BIG BEND, Wis. — When you walk through the Connoils plant in Big Bend, you’re greeted with the loud sounds of machines at work and the smell of different types of oils.
Connoils turns oil into powder for the food, nutraceutical and supplement industry.
CEO Stacy Peterson said Connoils is being impacted by international supply and demand issues that’s cutting their sales 30%.
“There’s so much of our product stuck in the ocean,” said Peterson. “We order a lot of product from the Netherlands, Europe, Ukraine.”
She said the war between Ukraine and Russia is making a huge impact on sunflower oil because Ukraine is a large exporter of it. Peterson isn’t expecting to have any sunflower this year, leaving them to lose 5% of sales.
They use their powdered oil for items such as protein bars and dog food.
“We may be able to supply an ingredient but our customer may keep us on hold and hold on to their product because they’re missing four other products that go into their application,” Peterson said.
Production supervisor Matthew LaSusa said employees are adapting.
“We’ve focused on helping our sales team hone in on oils that aren’t so hard to get,” LaSusa said. “Ones that we don’t source overseas. As of right now, we have been able to stay busy.”
Peterson is not expecting things to change soon. In the meantime, Connoils will continue to push through the challenges and will make it through the continuing supply and demand issues.
