Morton Salt Expands Specialty Salt Portfolio And Food Grade Salt Production Capabilities

Morton Salt, Inc., which today announced its latest efforts to support the food manufacturing community during the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Food Expo in Chicago.

With growing demand for food grade salts, Morton Salt is introducing food grade manufacturing capabilities at its salt production facility in Port Canaveral, FL. Morton Salt's Port Canaveral expansion will include a state-of-the-art sea salt production line.

The company is adding more than 45,000-square-feet to its existing footprint dedicated to the production and warehousing of food grade sea salt and food grade solar salt. Morton Salt will break ground on its Port Canaveral expansion later this summer, with food grade salt production expected to begin in the first quarter of 2016.

"Being vertically integrated with our own sea salt production capability will enable Morton Salt to actively participate in this growing market and further strengthen our customer service and support," said Jen Schipper, Senior Director of Industrial Sales at Morton Salt. "This is critical as food manufacturers continue to incorporate sea salt into more of their product offerings and turn to us for reliable, high quality supply."

According to Mintel GNPD, sea salt was used in 26 percent of all new food product launches in 2014 that contained salt.

In addition to its Port Canaveral expansion, Morton Salt has expanded its specialty salt portfolio by introducing Morton® PureSun™ Culinary Crystals, a new food grade solar salt naturally harvested from the waters of the Great Salt Lake. Morton® PureSun™ Culinary Crystals meet FCC purity requirements and were developed for use in a variety of food processing applications including soups, sauces and snacks.

Morton® PureSun™ Culinary Crystals join the more than 50 salt grades and mixtures in Morton Salt's B2B portfolio specifically designed with food manufacturers in mind.

This is the first food grade product developed at Morton's solar salt production facility in Grantsville, UT. Morton expanded its technical capabilities at the facility this year to enable food grade salt production, which is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2015. The company will continue to produce its existing portfolio of products including water softening salts and other commercial products at its Grantsville facility.

"There is a real, unmet need for local supply of food grade salt, particularly in the western region of the U.S.," said Connie White, Director of Solar Operations at Morton Salt. "We are excited that Morton Salt was able to leverage its expertise and extensive manufacturing footprint to bring salt to a market that has historically been underserved."

Morton Salt invested approximately $20 million to introduce food grade production capabilities at its Grantsville and Port Canaveral facilities. With these enhancements, Morton Salt is uniquely positioned to serve the needs of food manufacturers with its network of 12 food grade production sites in North America.

Schipper added: "With a new product launch and new production capabilities, Morton Salt is demonstrating what it means to be a true partner to the food manufacturing community. We're looking forward to serving new and existing customers with our new offerings and to delivering even greater possibilities for them in the future."

Last year, Morton Salt unveiled a new state-of-the-art food lab at its R&D center in Elgin, IL that is dedicated to exploring the next generation of reduced sodium solutions. As a solutions provider, Morton Salt has been helping customers tackle the sodium reduction challenge for more than 40 years.

To learn more about the company's full spectrum of reduced sodium solutions and salt products for the food industry, visit the Morton Salt booth (#2306) at IFT'15 taking place in Chicago from July 12-14, or view our product offerings online.