MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, U.S. – The Organic & Non-GMO Forum is hosting its fifth annual event addressing the growing plant-protein solutions arising in the sector, and provide a view inside the decisions that led the world’s largest brewery to work directly with farmers in establishing its first organic product.

It will be held Oct. 29-30 at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.

Tyler Lorenzen, chief executive officer (CEO) of PURIS, a pea protein production company in North America, will speak about the company’s 35-year journey beginning as a soybean processor to becoming a supplier of plant-based food ingredients and supplier to the expanding market. The expansion includes doubling its pea protein production at its existing 200,000-square-foot facility in Dawson, Minnesota, U.S, with a $75 million investment from Cargill.

"This is more than a pea protein facility. This is the future of food,” Lorenzen said. “The Dawson facility will not only support PURIS farmers in the U.S. with a crop that regenerates their land and that is sustainable because it provides soil health advantages but will also support the growing demand for great tasting plant-based products in the marketplace. This investment will grant PURIS the ability to support more food companies, more farmers and more consumers faster.”

PURIS’ growing expansion includes the creation and scaling of an end-to-end system of sustainable plant-based foods and ingredients grown and processed in the USA, which Lorenzen will outline in his address at the Organic & Non-GMO Forum: “Seeding and Scaling the Plant-Based Food Future.”

Another session of the event includes executives from Anheuser-Busch – Azania Andrews, vice-president of marketing for Michelob ULTRA, and Jess Newman, director of U.S. agronomy for Anheuser-Busch. Both will share the how and why of the company’s launch of its USDA certified organic light lager, the first in the nation from a national beer brand.

Andrews and Newman will discuss the market drivers for the new beer, Michelob ULTRA Pure Gold, introduced in 2018, and their newly-launched “Contract for Change” initiative put in place to support farmers’ transitioning to growing organic barley.

“There aren’t any light beers from mainstream brewers offering an organic product,” Andrews told Men’s Health in an interview. “We wanted to make a light beer for those who prioritize eating and shopping organic.”

Hear more from these speakers, and the previously announced keynote speaker David Vetter, a trailblazing organic farmer from Nebraska and subject of the documentary “Dreaming of a Vetter World” at the Organic & Non-GMO Forum. Register at ongforum.com and follow us @ONGForum. See also the full agenda and list of attending companies.