For Edil Vidal Torres, furthering her knowledge of global food manufacturing methods is vital to her work as a food technologist at Northern Crops Institute (NCI). As she scans and analyzes soybeans for food use, understanding different preferences and techniques allows her to find which varieties perform best for tofu, soymilk, natto and other foods. 

Earlier this month, Vidal Torres had the opportunity to travel to Japan to learn different manufacturing practices, including ingredient and equipment preferences, from a variety of companies – all customers of SSGA members who supply identity preserved soybeans. 

SSGA, through its U.S. Identity Preserved and natto industry-supporting activities, supported travel and accompany Vidal Torres on the technical learning mission, which included visits to five companies around Japan, as well as conversations with buyers, retailers and in-country representatives of the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC). SSGA Manager of Strategic Programs Shane Frederick and SSGA board Director Bob Sinner joined Vidal Torres on the trip.  

“It was inspiring to visit soy processing facilities, connect with industry leaders, and learn firsthand about Japan’s innovative approaches to soyfood production and product quality,” Vidal Torres said. “Collaboration across borders drives the future of soy utilization. I’m excited to bring these insights back and put them into practice.” 

As a food technologist for NCI, Vidal Torres, conducts laboratory analyses on soybeans and other crops, performs product development and testing with soy-based and other foods, assists with pilot-scale processing and product-development projects; and assists with educational program development through crop-promotion activities and lab and pilot-scale demonstrations. 

NCI offers technical services, including consulting, processing and product development, and testing to scan and evaluate multiple ingredients and food products, including soy products such as tofu, soymilk and fermented soy products. Learn more about NCI at this link. 

Vidal Torres returned from Japan with better understanding of different tofu manufacturing practices and preferences, as well as further understanding of natto manufacturing with the hope of one day adding pilot-scale natto equipment to NCI’s food labs. 

Vidal Torres will report on the trip to SSGA, present to the SSGA board during its December meeting, and conduct a webinar for SSGA members sometime in 2026. 

“Edil’s expanded knowledge and continued work at NCI will be a great resource and benefit to the U.S. Identity Preserved industry, including IP soy suppliers from all around the country, as well as their overseas customers,” Frederick said. “SSGA was more than pleased to support this trip, as it fits our strategy as the U.S. Identity Preserved Alliance to promote high-quality, U.S.-origin crops for a variety of food uses, including organizing and supporting the U.S. natto industry.” 

SSGA’s natto activities are supported by the North Dakota Soybean Council (NDSC) and Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council (MSR&PC), and SSGA’s work on all U.S. Identity Preserved-activities, including promotion of identity preserved soybeans as food ingredients is supported with funding from NDSC, MSR&PC, Wisconsin Soybean Marketing Board, Illinois Soybean Association, Michigan Soybean Committee and South Dakota Soybean Research and Promotion Council. 

While most people who work in the soybean industry are familiar with conventionally grown soybeans, identity preserved (IP) soybeans are a different bean entirely. 

Brushvale, a long-time partner and member of the Specialty Soya and Grain Alliance (SSGA), has been growing identity preserved crops for over 40 years. On Sept. 23, it hosted a tour for SSGA staff and stakeholders for an up-close look at Brushvale’s research plots.  

Research staff leads from Minnesota and North Dakota’s qualified state soybean board were in attendance to learned about various, ongoing research projects.  

“As we work with our supporting states, it was an opportunity to bring in staff from those states – researchers and market development leads – to understand the food-grade soybean and true IP system that starts at the seed and goes to the customers,” said Shane Frederick, SSGA manager of strategic programs. “Companies like Brushvale are working every day to find new varieties for their customers and working diligently to continue to fulfill that export market for U.S. IP soybeans.”  

The tour took place at one of the four Brushvale research plots located near its home facility in Breckenridge. Attendees walked through plots of IP soybeans grown for soy milk, tofu and natto. 

“The breeding program is driven by consumer needs, which you don’t find in the conventional soybean system,” said Sergio Cabello Leiva, director of research at the Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council. “The connection between variety development and the consumer is amazing.” 

Forty percent of the research plots now focus on natto beans, and they are constantly breeding different soybean varieties based on what the consumer wants. While Brushvale’s main focus is, of course, breeding for yield increases, they also breed for protein and sugar content.  

“(As an IP grower), there’s not much more rewarding than going to somewhere like Japan and seeing that product on the shelves,” said Tessa Mohs, plant breeder for Brushvale Seed. 

