BARCELONA (ICIS)–ICIS is proud to announce that Future Origins is the overall winner of the 2025 ICIS Innovation Awards for its technology which replaces palm oil as a raw material for the home and personal care sector.

The decision by a panel of independent chemical industry judges to award Future Origins was revealed during a lunch for winners, judges and sponsors at London’s Savoy Hotel on 13 November.

The company is commercializing high-volume production of C12/C14 fatty alcohols using engineered microorganisms to offer a drop-in alternative for a 3 million tonnes/year market that offers a traceable, deforestation-free supply chain.

The innovation is already approaching commercial stage, as a binding offtake agreement has been signed for the majority of the first planned commercial plant of 50,000 tonnes/year. Final investment decision (FID) is planned for 2026, with startup scheduled for 2029.

Future Origins see the opportunity to grow to several hundred thousand tonnes/year, both directly and via licensing. It is a joint venture formed by Genomatica (technology partner) along with large investments by industry majors Unilever, Kao and L’Oreal.

A CLEAR OVERALL WINNER
The judges picked Future Origins – which had already collected a trophy for the category of Best Process Innovation from an SME – as a clear overall champion, praising the big positive environmental impact the technology could have as a replacement for palm oil.

Alessia Ielo, global sustainable solutions manager and life cycle analysis expert at Brenntag said: “I loved Future Origins’ entry – it has all the characteristics I’d want to see nowadays in an innovation. It tackles all the main sustainability challenges: low-carbon, non-toxic, drop-in, avoids deforestation, and is highly market-relevant. A standout example of innovation with immediate real-world impact. Well done!”

Adrian Higson, managing director at consultancy NNFCC added: “It’s been a tough nut to crack – replacing palm oil ingredients for the cosmetic industry is a large market and it’s a valuable market. It’s not easy to replace those ingredients and that’s why I like this entry.”

Lars Kissau, formerly president Net Zero Accelerator at BASF and now general manager for Asia at Samsara Eco pointed out that: “Palm oil is a big issue to solve and biotechnology is certainly one path to the future. The potential is there and they have picked a good market and a big problem to solve.”

Denis Bortzmeyer, scientific director, open innovation, at Arkema added: “I voted for this entry because it’s an interesting market, and because I think that these guys really have a technology which is working.”

ICIS reveals the overall winner of the 2025 ICIS Innovation Awards

The growing personal care industry is pushing for more responsible ingredient sourcing. From surfactants to emollients, brands are moving to reduce carbon footprints, prevent deforestation, and ensure that raw materials come from renewable and traceable origins.

For ingredient manufacturers, this means rethinking how products are designed, produced, and scaled — without compromising performance or profitability.

Personal Care Insights sits down with experts from Future Origins, Univar Solutions, and TriNutra to explore how different links in the beauty supply chain can build more responsible, transparent, and performance-driven skin care solutions.

“As large and as successful as [the personal care] industry is, we know manufacturers face a mounting challenge in terms of sourcing sustainable ingredients,” a Future Origins spokesperson tells us.

The company views this challenge as a catalyst for change. It says technology and innovation are helping to reshape the way the industry sources and produces environmentally friendly ingredients.

“Sustainability can mean a lot of things depending on your perspective or business imperative and where you are on the sustainability journey,” says Morgane Ezanno, commercial sustainability lead, EMEA, at Univar Solutions.

“We all want to meet the moment, safeguarding people and the planet, while keeping businesses successful and profitable.”

As companies work to balance these ambitions with practical realities, scaling sustainable production remains one of the sector’s biggest hurdles.

“It is very important that the necessary infrastructure is available to manufacture the products that can make a meaningful impact.”

Achieving large-scale sustainability requires support. Partnerships enable collaboration between formulators, suppliers, and brand owners to align on data, standards, and outcomes.

“Partnerships are essential for advancing innovation across the personal care industry, particularly when working together toward shared goals of efficacy, transparency, and environmental responsibility,” says Liki von Oppen-Bezalel, business development director at TriNutra.

Local agricultural partnerships support the responsible cultivation of beauty ingredients.Von Oppen-Bezalel says TriNutra’s research aims to understand how ingredients work and what specific compositions improve performance and effectiveness over others. “This knowledge enables us to refine our cultivation and extraction methods, minimizing waste and preserving biodiversity.”

She says partnerships with brands then further help translate findings into finished products that are effective and aligned with consumer demands for natural, traceable, and responsibly sourced ingredients.

A Future Origins representative tells us the company was established through a partnership between biotechnology company Geno and major beauty brands Unilever, Kao, and L’Oréal. Future Origins develops Nalo, a drop-in replacement for conventional palm-derived ingredients commonly used in surfactants for products such as face wash.

Geno helps produce Nalo by giving its expertise in scalable fermentation-based process technologies. Future Origins’ collaboration with the brand owners has helped it validate the product and create clear market demand.

These collaborations provide commercial validation and financial and infrastructural support.

“All of these partnerships are necessary to build the alternative value chain we need to commercialize the technology. To date, Geno and the brand owners have also invested in developing and scaling up the technology,” the Future Origins representative explains.

