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Jeff Hollander and Paul Pirner started a business with a simple premise: non-alcoholic beer should taste good and be made with quality ingredients and attention to detail. They enlisted the…

BY DAN LEMKE Founders of the Chippewa Valley Ethanol Company (CVEC) in Benson were among the first to ride Minnesota’s growing ethanol wave. CVEC formed in 1995 and began processing…

For most of AURI’s clients, hard work and perseverance are critical to success. Most recently, food client, Panache, which makes a variety of infused apple juices and ciders, proved this.

 By AURI Biobased products enable the transition from traditional petroleum-based materials to agricultural resources in the production of plastics, films, building materials and chemicals. AURI supports clients through hands on…

They may not raise corn, soybeans or wheat, or farm large parcels of land, but Minnesota’s Hmong American farmers have transformed the state’s urban agriculture and local food landscape.

By AURI Renewable energy is important to Minnesota and the world at large because it offers the ability to power society from a clean and diverse set of sources. AURI…

Seven years ago, Tom and his wife, Jenni, central Minnesota cattle farmers, began working with AURI to develop Minnesota’s first cold-press sunflower oil manufacturing company. Now, Smude’s Sunflower Oil is expanding into microwave popcorn.

If Willy Wonka made sandwiches instead of candy, says Tom Brossart, he might have started “Food Building.” But instead it was the real-life Kieran Folliard, of Kieran’s Irish Pub fame, whose eyes began to twinkle at the idea of an artisanal sandwich factory. You don’t need a golden ticket to see with your own eyes how Red Table Meat Co. processes its pork.

Idea to Reality: With the increasing demand for fishmeal in fish feeds causing increases in prices AURI client NutriVance wanted to explore alternative feed ingredients for use in aquaculture feeds to replace fishmeal and reduce the cost of fish production.

AURI’s Role: AURI assisted NutriVance in planning and executing feeding trials for this new, innovative product.

Research findings by the United Soybean Board, suggest that biobased road sealants have a positive impact on road quality, the environment and city budgets.

Idea to reality: EarthClean needed certification by the USDA Forest Service in order to use their corn-based firefighting product TetraKO to fight forest fires. The company also wanted to develop a…

Kay’s Naturals is a Clara City-based company that creates healthy snack foods that meet the nutrition needs of diabetics, those trying to lose weight and a general population that needs healthier food.

Idea to reality: Create a non-nut snack that appeals to those with nut allergies and build an allergen-free kitchen for the production of these and other foods. AURI’s role: AURI…

Idea to reality: Suntava, a Minnesota food ingredients company, has come up with a natural alternative to Red Dye No. 40. Its proprietary hybrids of purple corn are a treasure…

Idea to reality: Alise Sjostrom had dreamed of owning a creamery since high school. In the spring of 2014, she and husband Lucas began production at their artisan cheese making…

Idea to reality: Develop gourmet, fresh turkey sausages to expand Ferndale Market’s line of turkey products. AURI’s role: AURI provided formulations, nutritional paneling and labeling. AURI staff also helped identify…

Idea to reality: Build a mobile gasifer that can turn agriculture fibers into a charcoal-like residue, called biochar, that can be used for absorbing liquids, improving water quality and soil…

Idea to reality: As alfalfa prices soared over the last two years, Minnesota Valley Alfalfa Producers (MnVAP) saw a need for a lower-priced substitute for alfalfa feed pellets. AURI’s role:…

Idea to reality: Develop a comfortable yet biodegradable mat, as an alternative to rubber, for use in hog farrowing and nursery barns. The mat is made from cornstalks and provides…

Idea to reality: Because soybean meal cannot be fed to some animals due to the soluble sugars, AURI worked with Protein Resouces and Minnesota Soybean on a possible solution. AURI’s…

Idea to reality: Develop eco-friendly building materials, including window trim interiors and office furniture, that use ag fibers such as wheat straw fiber and polymers to improve the products. AURI’s…

Idea to reality: The global bioplastics industry is developing rapidly. Minnesota industries needed an in-depth analysis of technology and market opportunities in this field. AURI’s role: AURI led a detailed…

Idea to reality: Swheat Scoop, a renewably-sourced cat litter, was initially made by Pet Care Systems-now part of Farmers Union Industries. The wheat-based product is all natural. Pet Care Systems…

Idea to reality: Convert manure into renewable electricity, livestock bedding and fertilizer. AURI’s role: In AURI’s coproducts lab, scientists assisted with the densification of dairy digester solids into a pellet…

Idea: Find a protein feed source for nursery pigs and poultry to replace fish meal, which is decreasing in supply. AURI’s role & outcomes: AURI staff helped Midwest Ag Enterprises…

Idea to reality: The Kriedermacher family needed a more cost-efficient way to heat their 65,000 square-foot greenhouse, Pork and Plants. Brothers Eric and Paul decided to make biomass pellets that…

Idea: After the hot, dry summer of 2007 took a toll on Tom Smude’s corn and soybean crops, he learned that hardy sunflower plants could thrive in such adverse conditions, and…

Idea to reality: A Minnesota family company wanted to use recycled vegetable oil and glycerin from their small biodiesel plant to make green cleaning products. They needed help with glycerin…