Bay State Milling Company, a plant-based ingredients company headquartered in Quincy, MA, recently added seed development to its capabilities through the creation of 5th Generation Seed, LLC. 5th Generation Seed was launched in July, 2014, born from the acquisition of wheat varieties, seed germplasm and related intellectual property.

The new company focuses on the development of novel varieties of grains such as wheat, barley and spelt with beneficial customer and consumer-centric output traits like baking performance, nutrition, color and flavor for differentiated grain-based foods. It is located in agriculture rich Yuma, Arizona facilitating the growth and development of value-added crop seeds.

Bay State Milling Company is a family owned company which celebrated its 115th anniversary in 2014, as well as the entrance of the fifth generation of family members into the company’s ranks.

“The formation of 5th Generation Seed will enable Bay State Milling to better meet the next-generation of customer and consumer needs through the availability of new plant varieties derived from conventional breeding techniques,” says Peter Levangie, President and COO. “Integration into the roots of the plant-based ingredients value chain fits well with our strategy, gives us additional tools to collaborate with our trusted growers and will allow us to further our core purpose of providing healthful and affordable food choices to consumers.”

According to Michael Pate, Vice President of Research and Development for Bay State Milling, “By leveraging our new grain varieties and working with plant breeders and seed farmers, we now have the tools available to solve real problems that our customers are dealing with, such as insufficient or inconsistent stability of wheat flours, or consumer dislike of healthful whole grain foods. We look forward to doing our part to more tightly connect the value chain within grain-based foods.”

5th Generation Seed will have access to all of Bay State Milling’s resources, including the GrainEssentials Center and Product Applications team to ensure that delicious, commercially viable prototypes are available to demonstrate the performance of new varieties to customers.

For more information, visit www.baystatemilling.com or call 1-800-553-5687.