At the distributor level, Univar Solutions uses partnerships to build accountability through shared frameworks and measurable goals. “Our Supplier ESG Collaboration Program began in 2021 with the implementation of our Supplier Code of Conduct,” Ezanno explains.

Univar has also developed programs like EcoScope, which seeks supplier partners’ greenhouse gas emissions data and supports decarbonization initiatives.

As sustainability claims become more complex, traceability is becoming a regulatory requirement and a consumer expectation.

For ingredient producer TriNutra, traceability begins at the field level. “We have developed a unique breeding program for Nigella sativa to produce our proprietary black seed oil, branded as B’utyQuin,” explains von Oppen-Bezalel.

“Because of this, we only work with local farmers, which gives us full traceability from cultivation to the finished product and, in turn, we can support the local economy in a region that suffers from economic, climatic, and political disadvantages.”

Full visibility from farm to formulation is becoming essential in sustainable ingredient sourcing.TriNutra’s model integrates waste management and upcycling into the same value chain. “We repurpose any leftover ‘waste’ from our black seed oil production to create new, upcycled raw materials and active ingredients.”

“Any additional waste can then be used as fertilizer or animal feed. TriNutra also incorporates its spent water for irrigation, further helping the local economy and agriculture,” continues von Oppen-Bezalel.

Future Origins underscores the importance of early-stage traceability integration. “We recognize that traceability is critical for businesses and consumers alike, so we are taking this into account during our development process.”

“We are ensuring that our raw materials for Nalo are sourced from traceable, plant-based, renewable feedstocks by working closely with the raw material providers.”

As links in the supply chain increasingly hold one another accountable, the focus is shifting toward verifiable data and shared responsibility across every production stage.

“Our Sustainable Sourcing goal helps drive improved sustainability performance and minimum standards across our diverse supplier base,” says Univar’s Ezanno.

“Univar Solutions’ targets include issuing all of our new and active suppliers our global Supplier Code of Conduct by 2023 and assessing 80% of our suppliers (measured by spend) on their sustainability performance by 2025.”

Technological innovation helps bolster ecological beauty solutions, such as green chemistry and circular product design, and shapes how sustainability translates into tangible solutions. Across the board, companies point to biotechnology, upcycling, and process efficiency as key enablers of the next era of responsible beauty.

“At Future Origins, we believe in the power of technology, especially biotechnology, to shape the next generation of sustainable skin care solutions,” the company states.

Biotechnology enables high-performing skin care ingredients made from renewable feedstocks.“We are at a moment in time where the innovation in biotechnology is already meeting the demand for sustainable alternatives by delivering on performance and impact.”

TriNutra sees progress coming from agricultural precision and cleaner extraction. “We’re seeing major potential in precision agriculture, green extraction technologies, and analytical ingredient testing to ensure each batch’s composition and efficacy are consistent,” von Oppen-Bezalel shares.

“Advancements in cold-press and solvent-free extraction methods allow us to preserve the full spectrum of actives in black seed oil while minimizing waste and energy consumption.”

Univar Solutions, meanwhile, ties these developments into a broader systems approach. “The future of sustainable skin care will be driven by the convergence of biotechnology, upcycling, and circular design,” says Monika Ruiz-Golcher, senior technical specialist for Beauty and Personal Care, EMEA.

“Biotechnology is reshaping ingredient development, enabling high-performance materials from renewable feedstocks through cleaner, more efficient processes.”

She adds that the key challenge will be data consistency and credibility to ensure that sustainability claims remain measurable and credible. 

“Traceability, cost competitiveness, and the balance between sustainability, efficacy, and sensorial experience will help shape how the industry continues to evolve toward more responsible beauty.”

Beauty’s blueprint for sustainable solutions: Cross-industry collaboration builds trust and transparency

Future Origins has announced a large-scale demonstration campaign of Nalo, its zero-deforestation replacement for C-12/C14 fatty alcohols. Nalo replaces the alcohols commonly used to produce surfactants, which are part of formulations for products such as face cleansers and laundry detergents.  

The company says the campaign has produced more than 10 metric tons of in-spec material in an integrated refining facility. The campaign forms part of Future Origins’ goal of commercializing sustainable ingredient alternatives for personal and home care.  

“Global demand for personal and household cleaning products continues to rise, with the surfactants market projected to grow into a US$57 billion industry by 2028. As this industry grows, manufacturers face an increasing challenge around sourcing sustainable materials, and that is where Future Origins steps in,” John Gugel, the company’s CEO, tells Personal Care Insights. 

According to Future Origins, Nalo offers superior quality and supply chain stability that companies require to meet the increasing demand for sustainability.

In recent years, the personal care and cleaning industries have faced repeated supply chain disruptions.

“Home and personal care companies currently face a lot of disruption in their raw material supply, especially palm oil. Many contributing factors have led to this disruption, including geopolitics, labor shortages, declining harvests, and recent regulations and concerns relating to sourcing from environmentally sensitive areas,” says Gugel.

