ATCHISON, KANSAS, US — Net income at MGP Ingredients, Inc. increased 27% in the second quarter ended June 30, rising to $25.34 million, equal to $1.15 per share on the common stock, up from $19.99 million, or 91¢ per share, in the same period a year ago. Net sales also increased, rising 11% to $194.98 million from $174.94 million.

Gross profit in the Ingredient Solutions segment increased to $8.5 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2022, up 33% from $6.4 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2021, while sales increased 21% to a record $29.3 million.

“Similar to last quarter, the increase in sales was primarily due to higher average selling prices of specialty wheat starches and proteins,” David J. Colo, president and chief executive officer, said during an Aug. 4 conference call with analysts. “We are pleased with the progress we have achieved in this segment to date. We are confident that our extensive project pipeline for these products along with further optimization of the segment product mix to meet our customers’ needs will drive long-term growth for this segment.

“An example of this will be seen in the second half of this year as we launch our ProTerra brand into a new channel of distribution, selling to colleges and universities for their use in their venues as a plant-based meat alternative.”

Expanding on the ProTerra launch into colleges and universities, Colo said, “We’ve sold it into a number of universities across the US. So, it’s not specific to any particular geographic region. And it’s been well received. And we should start seeing shipments by late end of Q3 into Q4. And it’s a pilot in the sense that we’re targeting a specific channel to learn from the receptivity of the product line and if there’s any additional tweaks we need to make to the product. But what I can tell you is the reception to this product within the colleges and the universities at this point has been very strong. So, I think it’s going to be a great learning experience for us. And if it’s successful as we believe it will be, we think there’s going to be additional opportunities to obviously be in foodservice beyond just colleges and universities.”

Looking ahead to the remainder of fiscal 2022, Colo said MGPI expects full-year sales to be in the range of $745 million to $765 million, up from a previous forecasted range of $690 million to $715 million, while adjusted EBITDA is forecast in the range of $156 million to $163 million, up from a previous range of $150 million to $157 million. Adjusted earnings per share are expected to be in the $4.41 to $4.65 range, up from an earlier forecast of $4.15 to $4.35.