Photos= by Deb Gau A staff member at tru Shrimp’s Balaton facilities held up an example of the shrimp being raised for research and training purposes. Tru Shrimp continues to do research on ways to improve the process of raising the shrimp to a harvestable size.

BALATON — The timeline changed on tru Shrimp’s plans to build its first shrimp production facility in Madison, South Dakota, but tru Shrimp spokespeople say the company is still working to make it happen.

“I get asked a lot, ‘Why haven’t you started building?'” said Jamie Brink-Thordson, director of sales and marketing for tru Shrimp. Brink-Thordson said the answer is that tru Shrimp is “really focused on raising capital to build in Madison.”

The fundraising efforts for the multimillion-dollar facility have also opened up to more community investors, with tru Shrimp holding informational meetings in South Dakota and Minnesota. An event for potential investors is being held tonight at the Red Baron Arena in Marshall. Brink-Thordson said future meetings are planned in cities including Worthington and Minneapolis.

At the same time tru Shrimp is working with investors, research on improving shrimp production continues in Balaton. In December, tru Shrimp announced it would be doing studies involving the shed shells of shrimp at the Brookings Research Park in Brookings, South Dakota. Tru Shrimp originally had plans to build a production facility in Luverne, but in 2019 announced it would be building its initial facility in Madison instead. Then, in summer 2019, the company said it would be delaying construction of the Madison facility, while capital was secured.

Because the cost of building the planned Madison Bay Harbor, Brink-Thordson said tru Shrimp considered starting with a smaller facility that could be expanded later. The original plan for 288 “tidal basins” for raising shrimp was reduced to 144 tidal basins, she said.

Even at a reduced size, building the Madison facility will require a total of about $300 million in capital, Brink-Thordson said.

Brink-Thordson said tru Shrimp is working with two major sources of capital. The larger piece, she said, is working with investment banks. She said tru Shrimp is working with Bank of America and Cappello.

But the company is also opening up opportunities to more local and regional investors, through a convertible note program. The minimum investment will be $25,000, she said.

Tru Shrimp’s path to starting commercial production of its shrimp has gone through a couple of major stages so far, Brink-Thordson said.

“When we first started, everyone wanted to see if the technology worked,” to raise the shrimp, Brink-Thordson said. Then, people wanted to know if the company could successfully sell the shrimp. “The last piece is raising the capital.”

While tru Shrimp is focused on raising capital for the Madison facility, the company is continuing to do research, both at the Balaton Bay Reef facility and in Brookings. In Brookings, tru Shrimp is conducting research having to do with the shells shrimp shed as they grow, said Bruce Paterson, chief technical officer for tru Shrimp. The shells can be processed into a substance called chitosan, which has medical and pharmaceutical uses, Paterson and Brink-Thordson said.

On the other hand, “All of the work we do here (in Balaton) is really about the shrimp,” Paterson said. Tru Shrimp is using its Balaton facilities to improve shrimp production and water quality management in a variety of ways. Paterson said the research in Balaton is focused around areas including selecting the breeding lines of shrimp that grow the fastest, and finding the best nutritional balance in the shrimp’s food to help promote growth.

Paterson said having a relationship with Ralco has been important for tru Shrimp’s nutritional research.

“I think going forward, we’re probably going to make some big advances,” he said.

While Balaton Bay Reef doesn’t produce shrimp on a commercial scale, Brink-Thordson said tru Shrimp has still sold thousands of pounds of locally-raised shrimp. Last fall, the company announced its first customer, The Fish Guys, a specialty seafood distributor in St. Louis Park. Balaton-raised shrimp are also available for sale at the Balaton One Stop, on U.S. Highway 14.