“From global geopolitical and trade challenges to raw material shortages, these disruptions have increased delays, price spikes, and operational challenges. When supply chains aren’t transparent, local, or traceable, uncertainty and risk always increase.” 

In recent years, the personal care and cleaning industries have faced repeated supply chain disruptions.Companies across the globe are looking for sustainable, high-performing alternatives to traditionally sourced ingredients. 

“The demonstration-scale success of Nalo shows that Future Origins can meet their volume, performance, and sustainability requirements, making it a credible and reliable alternative for their supply chains,” he says. 

“Supply chain resiliency has always been a top priority. What we are creating with Nalo isn’t just a ‘nice-to-have,’ it’s a must-have for global consumer packaged goods companies. We believe that real success comes from building sustainable, resilient, and sustainable models to enable future business growth.”

Future Origins produces Nalo using proprietary fermentation-based technology and highly engineered microorganisms developed by industrial biotechnology leader Genomatica. 

“We’ve developed and scaled up this technology to ferment plant-based sugars at an industrial scale to manufacture this drop-in replacement. Future Origins will source locally grown, plant-based feedstocks that offer greater traceability and a lower carbon footprint than the current C-12/C14 fatty alcohols used across the personal and home care industry,” says Gugel.

The technology scale-up is in the final stages of completion. “We now know Nalo meets the technical and performance standards required for real-world applications such as detergents, face wash, and cosmetics,” continues Gugel. 

He argues that Nalo’s performance is critical as it makes the ingredient scalable and helps meet the same performance expectations as traditional palm or petroleum-derived fatty alcohols. Moreover, it can be processed using existing equipment and processing facilities.

“This indicates that Nalo can be ready to meet future supply chain needs and represents a major step forward in our efforts toward a Final Investment Decision for our first commercial-scale manufacturing plant.”

Gugel shares that Future Origins is advancing plans for a commercial-scale manufacturing plant. Potential sites are being considered in US states where the necessary feedstocks are available. 

The data from the demonstration-scale work is also being used to advance the engineering design for a commercial facility. 

Future Origins is advancing plans for a commercial-scale manufacturing plant.The purified product from the large-scale production will be shipped to prospective and current partners for testing in multiple applications. 

Future Origins says it is similar to the testing work already conducted for the material produced from pilot-scale production by big industry players such as L’Oréal, Kao, Unilever, and Galaxy Surfactants.

“Our goal is to deliver the materials that are not only sustainably and reliably sourced, but also meet the high standards for our customers. We are pleased that Nalo meets this need, offering functionality and greater supply chain resilience,” says Daisuke Hamada, senior executive officer in charge of Chemical Business at Kao.

Richard Slater, Unilever’s chief R&D officer, comments: “Future Origins is a powerful demonstration of how scientific innovation can enhance our supply chain, bringing together breakthrough biotechnology with scalable execution.” 

“It’s a milestone that reinforces our belief that through leading-edge science, we can create desirable and sustainable products.”

Future Origins scales up zero-deforestation ingredient for sustainable surfactants

SAN DIEGO, Oct. 23, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Future Origins today announced the successful completion of a large-scale demonstration campaign of Nalo™, its zero deforestation drop-in replacement for C12/C14 fatty alcohols commonly used in surfactants such as laundry detergent and face wash. The demonstration campaign produced more than 10 tons of in-spec material in an integrated refining facility. The U.S.-based joint venture, which is commercializing sustainable alternatives to critical ingredients for the global home and personal care markets, views this milestone as a major step forward in its efforts toward a Final Investment Decision (FID) for its first commercial-scale manufacturing plant.

"This demonstration campaign, completed at multi-ton scale in an integrated refining facility, is an essential step in progressing from a pilot phase to full-scale commercial production. This important achievement validates the quality of our product and the robustness and scalability of our proprietary process technology," said John Gugel, CEO at Future Origins. "In an ever-changing marketplace, consumer brands need the consistent superior quality and supply-chain stability that Future Origins can provide through Nalo."

The purified product from this large-scale production will be shipped to current and prospective partners for testing across multiple applications in the home and personal care segments. This is similar to the application testing work that was already conducted for the material produced from pilot scale production, conducted by personal care product global leaders such as Kao, Unilever and L'Oréal, and a leading surfactant and specialty ingredient player, Galaxy Surfactants Limited.

"Our goal is to deliver the materials that are not only sustainably and reliably sourced, but also meet the high standards for our customers," said Daisuke Hamada, Senior Executive Officer in charge of Chemical Business from Kao. "We are pleased that Nalo meets this need, offering functionality and greater supply chain resilience."

"Future Origins is a powerful demonstration of how scientific innovation can enhance our supply chain, bringing together breakthrough biotechnology with scalable execution," said Richard Slater, Chief R&D Officer at Unilever. "It's a milestone that reinforces our belief that through leading-edge science, we can create products that are both desirable and sustainable."

"Not only is Nalo performing from a technical perspective, but we have concluded that it works as a drop-in replacement for a key ingredient in formulations," said Mr. Vaijanath Kulkarni, Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer at Galaxy Surfactants Limited.  

