MINNEAPOLIS — Higher sales volumes and a robust pipeline of new business opportunities helped drive strong year-over-year sales growth at SunOpta Inc. in the third quarter. But the rise in revenues wasn’t enough to swing SunOpta to a profit, as the company sustained a loss of $5.5 million in the period.

Brian W. Kocher, who is closing in on his one-year anniversary as SunOpta’s chief executive officer, told analysts during a Nov. 5 conference call that the third quarter “played out as expected.”

“We once again demonstrated our ability to drive significant growth, improve productivity and profitability and build processes for sustainable shareholder value creation,” he said. “Last quarter, we told you that we continue to see revenue growth from innovation, share expansion at existing customers and share growth with new customers. We also highlighted the temporary operating expense investments in our supply chain to accelerate future sustainable efficiencies, capacity growth and margin expansion.

“We guided to what we could see and worked diligently on key metrics, including revenue growth, volume growth margin expansion and increasing adjusted EBITA.”

SunOpta sustained a loss of $5.5 million in the third quarter ended Sept. 28, which compared with a loss of $145.82 million in the same period a year ago. Last year’s third quarter included more than $140.14 million in losses from discontinued operations.

Adjusted earnings in the quarter totaled $2.5 million, which compared with $452,000 a year ago. Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations was $21.5 million, up from $19.09 million in the same period a year ago.

Revenues increased nearly 16% to $176.22 million from $152.54 million.

Following the release of financial results on Nov. 5, the company’s share price climbed as high as $7.40 on Nov. 6, up 9% from the close on Nov. 5. SunOpta’s share price hasn’t been above $7 since reaching a 52-week high of $7.59 on May 9.

Kocher said third-quarter output was up 18% in its aseptic facilities and up 49% in its fruit snack facilities over the same period a year ago. He attributed the gains to greater efficiency from the company’s established lines and facilities as well as new capacity deployed over the past 18 months.

He said the company achieved its second consecutive record-breaking production month at its fruit snack facility in Omak, Wash., during September. Also in September, SunOpta achieved its highest operating uptime metrics of the year. Meanwhile, oat extraction at the company’s plant in Modesto, Calif., which came online during the second quarter, continues to ramp up from a volume perspective, he said.

Another important step taken by SunOpta in the third quarter was the announcement the company has partnered with a large coffee chain to expand distribution of its Dream Oatmilk Barista product to 6,700 additional locations across North America starting in January. Kocher said SunOpta’s investment in capacity has proved to be “very timely.”