 storage and processing facilities and doubled Pipelines workforce, offering jobs to all of SunOptas employees in the soy and corn businesses. It will now be able to sell food-grade organic and non-GMO soy and corn in both whole or milled form, as well as nonfood grade ingredients for livestock feed.