Nalo will be manufactured at industrial scale in the coming years. Kao recently secured an offtake agreement covering a majority of the planned capacity of Future Origins' first manufacturing plant.

"The validation of Nalo by multiple partners and the successful completion of the demo-scale operations will accelerate the market momentum that Future Origins has experienced since late last year," said Dr Priti Pharkya, Chief Business Officer at Future Origins. "We look forward to advancing into the next stage of development."

Future Origins was founded by industrial biomanufacturing technology leader Genomatica ("Geno"), together with Unilever, Kao, and L'Oréal, to commercialize and manufacture high-volume sustainable ingredients for widely used surfactants used in the global home and personal care markets. Galaxy Surfactants Limited has provided independent product quality and formulation testing for Future Origins throughout the successful technology scale-up program.

For more information, visit the Future Origins website at www.futureorigins.com.

Future Origins Demonstrates Large Scale Production of Nalo™

SAN DIEGO – Roughly 91 million tons of textile waste is produced around the world each year, with 11% of all plastic waste coming from clothing and textiles, according to the United Nations Environment Programme.

A significant portion of that plastic textile waste is due to synthetic fibers used in the fashion industry such as polyester, elastane and nylon, which are all produced using fossil fuel-based materials.

With fashion companies on the hunt for more environmentally friendly materials that also have a cheaper supply chain than petrochemical-based synthetics, Genomatica is taking steps to hasten the commercialization of its plant-based nylon-6 polymer via a partnership with the Sojitz Corporation.

“It’s extremely difficult to develop bio-manufacturing solutions that can compete head-to-head on a cost basis in the existing chemical markets,” Genomatica CEO John Gugel said. “Those are markets that have been optimized and commoditized over many, many decades, and now you come in with a brand new, high-tech biotech solution, it’s not for the faint of heart.”

Nylon-6 is one of the most common synthetic fibers used in textile manufacturing and is often found in items like outdoor clothing, military materials and automotive parts. It’s also typically produced with carbon from fossil fuel-based sources or recycled materials, which faces challenges of collection and quality.

Genomatica, or Geno, for short, developed a proprietary fermentation method to convert carbon from plant-based sugars into caprolactam, a building block solution in the manufacture of nylon-6.

According to Gugel, widespread commercialization of Geno’s plant-based nylon would place the company into a $22 billion industry with an annual demand of some 7 million tons.
“Bio-nylon is super exciting,” Gugel said. “One, it’s finally something that everybody understands right away when they hear about it, but also it’s a massive market opportunity.”

Partnerships, New Markets Fuel Alternative Materials Growth

Gugel joined Geno in 2022 as the company’s executive vice president of ventures to lead the company’s effort to manufacture and commercialize a plant-based alternative to palm oils used in cosmetics and personal care products.

Geno partnered with global cosmetics and personal care companies L’Oréal, Unilever and the Kao Corporation for the joint commercialization venture, known as Future Origins.
“These materials are traditionally sourced from palm-based materials, and palm-based materials have supply chain limitations, deforestation concerns, biodiversity concerns,” Gugel said. “So these major consumer products companies are looking for alternative supply chains.”

In the time since he joined Geno, Gugel was appointed company president in 2023 and CEO last year.

The company has also established commercial plants in Vietnam, in partnership with Korean chemical company Hyosung TNC, and Iowa through a partnership with Cargill and HELM AG, both for the manufacture of Geno’s plant-based 1,4-Butanediol, which is often used as an industrial solvent or in the manufacture of plastics.

Most recently, Geno formalized its relationship with the Tokyo-based trading company Sojitz, which had previously provided financial support for Geno’s demonstration-scale industrial process for its nylon-6 manufacturing.

Gugel said Geno intends to work with Sojitz going forward to establish its first commercial manufacturing plant for nylon-6, with the latter assisting in lining up investors and potential product offtakers.

“They have a track record of being well-connected throughout the global chemicals industry, and they have also taken steps in recent years in other initiatives of their own that don’t involve Geno to invest in projects or programs aimed at bringing sustainable solutions to the chemical industry,” he said.

The expansion of Geno’s commercial manufacturing apparatus will now include the global 1,4-Butanediol market, with an estimated demand of around 3 million tons per year; the nylon-6 market with its 7-million-ton demand and the 3-million-ton market for Future Origins’ palm oil replacements.

Gugel argued that all three products are used in items like textiles and beauty care products that are close to the consumer and often have customer bases that are swayed by a product’s sustainability as long as it’s priced competitively.

As a result, he added, Geno is more attractive to investors because its end markets are simple and straightforward.

“When you tell somebody we’re going to be able to substitute the alcohol that’s sourced in palm oil with our solution in your shampoo, they get it,” he said. “Or the next pair of spandex-constructed clothing that you buy could be enabled with plant-based nylon instead of petroleum-based nylon; people get that. … It’s just an easier story to understand.”