Brushvale Seed is a verified user of the U.S. Identity Preserved assurance plan and brandmark. Verified users have met program qualifications to ensure their products are traceable and U.S. grown and are eligible to use the U.S. Identity Preserved mark on product packaging, collateral and other materials. 

Northern Crops Institute (NCI) welcomed a trade group from South Asia through its doors in Fargo, N.D., June 16-20 for its annual Food Soy Procurement Course. The course, made up mostly of participants from Nepal and India, focused on the unique aspects of sourcing and purchasing high-quality, identity preserved (IP) soybeans for various food products, including soymilk, tofu, soy snacks, miso, natto and tempeh.   

“USSEC (The U.S. Soybean Export Council) was kind enough to bring us these participants, who are mainly buyers from food manufacturing businesses that really want to expand their food soy products with IP food grade soy from the United States,” said Liz Benson, program manager with NCI. 

Throughout the weeklong program, participants received a crash course on U.S. markets, breeding and testing of soybean varieties, soybean grading, container shipping, how to purchase identity preserved soybeans from the United States and the many advantages of U.S. IP soy. 

“One of the challenges we heard predominantly this week is how hard it is for them to get U.S. soybeans to their country,” Benson said. “It’s far, it takes a long time, and it can be expensive, so we try to make connections with processors so they’re able to speed up that process and get a realistic idea of timeframes, so they know when they need to contract and who to contract with.”   

As a sponsor of the course, the Specialty Soya and Grains Alliance (SSGA) spoke with participants on the economic advantages of utilizing IP food grade soybeans, the U.S. soybean grading system and container transportation. Attendees heard from several SSGA members who supply IP soybeans, including visits to SB&B Foods and Brushvale Seed. Representatives from those companies, as well as Puris, HC International, Grain Millers and Richland IFC also presented and met with participants. 

“They get to see the IP process firsthand and get a better understanding of the opportunities that are there in the food-grade space to really improve their own products, either just enhance what they already know or start from the beginning,” said Shane Frederick, manager of strategic programs for SSGA. “There’s been a lot of companies that have come through here from Southeast Asia, Japan and this year South Asia who not only get a crash course on IP procurement but also differentiating U.S. IP soy from their other food ingredients.”  

Thought exchange 

While the participants came from neighboring countries, their challenges and opportunities are unique in that India has substantial tariffs on imported soy while Nepal can acquire it for only a minor duty. Some of the participants are already purchasers of U.S. IP soybeans, but Frederick says there is always more to learn.  

“It’s invaluable for them to have the opportunity to learn more about the soybean varieties, breeding, and grading and visit the fields, chat face to face with the farmers who grow their soybeans and tour the facilities that sort, clean and ship them,” Frederick said. “It provides a better understanding of why it costs more but, more importantly, why it’s worth the investment.”  

Gaurav Agrawal, whose company Shree Radne Rani International Trading was the first-ever importer of U.S. IP soybeans to Nepal in 2023, participated in this year’s course to broaden his knowledge of the buying process and learn more about U.S. Soy to further develop his products. 

“Our markets are very different, but the common basic product is IP soybeans, so why not exchange our thoughts and expertise to develop new products, which can be a win-win situation for both of our markets,” Agrawal said. “Thank you to NCI, SSGA and USSEC from the bottom of my heart for this opportunity.” 

The Food Soy Procurement Course was also sponsored by the Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council, North Dakota Soybean Council and South Dakota Soybean Research and Promotion Council. 

An SSGA delegation is heading to Manila to conduct a U.S. Identity Preserved Workshop on March 20. SSGA Executive Director Randy Duckworth and Manager of Strategic Programs Shane Frederick will lead the event, which will include panel discussions and presentations from SSGA members. 

Todd Sinner of SB&B Foods; Austin DeLong, The DeLong Co.; and Guillermo Mancebo of Puris will present about shipping identity preserved (IP) field crops, seed varieties and facility quality.  

Rick Brandenburger of Richland IFC; Tom Taliaferro of Montague Farms and Aaron Mohs of Brushvale Seed will present on a panel about farming and production. 

Presentations also include an overview of the U.S. Identity Preserved assurance protocol and brand mark and a briefing from Japnit Singh of Yamada Consulting & Spire with results of the economic proof point market research about tofu and soymilk conducted for SSGA. 

The workshop will be held in conjunction with U.S. Soybean Export Council’s Ag Supply Chain Asia March 17-19 and the Asia Soy Excellence and Food Summit, which will be held March 19-21.  

Beginning with his first week as executive director of the Specialty Soya and Grains Alliance (SSGA), Eric Wenberg began opening new doors for the organization. But first, he helped the SSGA board approve its logo and membership dues.

