SSGA Member Profile: Raquel Hansen, Pipeline Foods

By Shane Frederick, SSGA Communications Manager

Specialty crops are nothing new to Raquel Hansen.

Raquel Hansen, Pipeline Foods

“My roots go far back,” she said. “It’s been part of my entire life.”

The newest member of the Specialty Soya and Grain Alliance (SSGA) Board of Directors grew up on a cash-crop farm that was started by her grandparents. Her family’s crops included waxy corn that was exported to Japan and, later, identity-preserved (IP) soybeans.

“IP in the early days before GMO was introduced was more variety-specific,” Hansen said. “That’s what my parents and grandparents did.”

Hansen continues to farm near Owatonna, Minn., raising specialty grains, including non-GMO corn and soybeans, as well as hogs and cattle, along with her husband, Todd. Their son, Eric (one of their two adult children), also farms.

“Four generations have supplied specialty grains to the Hope location,” Hansen said, referring to the Hope, Minn., processing facility started by a group of farmers that included her grandparents and parents and now owned by SSGA-member Pipeline Foods.

Pipeline Foods is a 3-year-old supply chain solutions company focused exclusively on organic and non-GMO food and feed. Hansen is Pipeline Foods’ vice president for soybeans and food ingredients, part of the “value-added sales team.” She became part of Pipeline in 2019 when that company acquired SunOpta’s specialty and organic soy and corn business, including the Hope facility. Hansen had been at SunOpta for more than 15 years, including eight as an executive.

Pipeline Foods, which is based in Minneapolis and has regional headquarters in Canada and Argentina, has a network of growers around the world whose crops include small grains, pulses, peas and lentils, as well as soybeans and corn. Hansen said the company is starting to get into specialty oils and milled products such as teff, quinoa and chickpea, with a focus on trendy specialty products.

“There’s a lot of excitement – a lot of passion for the business and for success,” Hansen said. “There are challenges that come with a smaller company that’s fast-growing, too.”

Hansen’s own enthusiasm for agriculture has never waned, ever since she was a kid growing up on the family farm near New Richland, Minn. She attended the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, earning degrees in agriculture and business. She later earned an MBA at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn.

With COVID-19 preventing Pipeline Food’s overseas and other customers from visiting farms and facilities, Hansen recorded videos throughout the season – from planting through harvest – giving progress reports on her farm’s soybean crop conditions. The videos included weather reports; photos of soybean plants at various stages; plant, pod and bean measurements; and general descriptions of what was happening in the growing process.

“Ag really is a passion of mine,” Hansen said. “It’s something I’m extremely interested in. … Soya and specialty grains are very strong in the world, and that’s where my world is at right now.”

SunOpta was a member of Midwest Shippers, one of the two associations that merged to form SSGA, and that membership has carried over to Pipeline.

“SSGA, to me, has always been a valuable organization and alliance,” she said, “from the roots that it came from to the Midwest exporters such as ourselves in the specialty grains business. There are a lot of pressures put on the little guys, and the support and collaboration that can happen among members can be key to being successful as an organization and successful in the export of U.S.-grown products.”

Hansen was elected to an open seat on SSGA’s Board of Directors during the SSGA’s virtual annual meeting on Dec. 3.

“I found it to be a good opportunity to not only promote Pipeline as a company but also network and understand the challenges we face a little deeper than I have in the past. … It’s inspiring to me that a smaller group of people can make this big of a difference.”