Genomatica
FOUNDED: 1998
CEO: John Gugel
HEADQUARTERS: San Diego
BUSINESS: Industrial biomanufacturing
EMPLOYEES: Around 65
WEBSITE: genomatica.com
CONTACT: christine@glunzstrategies.com
NOTABLE: Genomatica raised $118 million in Series C funding in 2021.

Genomatica Setting Up Commercial Supply Chain for Plant-based Nylon

SAN DIEGO, Aug. 5, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Future Origins today celebrated the announcement of the ICIS Innovation Award for Best Process Innovation for Nalo, its non-palm, zero-deforestation, drop-in replacement for C12/C14 fatty alcohols. The U.S.-based joint venture, that is commercializing sustainable alternatives to critical ingredients in the formulations of cosmetics, personal care and cleaning products, was recognized as part of the ICIS search for the best innovation in the chemical industry. The award will be presented to Future Origins on November 13, 2025, in London.

"We are honored to receive this international recognition for Future Origins and our development of Nalo. This award underscores what is truly possible when innovation and science are unleashed to create a sustainable solution," said John Gugel, CEO of Future Origins. "Nalo proves that performance and sustainability can go hand in hand, and further, that supply chain resiliency is achievable. We are grateful for the vision and dedication of our team and partners in developing this solution to help solve a global challenge. We are very excited for what lies ahead."

The ICIS Innovation Awards "recognize and reward companies paving the way in product, process, and digital innovations that demonstrate a commitment to sustainability in the industry," according to ICIS. The Best Process Innovation category, one of five categories in the annual awards, highlights innovations in process development and improvement. As ICIS notes, these are "vital areas of innovation underlying better use of energy and raw materials, improved economics, safer performance, and lower environmental impact."

Future Origins was founded by industrial biotechnology leader Geno, in partnership with Unilever, Kao, and L'Oréal, to commercialize and manufacture high-volume sustainable ingredients for widely used surfactants found in home and personal care applications. This award builds on a legacy of innovation by Geno, which has been recognized by ICIS in the past for its success in scaling sustainable, biobased processes.

Nalo will be manufactured by Future Origins at industrial scale at a production facility set to come online in the United States in the coming years. Kao recently secured an offtake agreement covering a majority of the planned capacity of Future Origins' first manufacturing plant. For more information and to follow the latest advancements around Nalo, visit the Future Origins website at www.futureorigins.com.

Future Origins Wins ICIS Innovation Award for Drop-in Replacement Nalo™

SAN DIEGO, Aug. 25, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Future Origins has been named a winner of the of the 2025 Green Chemistry Challenge Award by the American Chemical Society (ACS) for Nalo, its non-palm, zero-deforestation, drop-in replacement for C12/C14 fatty alcohols. The ACS awards focus on innovators in sustainable chemistry and "scientific breakthroughs that make chemistry safer, more efficient and more sustainable." The recognition for Future Origins is in the category of Specific Environmental Benefit as it is commercializing sustainable alternatives to critical ingredients in the formulations of cosmetics, personal care and cleaning products.

"We are incredibly proud to receive this national recognition from the American Chemical Society," said John Gugel, CEO of Future Origins. "This award is a result of the dedication, ingenuity and creativity of our entire team to develop an innovative solution that can be deployed at scale to enable meaningful positive impact. Turning our vision into a reality has been an exciting journey and we are grateful to our partners for believing in a more sustainable future."

The Green Chemistry Challenge Awards "recognize novel green chemistry technologies that reduce or eliminate the use of hazardous substances, use less energy and water, and improve the sustainability of products while demonstrating economic benefits," according to ACS. The announcement came today from ACS, and the award will be presented to Future Origins on September 3, 2025, at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC.

This is the second award announced this month for Future Origins, which will receive the ICIS Innovation Award in London on November 13, 2025. Future Origins was founded by industrial biotechnology leader Geno, in partnership with Unilever, Kao, and L'Oréal. Geno has been awarded the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award four times previously for its production of basic chemicals from renewable feedstocks at a lower cost, among other things.

Future Origins Receives National Award for Green Chemistry from ACS

SAN DIEGO, March 19, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Future Origins, a U.S.-based joint venture that is commercializing sustainable alternatives to critical ingredients in the formulations of cosmetics, personal care and cleaning products, announced it has secured a multi-year purchase agreement with Kao Corporation of its C12/C14 fatty alcohol, NALO. The agreement is the largest Future Origins has entered for NALO and underscores the increasing demand for high performing and sustainable ingredients in surfactants, used for detergents, soaps and cosmetics.

"Companies across the globe are looking for ingredients made from more resilient and traceable supply chains and Future Origins has developed NALO to meet that need," said John Gugel, CEO of Future Origins. "As a leading global producer of surfactants, Kao has upheld rigorous standards for both product quality and sustainability, especially in bioalcohols."

NALO is the world's first high-performing, drop-in replacement for widely used ingredients that have traditionally been made from palm oil. NALO will be manufactured at industrial scale in the United States. Future Origins has launched its early access program for NALO that provides pre-commercial product samples for testing, with eventual access to commercial volumes from the first manufacturing plant. The agreement with Kao secures offtake for a majority of the planned capacity of Future Origins' first manufacturing plant.

