Ventura Foods

Ventura Foods is a privately held joint venture between CHS Inc., the largest farmer-owned cooperative in the United States, and Mitsui & Co., the publicly traded Japanese trading house. The structure was created in 1996 through the merger of Wilsey Foods and Holsum Foods. Specific governance or board composition details beyond the two parent entities are not publicly disclosed.

Ventura produces the back-of-house ingredient systems used by foodservice operators: frying oils, margarines, butter blends, pan coatings, mayonnaise, salad dressings, and custom sauces. Its products are typically sold in bulk or portion-control formats rather than as branded retail items. The company serves chain restaurants, convenience stores, commissaries, and industrial food manufacturers.

It competes as a custom manufacturer against vertically integrated commodity processors such as Stratas Foods and Bunge's foodservice division. Ventura's differentiation is its combination of culinary R&D, proprietary blending capabilities, and the raw-material access provided by its CHS and Mitsui parents — essentially functioning as a white-label formulation partner.

No. Ventura Foods operates as an industrial B2B supplier and does not market branded products to consumers. Its formulations appear inside restaurant kitchens, concession stands, and co-manufactured food products, but the Ventura name is not visible on grocery shelves or menu boards.

Through its ownership structure, Ventura has a direct link to CHS's North American soybean and canola crush operations. Mitsui & Co. provides additional international commodity sourcing and logistics capabilities. This integrated supply chain allows the company to control feedstock costs in ways a standalone manufacturer typically cannot.