The Economic Development Association of North Dakota (EDND) honored the new AGT Foods Extrusion Center in Minot with the 2024 Economic Development Project of the Year Award at the EDND fall conference this month.

The Extrusion Center, which opened earlier this year, continues to put AGT Foods and Minot at the center of innovation in both pulse-based ingredients and now extruded products, such as gluten-free pasta.

“AGT Foods is proud of our Extrusion Center of Excellence in Minot and proud to receive the Economic Development Project of the Year Award from EDND,” said Eric Bartsch, AGT Foods, division head for Global Food Ingredients. “Minot has been a key part of our operations in the United States and in the great state of North Dakota. The opportunity to develop and produce innovative plant-based products made in this new facility, such as our gluten-free pasta, including our Veggi line, extruded crispy snacks, meat alternatives that are being used in burgers and other meat substitutes as well as pulse ingredients for food companies and some of the best-known consumer packaged goods brands, is exciting for AGT Foods and our team in Minot.”

“As one of the region’s largest employers, AGT Foods is highly influential in growing the value-added agriculture industry and we are excited to see what the future holds as they position the new Extrusion Center and Minot to be the heart of innovation and growth in a variety of products, such as gluten-free pasta,” said Brekka Kramer, president-CEO of the Minot Area Chamber EDC.

With the renovated multi-million-dollar facility, AGT Foods’ long-term goal is to position the location and the region as the center of gluten-free pasta production and packaging in North America.

The Extrusion Center currently features one production line with more than 9 million pounds of capacity with the ability to expand to more than 40 million pounds of gluten-free pasta, making the Minot facility one of the largest gluten-free pasta production facilities in the world.

The Extrusion Center joins more than $100 million in existing AGT Foods facilities in Minot and the area that have offered services for producers in the region and state for more than a decade.