VERONA, MO. — Ingredient manufacturer Kemin Industries hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Aug. 23 to celebrate the opening of a new manufacturing facility in Verona, Mo. The new facility will produce its Proteus line of clean-label functional proteins that work to increase the yield and enhance the quality of meat and poultry products.

“Since acquiring Proteus in April 2021, we’ve been eager to open this site and serve customers, who continue to demand sustainably sourced, technologically advanced solutions,” said Marc Scantlin, president of Kemin Food Technologies – North America. “Opening our first-ever Proteus dry production plant provides the opportunity to partner with more meat and poultry manufacturers, positively impacting the quality of our global food supply.”

Kemin invested $70 million in the new Proteus production plant, which will have an initial capacity to treat over 1 billion lbs of meat and poultry products with its functional protein. The facility will employ approximately 30 full-time workers.

In July, the facility, which will run under FSSC 22000 Certification, finished its first run under the US Department of Agriculture’s inspection.

The completion of the site comes nearly two years after Kemin broke ground on the new building in November 2021.

Before embarking on this new facility, Kemin established a presence in Southwest Missouri with the construction of a manufacturing location for Kemin Nutrisurance, its pet food and rendering technologies business unit, in 2011. Currently, Kemin operates three manufacturing locations in Missouri: Kemin Nutrisurance facilities in Verona and Sarcoxie and the new Proteus production plant.

“We’ve found a great pipeline of talent in Verona and the surrounding area that has successfully grown our manufacturing capabilities for our pet food business, and we believe this community will offer the same support for our Proteus production plant to meet the high interest of our customers,” said Chris Nelson, president and chief executive officer of Kemin Industries. “I’ve been impressed with all our team members in Southwest Missouri, and I know even more potential employees are here to help us bring better meals to families around the world.”