TORONTO — Increases in the Grains and Foods Group, International Foods Group and Opta Minerals, Inc. as well as reduced corporate spending helped contribute to a 10% increase in earnings for SunOpta, Inc. during the first quarter.

Earnings for the quarter ended April 2 were $5,081,000, equal to 8c per share on the common stock, which compared with earnings of $4,613,000, or 7c per share, during the same quarter of the previous year. Revenue for the quarter was $260,923,000, up 20% from $216,749,000 during the same quarter of the previous year.

“We are pleased with our first-quarter 2011 results, which represent record first-quarter net earnings for our company,” said Steve Bromley, president and chief executive officer. “Operating income has improved in spite of rising commodity prices. We continue to streamline our portfolio and over the last 12 months have divested of three non-core operations, most recently the Mexican Frozen Fruit assets, while over the same period acquiring two core operations. We remain focused on growing our business in fast-growing healthy foods categories while at the same time improving operating margins and returns on assets employed. We believe we are well positioned to continue our profitable growth in the future.”