Natural Resources
By Deborah Cassell
For snack food manufacturers and wholesale bakers needing everything from flaxseed and oils to whole grains and gluten-free ingredients, SK Food International is a reputable resource. Since 1990, the family-owned, Fargo, N.D.-based company has been providing Identity Preserved Certified Organic products and Conventional Non-Genetically Modified Organisms to the industry in its mission to “continually exceed our customer, producer and supplier expectations with high quality products and service.”
Although SK Food supplies ingredients to a variety of industries, snack producers are some of its primary domestic customers.
“Our products can be used as an ingredient in most food product applications, including baking and snack food,” says Jennifer Tesch, marketing director for SK Food. Specific areas of growth in the industry include whole grains and specialty grains, gluten-free, flax and flax meal, and organic oils, she adds. “We are looking forward to seeing new product applications emerge as demand increases for both Identity Preserved Certified Organic and Non-GMO products,” Tesch says.
Demand for organic products does appear to be on the rise. And as an organic supplier, SK Food is at the ready, sourcing product from 2,000 farmers throughout North America, largely in the Midwest. It also imports ingredients from suppliers in South America, Asia, India, Western Europe and Turkey. Such diversification allows the company to offer ingredients that aren’t otherwise available in North America, giving SK Food an edge over the competition.
“With the growth of the organic and natural industry within the U.S.A. and Canada, our business is now almost balanced between domestic and export,” Tesch says.
Today, SK Food offers more than 100 ingredients in the categories of beans, lentils and peas; grains; seeds; cocoa; refined oils; vinegars; sweeteners; brans/germs; flours; instant/quick cook drum-dried powders/flakes; meals; and whole/split grains. The company’s most recent additions are Certified Organic dehydrated drum-dried instant quick cook powders/flakes, made from a variety of beans, peas and lentils, and Certified Organic and Conventional Non-GMO split/dehulled soybeans, part of its Identity Preserved line of products that can be traced back to their origins.
SK Food also has added to its line of Certified Organic oils and vinegars. New oils include almond, corn germ, pumpkin, coconut, walnut, sesame, palm and extra virgin olive. New vinegars include balsamic, wine and apple.
1-701-356-4106. www.skfood.com