"Kao is committed to sustainable material sourcing based on its Mid-Term Plan 2027 with the vision of "Sustainability as the Only Path." Kao has been collaborating with Future Origins to develop NALO that could be a sustainable alternative for fatty alcohol produced from palm oil and has been preparing to introduce not only NALO but also its derivatives to the market through its chemical business. This development will be important for supplying enough materials to maintain our quality of life and also essential for protecting palm tree forests to conserve the planet environment. Additionally, Kao will promote these materials to be incorporated into consumer products. Thus, Kao further reinforces its commitment to sustainable material sourcing by establishment of such transparent and traceable supply chains," said Daisuke Hamada, Kao Senior Executive Officer in charge of Chemical Business.

Future Origins was founded by industrial biotechnology leader Geno, together with Unilever, Kao, and L'Oréal, to commercialize and manufacture high-volume sustainable ingredients for widely used surfactants used in home and personal care applications. Future Origins' product development activities are on track to meet all critical benchmarks, including completion of its demonstration-scale fermentation program. Several tons of purified product will be available for sampling by the second quarter of 2025.

"We look forward to meeting the needs of Kao and the broader marketplace with this low-carbon, deforestation free material," added Dr. Priti Pharkya, SVP of Business Operations at Future Origins. "NALO is not only a high-quality ingredient that performs but it will also enable our customers to grow their businesses in a more reliable and sustainable way."

The company is advancing plans around its first commercial-scale manufacturing plant with top sites under consideration in Midwestern states where the company can source the feedstocks it requires. This significant offtake commitment is a critical step in successful execution of those plans.

Future Origins and Kao Enter Purchase Agreement for Palm Alternative NALO™

SAN DIEGO, Jan. 31, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Future Origins, a U.S. based joint venture that is commercializing sustainable alternatives to critical ingredients in the formulations of everyday cosmetics, personal care and cleaning products, formally launched today at the American Cleaning Institute's Innovation Showcase. Future Origins was founded by industrial biotechnology leader Geno, Unilever, Kao, and L'Oréal to commercialize and manufacture high-volume sustainable ingredients for widely used surfactants such as laundry detergent and face wash.

Future Origins' product development activities are already achieving important benchmarks. The recently completed 63,000-liter pilot-scale fermentation runs have produced several tons of material. A fraction of that material was further processed to make hundreds of kilograms of detergent alcohols. Future Origins is shipping these products to commercial partners for use in a variety of applications. This run provides critical data necessary for the design of its first commercial plant, anticipated to start operations in less than five years.

"We are at a moment in time where the innovation in biotechnology is meeting the demand for sustainable alternatives. Support from the United States for growth in biotechnology and biomanufacturing has enabled businesses to produce innovative products with significant potential environmental benefits," said John Gugel, CEO at Future Origins.

Future Origins will use Geno's proven fermentation-based technology and proprietary engineered microorganisms to produce more sustainable surfactants. Future Origins' high-volume drop-in replacement ingredients will have a significantly lower carbon footprint than their current counterparts and will also align with increasing regulatory requirements and corporate commitments for a deforestation-free supply chains.

Richard Slater, Chief Research and Development Officer at Unilever, said: "We have invested in Future Origins because we believe in using science to help us transition to ingredient sourcing routes that are sustainable for the long term. Biotechnology sits at the intersection of science and sustainability and holds huge potential for futureproofing our business, as well as the planet."

"Through our partnership with Future Origins, Kao aims to produce more sustainable ingredients for use in our home and personal care products, as well as supply derivatives to its chemical business customers" said Masahiro Katayose Senior Executive Officer, President, Chemical Business at Kao. "By establishing such new supply chains that are traceable and transparent, we will further promote responsible raw material sourcing."

"We are thrilled to see Future Origins achieve this significant milestone with our joint efforts, propelling us towards our vision of a more sustainable and responsible beauty industry," said Mohamed Kanji, Chief Open Innovation Officer and Operational Excellence for North America at L'Oréal. "This collaboration reflects our dedication to innovation and sustainability and sets a precedent for the broader industry and consumer options. We are proud to lead in this transformative journey, demonstrating how partnerships can effectively unite beauty with environmental responsibility."

While product development activities continue to advance, Future Origins plans to have their first commercial-scale manufacturing plant under construction by 2025. Under the current timeline Future Origins will start the full-scale production within three years, by 2028 as planned.

"We look forward to meeting and working with industry partners interested in gaining early access to these sustainable products and reserving capacity in the commercial scale plant," said Dr. Priti Pharkya, Senior Vice President of Business Operations at Future Origins.

More information can be found at www.futureorigins.com.

Future Origins Launches from Joint Venture to Develop Sustainable Ingredients in Personal Care and Cleaning Products, Announces Completion of Pilot Scale Activities

SAN DIEGO and TOKYO, Sept. 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, sustainable materials leader Genomatica (Geno) welcomes global consumer products and chemical company Kao Corporation to its venture to scale and commercialize plant-based alternatives to palm kernel oil, joining Unilever as a founding member. In addition, Geno's technology also offers alternatives to fossil fuel-based ingredient sources.