“The board trusted me creating something new,” he said. “It’s a rare opportunity.”

His tenure with SSGA officially started in March 2019, when Wenberg used his connections in Washington, D.C., to help bring SSGA – a new organization created following the merger of the Midwest Shippers Association and the Northern Food Grade Soybean Association – to the Embassy of Japan.

“You could tell Eric was extremely well respected,” said Minnesota Soybean Growers Association Executive Director Joe Smentek, who joined Wenberg for the embassy visit. “He created a lot of opportunities for soybean farmers both in Minnesota and across the country.”

A lover of metaphors, Wenberg viewed SSGA’s humble beginnings and its subsequent growth and industry recognition from an aerial angle.

“Starting SSGA was like landing an aircraft on an aircraft carrier,” Wenberg said. “You realize you’re doing two difficult things at once. You’re flying an airplane and you’re landing on a deck that’s going up and down.”

Whether he was arranging embassy meetings, helping to launch SSGA’s U.S. Identity Preserved brandmark or communicating the dire effects of supply chain crises, Wenberg continued opening doors and landing planes for SSGA’s members throughout his 5 ½-year tenure.

At the end of September 2024, the longtime industry leader is retiring after an illustrious career in both the public and private sectors.

“It’s just a great time for transition,” Wenberg said. “We’re in a successful position with a trained staff who know their jobs with a marquee set of events that are now on the map and the calendar that people attend.”

Wenberg’s genial disposition and breadth of industry knowledge will be missed by colleagues.

“He’s such a rare bird, and I think others would say the same thing,” said Gary Williams, SSGA director of transportation and regulatory affairs. “The skillset that Eric has is really unique. You’ll find people who have been in the Foreign Ag Service and the government side of things, and some make the crossover to the association side, but what’s different about Eric is he can understand the commercial side. He can understand government and the organizational association world, and it’s really rare to find that.”

Shane Frederick, SSGA’s manager of strategic programs, said Wenberg’s small-ball approach transformed SSGA into a big player in the global identity preserved and transportation industries.

“Eric Wenberg might be the Billy Beane of agricultural associations,” Frederick said, referring to the general manager of the Oakland A’s baseball team who was made famous by the book and movie, “Moneyball.” “Under his leadership, a new and somewhat-small organization made a major impact on the industry around the world.”

Living the dream

Before joining SSGA, Wenberg completed a nearly 30-year career with USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), serving in American embassies in Ottawa, Pretoria, Warsaw and Moscow. During his FAS career, Wenberg worked abroad, assisting U.S. agricultural businesses export, negotiating trade agreements and settling disputes with foreign governments, while speaking and publishing reports on foreign agricultural conditions. He also served as assistant deputy administrator of Foreign Service Operations, directing 90 offices abroad. He was tasked with setting financial management and policy for Farm Bill foreign marketing programs. From 2002 to 2004, Wenberg represented FAS on the governing board of the American Foreign Service Association.

“Eric came to SSGA not knowing a whole lot about the IP business,” SSGA Chair Bob Sinner said. “He’s made a significant effort, learned all the aspects of our businesses and has really been a champion. I’ve seen him work day-to-day with such passion. He’s been such a student of our businesses.”

Phillip Shull, SSGA’s South Asia technical adviser, has been a colleague of Wenberg’s for around 30 years. He said his friend’s enthusiasm and grasp of complex issues never let up.

“Eric’s commitment to seeing the job done is another thing that drives him. He lives it; he’s not an 8-to-5 guy. He’s going to be dreaming about this,” Shull said. “The multifaceted aspect of his job is you’re not just doing the same thing. You do marketing and you do the policy, the management, the administration and the diplomacy of working with the government and the industry and with foreign dignitaries. It’s multidimensional.”

The COVID-19 pandemic hit a year after Wenberg joined SSGA, and just days after SSGA participated in the Northern Commodity Transportation Conference (now known as the SSGA-led Transportation Go!). The Minnesota-based organization shifted into remote, virtual operations. To Wenberg, the pandemic felt like another restart for SSGA.

“Of course, we work internationally, so we began to adopt the habit that we still are pretty accustomed to, which is being on video calls and conferences late at night,” he said. “The pandemic made us rethink our business functions.”

In the fall of 2020, SSGA – working on behalf of its members who export high-quality, identity preserved and specialty grains and oilseeds to help them meet the needs of their overseas customers – was one of the first organizations to sound the alarm about the global supply chain disruptions. Those advocacy efforts included educating legislators and media outreach and led to the 2022 passage of the bipartisan Ocean Shipping Reform Act, providing a more competitive global ocean shipping industry and relief to U.S. exporters. A press release issued by SSGA underscoring the effects of the crisis later earned a National Agri-Marketing Association award.

