RIBUS Inc. opened its doors to its first solely owned and operated production facility in Sparks, Nev., this month. The company, previously based in St. Louis, moved its headquarters to Sparks, located in the Reno area, earlier this year. The new 15,000-sq.-ft. plant is organic and Kosher certified, with Non-GMO, Gluten Free, Halal and SQF certifications pending. 

“Having our own plant gives us increased capacity and control over making changes that are needed in the marketplace,” says Steve Peirce, co-founder and president of RIBUS. “Some of these changes may include different package sizes, different particle sizes, and new, innovative ingredients.”

Peirce says the new production facility comes from market demand for RIBUS’ clean label ingredients including Nu-FLOW and other excipients.

“RIBUS is dedicated to fulfilling additional demand to meet customer needs,” says Peirce. “With this new production facility, we are perfectly positioned for 300%+ incremental production capacity."

RIBUS’ Nu-FLOW ingredient, also known as “The Synthetics Replacer,'' is designed to give manufacturers the option to replace synthetics or other anti-caking agents, including silicone dioxide, tri-calcium phosphate (or talc), with a natural or certified organic ingredient. The company says that by using Nu-FLOW, producers can list “rice hulls” for a clean, consumer-friendly label, while also solving anti-caking, flow and other manufacturing and production challenges. Nu-FLOW is made from rice hulls that are steam sterilized and ground to a fine powder producing a natural alternative to silicon dioxide or other anti-caking or flow agents.

RIBUS produces plant-based non-GMO, natural, organic, vegan and gluten-free ingredients for the food, beverage, pet and dietary supplement companies. RIBUS stands for Rice Ingredient Business United States.