Ever wondered how nutrients are taken out of a whole food and put into a whole food supplement? At least part of the answer involves smart people doing smart things—inventing, engineering, building, manufacturing. And they are at it again in Palmyra, Wisconsin.
There, on the certified organic farms of Standard Process, Inc., exists what is known as the “Juice Process Building.” It is aptly named. This is where juice is pressed from whole foods, and then dehydrated. This is a gentle, finely tuned extraction process designed to keep the nutrients intact. These very same nutrients are then transformed into tablets, capsules, and softgels, placed inside the iconic brown bottles of Standard Process, Inc., and sold as Standard Process whole food nutritional supplements. (There may be a few other steps here that are beyond the scope of this layperson to explain. But we can all agree, this is cool.)
Now the big news in Palmyra is that Standard Process just broke ground on a 10,000 square foot complex to be connected to the—you guessed it—Juice Process Building. The expansion will be home to a state of the art new dryer that will, says Charlie DuBois, SP President and CEO, “result in the best possible products for our customers.”
At Standard Process, the best possible product for customers involves nutrients. From whole foods. So while growing nutrient-rich crops is important, it doesn’t mean much without a sure-fire method of extracting those nutrients. That is why the new dryer technology—which the project team at Standard Process has been researching since 2014—is cause for such excitement. “The dryer will bring the whole process of growing, harvesting, juicing and drying into a single operation at the farm,” explains Brandon Metzger, PhD, Director of Technical and Product Development for Standard Process.
This expansion represents one of the biggest changes to the process at Standard Process since the plant was built in 1988. The new building is expected to be completed by November 2022, and the new dryer should be in the nutrient-extraction business by the 2023 crop season.
So here’s to smart people doing smart things. Now be smart and go take your SP supplements.
