Two Illinois cooperatives are searching for white gold--in the form of specialty food-grade white corn to be used in the manufacture of premium torillas. Assumption Grain Cooperative Co., Assumption, IL (217-226-3213), and Morrisonville Farmers Cooperative, Morrisonville, IL (217-526-3123), have teamed with the Independent Tortilla Manufacturers of Mexico (lTM) to study the feasibility of building a tortilla manufacturing plant near Chicago. Central Illinois farmers the cooperatives serve would produce the specialty corn needed to manufacture the tortillas. But these cooperatives' plan goes far beyond the potential Chicago plant--they see it as an opportunity to open up a whole new market for Central Illinois corn in Mexico. "As NAFTA goes on, we could have the advantage of marketing white corn into the Mexican market," says Dan Litteken, general manager, Morrisonville Farmers Cooperative. "We need to establish a relationship with the buyers now."
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