With growing global demand for sustainably sourced palm oil, this venture will strengthen supply chain resiliency in the $652B home and personal care industries and increase the global supply of responsibly sourced palm oil alternatives to the market. Initial research has shown that companies can reduce the carbon footprint of palm-derived ingredients by up to 50% with Geno's technology-driven, plant-based alternative.

Kao's investment adds to Geno's previously announced $120M venture with Unilever and increases the production capability of the palm kernel oil alternative. It is also a significant step toward achieving Geno's goal to reduce greenhouse gases by 100 million tons in upcoming years. Kao's more than 130 years of expertise in the consumer products and chemical industries deepens the venture's global reach and impact.

The collaboration is a key strategic decision for Kao to accelerate its climate impact and meet its ambitious climate goals, which include reducing its carbon dioxide emissions to zero by 2040 and becoming a carbon-negative company by 2050. As responsibly sourced palm oil and its derivatives will continue to be a critical feedstock to Kao, the venture will support Kao in manufacturing more sustainable, biotechnology-driven ingredients for use in home and personal care products, and supplying palm oil alternatives derivatives to its business customers, and to increase the transparency and traceability of its supply chain.

Christophe Schilling, Geno CEO said:
"We're excited to welcome Kao as a founding member to our palm kernel oil alternative venture along with Unilever. Kao joining this venture is another example of Geno collaborating with world-leading brands and value-chain partners to commercialize sustainable solutions at scale that support traceable and responsible sourcing. Together, we will increase the supply chain resiliency our planet and people need today and for the future. Kao's deep expertise in the home and personal care markets enables us to support other manufacturers in meeting their sustainability commitments and supplying the rising consumer demand for sustainable products."

Masahiro Katayose, Kao Senior Executive Officer in charge of Chemical Business said: 
"I am delighted that Kao has had the opportunity to invest in a venture with such outstanding, cutting-edge biotechnology capabilities. Besides being a manufacturer of consumer products for household use, Kao is also a chemical manufacturer that supplies the industry with a wide range of materials and has adopted "Protecting future lives" and promoting "Sustainability as the only path" as its Mid-term plan K25 vision. To drive sustainable development and contribute toward the building of a resource-circulating society, Kao will continue to undertake responsible, sustainable palm oil procurement. In this regard, Geno's biotechnology has a vital role to play in the diversification of sustainable raw material procurement. Kao's investment in this venture will make possible the provision of new eco-chemical solutions and represents an opportunity for Kao to play an even bigger role in helping consumers, customers, industry and society to realize decarbonization and make the shift to a resource-circulating economy."

Geno harnesses biology to remake everyday products and materials built by and for the planet. In response to the urgent climate crisis, Geno has spent the last 20 years developing and scaling sustainable materials derived from plant- or waste-based feedstocks instead of from fossil fuels. Geno's technology drives sustainable materials and ingredients that are the foundation of such products as cosmetics, carpets, home cleaners, apparel and more.

Over the last year, Geno has executed high-impact deals to accelerate the global commercialization of sustainable materials, including a collaboration with lululemon to bring plant-based materials into lululemon's products; and with Asahi Kasei for plant-based nylon- 6-6; and Geno has achieved production milestones with partners Aquafil for scaling plant-based nylon and with Covestro for plant-based HMD used in sustainable coatings.

Kao creates high-value-added products and services that provide care and enrichment for the life of all people and the planet. Through its portfolio of over 20 leading brands such as Attack, Bioré, Goldwell, Jergens, John Frieda, Kanebo, Laurier, Merries and Molton Brown, Kao is part of the everyday lives of people in Asia, Oceania, North America and Europe. Combined with its chemical business, which contributes to a wide range of industries, Kao generates about 1,420 billion yen in annual sales. Kao employs about 33,500 people worldwide and has 135 years of history in innovation. Please visit the Kao Group website for updated information, kao.com/global/en. 

Kao Joins Geno as Founding Member of $120M+ Venture to Globally Scale Palm Oil Alternative

AN DIEGO and LONDON, June 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Genomatica (Geno), a leader in biotech and sustainability and Unilever have launched a venture to scale and commercialize alternatives to palm oil and fossil fuel-derived cleansing ingredients. These are integral to the formulations of thousands of everyday cleaning and personal care products. With growing demand for sustainably-sourced palm oil, this venture aims to deliver additional responsibly sourced palm oil alternatives to the market.

With $120m jointly invested in the newly-formed initiative, and with other strategic investors expected to join, the venture will develop an alternative, plant-based ingredient using biotechnology. The innovation is particularly relevant to cleaning and personal care products that require ingredients to lather and lift dirt. But at present, there are few viable alternatives to palm and fossil sources that can be produced at scale in order to make those ingredients. As such, the venture offers the opportunity to tap into the combined $625b home and personal care markets. For Unilever, one of the world's biggest soap and detergent manufacturers, this is the largest investment in biotechnology alternatives to palm oil to date.

