Dive Brief:
- Healthy Food Ingredients, L.L.C. bought Suntava Corp., a company that produces purple corn ingredients using proprietary Suntava purple corn. Suntava will maintain its name and operate as a division of HFI.
- Purple corn, a non-GMO hybrid derived from ancient Andean maize, is an ingredient used in functional foods, snacks, beverages, as a colorant, and more. The corn is available as a whole kernel, flour, meal, grits, masa flour, individually quick-frozen, and freeze-dried.
- Healthy Food Ingredients, also the parent company of SK Food International and Hesco/Dakota Organics Products, "is a specialty ingredient company that provides non-GMO, organic, gluten free, and identity preserved ingredients to domestic and international customers in the food and pet food manufacturing and food service industries."
Dive Insight:
Purple corn has nutritional benefits that make it a candidate to be the next superfood. The purple color comes from anthocyanins.
According to Suntava President Bill Petrich, HFI will give Suntava "access to greater supply security, enhanced supply chain processing and certifications, plus more distribution/warehousing options, and a united commitment to the best food safety practices from field to table.”
"HFI is a quickly-growing company," according to Brad Hover, CEO of HFI. "However, we are purposeful in growing the HFI platform. Like our other brands, SK Food and Hesco, Suntava has a rich history within the food industry and is a natural fit for us."
