After closing its doors nine months ago, Shape Foods will resume bottling flaxseed oil this September, said Jim Downey, the co-owner and chief executive officer of the processing plant in Brandon.
“I believe very strongly in value-added processing of grains that are grown in the Prairies,” said Downey, explaining why he bought the plant.
“And this particular product (omega 3 fatty acids) … everybody in the world needs.”
Downey expects the company will be processing flax by the early fall, once staff are hired and the idle plant is readied for operation.
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The previous owners of Shape Foods, which was founded in Burnaby, B.C., before relocating to Brandon, used a $4.5 million credit union loan and a $4.1 million loan from the Manitoba government to build a $30 million processing plant on Brandon’s east side.
The 70,000 sq. foot plant produced its first flaxseed oil in December 2007, but by the fall of 2008, Shape Foods announced it was going into receivership, putting 60 employees out of work.
Downey and three unidentified partners were the successful bidders in the receivership, acquiring Shape Foods for $5.1 million.
The company’s assets include a substantial inventory of flax oil, which Downey said they will “move into the marketplace as soon as we can.”
Downey noted the reincarnated Shape Foods would take a different approach to marketing flaxseed oil.
“The initial plan (when Shape first opened) was to go into the high-end U.S. market,” he said. “Our plan is to not forget about the U.S. market … but also develop the Canadian market and a bulk oil market to get the plant up and running.”
Later, Shape Foods would like to develop its own brand, Downey said, and also sell flaxseed oil in capsules.
Barry Hall, president of the Flax Council of Canada, said he’s encouraged that Shape Foods’ state of the art facility will soon be operational.
“It is an extremely high-tech, very advanced processing facility,” he said. “They put out a very high quality flax oil product.”
One of Shape Foods’ important assets is the company’s proprietary technology that extends the shelf life of its flaxseed oil, Downey said.
Shape Foods’ website states its flaxseed oil is shelf stable for one year after the date of manufacture.
