Construction of Memphis plant to be fully completed by 2020.

April 27, 2017

2 Min Read
Calysta, Cargill officially break ground on new feed production plant

NouriTech and its lead investors, Calysta Inc. and Cargill, were recently joined by state and local elected officials to officially break ground on a 37-acre feed production facility in Memphis, Tenn. The plant will be home to the world’s largest gas fermentation operation and will produce Calysta’s FeedKind protein -- a sustainable feed ingredient for fish, livestock and pets -- using its proprietary technology.

“Today's groundbreaking is an important milestone for this project and our Cargill Memphis campus as it demonstrates our ongoing commitment to Tennessee, Shelby County and Memphis. It also expands our pledge to aquaculture as an increasingly important source of food,” Cargill managing director Mike Wagner said.

Dr. Alan Shaw, Calysta president and chief executive officer, said FeedKind protein is “a new sustainable feed ingredient that is critical to helping meet sharply rising global demand for food.

“We are delighted to partner with Cargill and the Memphis community to launch construction of our first commercial-scale manufacturing plant. This is the next step in bringing this important product to markets throughout the world,” he added.

Upon completion, NouriTech will occupy 37 acres of Cargill’s 69-acre property on President’s Island, employ approximately 160 full-time team members and produce approximately 200,000 metric tons of FeedKind annually. The first phase of construction is expected to be completed in 2018, with the plant coming on line in 2019. The second phase of construction will be completed in 2020.

State and community representatives spoke at the ceremony, including Tennessee Economic & Community Development commissioner Bob Rolfe, Shelby County Mayor Mark H. Luttrell Jr., Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland and Greater Memphis Chamber president Phil Trenary.

“It is great to see NouriTech break ground on its new Memphis facility,” Rolfe said. “The company announced plans in November 2016 to locate its new manufacturing facility in Shelby County and create many news jobs, and it is exciting to see NouriTech start the process of building this new facility. I look forward to seeing NouriTech continue to succeed in Tennessee and in the city of Memphis.”

NouriTech’s site will feature:

  • A one-story administration building that will house technicians, engineers and supervisory and management staff;

  • Twenty fermenters, each similar in size to a football field end zone, two of which are expected to be installed in the first phase of construction and up to 18 more in the second phase;

  • Several dryers, each approximately the height of a six-story building, one of which will be built and used for the first phase of construction, while the remaining dryers will be built in phase 2;

  • Several kilometers of piping, and

  • Various processing, filtration, product handling and loading equipment.

An architectural rendering of the completed plant was displayed at the groundbreaking ceremony. The team responsible for making the NouriTech vision a reality includes Black & Veatch, a leading engineering, consulting and construction company, and various equipment and technology providers.

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