Producer
PureField Ingredients
Largest vital wheat gluten manufacturer in North America by capacity; operates the Heartland brand of wheat proteins. Completed a 50% production expansion in 2021.
1
Inputs supplied
1
Goods downstream
1
Facilities
0
Stories
What they make
1 input PureField Ingredients supplies
Click an input to see every good that depends on it, every country that produces it, and every other company in the supply chain.
Where it shows up
Goods downstream
Essential goods that depend on something PureField Ingredients makes, pick one to see the full supply chain.
What else they do
Business segments
The company's full revenue map, where this supply-chain role fits within their broader business.
Vital Wheat Gluten (Heartland Brand)
60%Wheat Starch
25%Wheat Protein Specialties
15%
Intelligence
What's known
Sourced claims about this company's role in supply chains, chokepoints, concentration, incidents, dual-use connections.
Did you know2024
Vital wheat gluten from North American producers like PureField simultaneously serves five industries: (1) commercial bread baking (VWG adds elasticity to high-fiber/whole wheat breads); (2) pet food manufacturing (VWG provides plant-based protein in dog food pellets); (3) plant-based meat (seitan is nearly pure wheat gluten; it is also a structural protein in Impossible-type and Beyond-type products); (4) aquafeed (salmon and shrimp feed uses VWG as a fishmeal substitute protein source); and (5) industrial applications (VWG-derived films and coatings for pharmaceutical and food packaging). A baking industry staple is simultaneously a pet food ingredient, a plant-based burger component, a salmon farm feed, and a potential bioplastic material. The same wheat protein supplied by PureField's Kansas operations feeds the artisan bread market and the precision fermentation/food tech market — two industries at opposite ends of the food innovation spectrum.
PureField Ingredients ↗Origin2023
PureField Ingredients operates in the North American vital wheat gluten market — a business built on the co-product relationship between wheat starch and wheat protein. When wheat flour is processed in water, the starch granules dissolve and the gluten proteins form an elastic network that can be separated. Both the starch and the gluten protein (VWG) have markets: starch goes to food, papermaking, and adhesive industries; VWG goes to baking, pet food, aquafeed, and plant-based protein applications. PureField's 2021 capacity expansion reflected growing demand from two new application markets — plant-based meat formulations (which use wheat gluten as a binding and texturing protein) and aquafeed (where wheat protein supplements fishmeal in salmon and shrimp diets). The plant-based food revolution of 2019-2022 created a surge in wheat gluten demand from food tech companies building pea protein and wheat-based meat analogs.
PureField Ingredients ↗