Companies like Unilever, whose products are used globally by 3.4b people each day, are increasingly partnering with biotechnology innovators like Geno to explore, develop, and manufacture new versions of traditionally-sourced ingredients. While palm oil will remain an important feedstock to Unilever, these alternative ingredients can play a growing role in diversifying supply chains to drive optionality, sustainability, cost efficiencies and transparency.

Geno will deploy its proven biotechnology platform and is already starting to scale the process for its advanced technology to produce the ingredients. Initial estimates have shown that companies could reduce the carbon footprint of palm-derived ingredients by up to 50% with this technology-driven, plant based alternative.

Unilever's Chief R&D Officer Richard Slater, said:

"Biotechnology has the potential to revolutionise the sourcing of our cleansing ingredients and ensure Unilever is a future-fit business – for consumers, shareholders and the planet we all share. This new venture will sit at the intersection of science and sustainability, meaning we can continue to grow our business without relying only on palm oil or fossil fuel derivatives, while also making our supply chains more resilient from having access to ingredient alternatives.

"We will be marrying science and nature to make sure there is no tradeoff for our consumers between the efficacy and sustainability of their products. We are building this innovative new venture to have the scale to drive real impact and change in our industry, helping to reinvent the chemistry of home and personal care products for the 21st Century."

Christophe Schilling, Geno CEO said:
"Geno's collaboration with Unilever builds upon its strong track record of partnering with market leaders who are committed to accelerating the commercialization of sustainable materials in their industries – from clothing to now cleaning ingredients. We've developed our technology in response to our planet's urgent climate crisis and we've proven that biotechnology can replace traditional production methods to produce ingredients with bio-based sources that deliver both high-performance and sustainability, at scale.

"Our technology enables pathways for alternative sourcing of materials whose supply chains often have limited social and environmental transparency, by offering more resilient supply chains that are transparent, traceable and responsibly-sourced as demanded by consumers. Beyond creating new transparent and responsibly sourced-supply chains and alternatively-sourced materials, our Geno technology also represents the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 100 million tons in upcoming years."

About Genomatica (Geno)
Geno is harnessing biology to remake everyday products and materials built by and for the planet. In response to the urgent climate crisis, Geno is developing and scaling sustainable materials derived from plant- or waste-based feedstocks instead of fossil fuels. Geno's technology, built over the last 20 years, now drives materials and ingredients in applications ranging from cosmetics, carpets, to home cleaners, apparel and more.

Geno uses the power of biotechnology to convert plant-based raw materials into chemical building blocks that are key components of widely used materials. Geno has developed a strong track record of partnering with market leaders including:

lululemon athletica (NASDAQ: LULU) in a multi-year collaboration with Geno to bring renewably-sourced, bio-based materials into lululemon's products. This represents lululemon's first-ever equity investment in a sustainable materials company and Geno's largest partnership within the retail industry.

Novamont commercializing bio-based BDO at scale.

Covestro AG (OTCMKTS: COVTY) to successfully produce significant volumes of a plant-based version HMDA, used in more sustainable coatings.

Asahi Kasei (OTCMKTS: AHKSY) to commercialize plant-based nylon 6,6 made from Geno's bio-based HMD. 

Cargill-Helm (Qore) has licensed Geno's BDO process technology and is using Cargill's global feedstock supply and fermentation manufacturing expertise to initially produce and distribute an BDO at scale.

About Unilever
Unilever is one of the world's leading suppliers of Beauty & Personal Care, Home Care, and Foods & Refreshment products, with sales in over 190 countries and products used by 3.4 billion people every day. We have 148,000 employees and generated sales of €52.4 billion in 2021. Over half of our footprint is in developing and emerging markets. We have around 400 brands found in homes all over the world – including iconic global brands like Dove, Lifebuoy, Knorr, Magnum, OMO and Surf; and other brands such as Love Beauty & Planet, Hourglass, Seventh Generation and The Vegetarian Butcher.

Our vision is to be the global leader in sustainable business and to demonstrate how our purpose-led, future-fit business model drives superior performance. We have a long tradition of being a progressive, responsible business. It goes back to the days of our founder William Lever, who launched the world's first purposeful brand, Sunlight Soap, more than 100 years ago, and it's at the heart of how we run our company today.

The Unilever Compass, our sustainable business strategy, is set out to help us deliver superior performance and drive sustainable and responsible growth, while:

improving people's health, confidence and wellbeing; and

contributing to a fairer and more socially inclusive world.

While there is still more to do, in the past year we're proud to have achieved sector leadership in S&P's Dow Jones Sustainability Index, 'Triple A' status in CDP's Climate, Water and Forest benchmarks and to be named as the top ranked company in the GlobeScan/SustainAbility Sustainability Leaders survey, for the eleventh consecutive year.

For more information about Unilever and our brands, please visit www.unilever.com

Geno and Unilever launch $120m venture to scale alternative to palm oil and fossil fuels

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