“We give people the data and information they need to make decisions,” Wenberg said. “We set up a series of educational outreach on transportation and the difficulties, the steps that the companies were going through to try and overcome the difficulties to continue to deliver products. That’s a very important role for an association, for an alliance like ours to take on. The goal is to pass on the difficult messages to the customer, and I’m very proud of the role that we played in that legislation passing with unanimous consent in the Senate.”

Sinner, a longtime SSGA board member and president of SB&B Foods, said Wenberg delivered for the industry time and time again.

“All of our members talk about a return on investment, and it’s sometimes very hard to measure. But membership in SSGA, that hasn’t been difficult. This has been a no brainer,” Sinner said. “This has been a situation where people have become members because they’ve seen and recognized how important the return on investment is for the things that we do at SSGA.”

Addressing transportation challenges and opportunities has remained a key SSGA priority. In addition to Transportation Go!, SSGA has hosted multiple trade missions with stakeholders and the Department of Transportation to promote the St. Lawrence Seaway, most recently in Rotterdam in September 2024.

“The St. Lawrence Seaway is a regional solution that the region needs to support, and we documented that,” he said. “That trip did wonders for educating us in our region about what needs to happen next and giving us business opportunities. It’s also cemented the reputation of the U.S. Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway administration with their European customers that the Seaway needs to be taken seriously.”

Fork to farm

Under Wenberg’s leadership, SSGA unveiled in December 2021 its flagship program: the first-of-its-kind U.S. Identity Preserved assurance plan and brand mark program to ensure customers are receiving the exact qualities and characteristics that they order. After an international launch in 2022, followed by the inaugural Identity Preserved International Summit in 2023, the program has garnered certification from 18 U.S. companies. In September 2024, the brand was licensed for the first time to a foreign company for use on their retail packaging and/or promotional materials.

Wenberg is bullish about the program’s long-term future.

“Businesses are seeing value from that certification because we’re making decisions based on the needs of these businesses,” he said.

Wenberg said members are finding value in SSGA’s agronomy action team, which pulls together farmers, researchers and agronomists from member states.

“For the first time, we now have farmers and businesses discussing crop management and seed issues from across state lines,” he said. “That’s been very beneficial.”

SSGA also successfully negotiated a three-year delay of implementation of Japan’s new requirement for a phytosanitary certificate for U.S.-origin shipments of soybeans and soymeal. During that period, SSGA worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to develop a stronger process approach for inspections of high-quality grains and oilseeds grown in the United States and exported or processed for human consumption. Wenberg said members have reported that the phytosanitary program is the highest ROI a trade association has ever delivered to its members.

“We just happened to have the creativity and smarts to package the expertise and the ability and the high-quality part of the network into a solution that was satisfactory to all,” Wenberg said. “I think that’s why I’m certain SSGA will succeed in the years ahead, is the high-quality grain and soybean market needs a voice. We’re that voice.”

All about the people

Through a pandemic, remote work, national events and international meetings, Wenberg always remembered that he was part of a global network, an attribute appreciated by SSGA’s board and staff.

It all comes back to relationships.

“He’s not only been our leader,” Sinner said, “but he’s been a friend and a real benefit to all of us.”

Having a passionate, engaged board made the job easier.

“My job was made easier by the professionalism of the volunteers backing this organization,” Wenberg said. “I have the most active board you could imagine. They have been there for me to call and ask for help.”

Wenberg was always available to share insight, or a dad joke, with colleagues.

“I have personally learned so much from Eric, including doing SSGA’s work with integrity, enthusiasm, creativity and, even with a little sense of humor,” Frederick said. “All of that can go a long way into making your programs and activities successful on behalf of your members and their businesses.”

Wenberg credited Ag Management Solutions (AMS), which has overseen SSGA’s operations since its inception and recently brought Williams, a transportation expert, into the fold.

“AMS is such a professional group that goes after agriculture with passion,” he said. “I’ve worked all over the world and found the most passionate people about agriculture in Mankato, Minnesota.”

Wenberg said he’ll continue supporting SSGA as the organization searches for his replacement. In the meantime, he plans to spend more time with his wife, Pam, and his two adult daughters while working on his honey-do list, starting with painting his 1973 Volkswagen Beetle.

“You don’t get to start things like this very often in your career,” he said. “It was a privilege.”