Providing
supply chain
resilience

A trusted partner in sustainable solutions

Future Origins is backed by some of the most trusted household brands. We’re uniquely positioned to combine resources and expertise to produce lasting sustainable surfactant solutions at scale.


Our goal is to supply sustainable surfactants across a wide range of applications with maximum positive impact. By providing drop-in replacements, our solutions provide our customers with both the speed and scale needed to enable them to meet strong market demand for sustainable products with a reliable, traceable, supply chain – while meeting their commitments to protecting the environment.

Solving tomorrow’s challenges today

Developing solutions to the challenges we face with unsustainable ingredients, such as palm oil, is extremely complex and no single initiative will solve them completely. Sustainable palm oil continues to be a major priority globally and Future Origins is supportive of ongoing efforts to make sustainable palm oil commonplace and make deforestation-free supply chains possible by 2032.

Meet the Team

John G. Gugel
John G. Gugel
Chief Executive Officer

John joined Geno in May 2022, bringing 30+ years 
of global experience in new technology commercialization, licensing, and project development. He is a proven executive leader with a track record of driving growth through innovation. John is the former CEO of UOP where he led the incubation and creation of their sustainable technology solutions business.

Priti Pharkya
Priti Pharkya
Senior Vice President

Priti is a board member at Future Origins and manages all the commercial activities. She played an instrumental role in forming the Joint Venture as the head of Strategy and Corporate Development at Geno. Since November, 2018 , Priti has led the Strategy and Corporate development function at Geno in various capacities and now serves as the SVP of Ventures and Corporate Development at Geno. Joined Geno in 2006 as a research scientist. Holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Penn State, with patents in feedstock utilization, biosynthesis pathways, and metabolic engineering.

Steve Weiss
Steve Weiss

Co-founder of Grey Heron, a strategic consulting firm since 1993, aids 140+ companies in climatetech, food, materials, and cloud/AI. Expert in renewable chemicals and fuels, contributing to companies like Future Origins, Genomatica, and Liquid Light. Proud member of the Due Diligence Wolfpack.

Danielle Azoulay
Danielle Azoulay

Danielle is the founder of The CSO Shop, offering sustainability and social impact advising services to companies at all stages of maturity. Danielle has over 15 years of experience operationalizing sustainability and social impact programs for global consumer products companies. She is also an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University, where she teaches Circular Economy.

Christine Glunz Tracy
Christine Glunz Tracy

Christine is a communications and public affairs strategist with 25 years of experience advising corporations, government entities, nonprofits, elected officials, and trade associations on their communications approaches to critical U.S. public policy issues. She is the Founder and CEO of Glunz Strategies.

Michael O. Lunda
Michael O. Lunda

Mike is a project management consultant with over 40 years of design, construction and administrative management experience within energy and chemical industries. His most recent focus has been on guiding new technology through the FEED process to get to a successful financial investment decision.

Chris Guske
Chris Guske

Dr. Guske’s career has included tenures at CP Kelco, NutraSweet, and Tate & Lyle. Currently Dr.
Guske works as an independent consultant, having assisted nearly 85 companies as well as
performing nearly 30 technical due diligences.

Peter Gallagher
Peter Gallagher

Experienced FMCG R&D Executive specializing in global business strategies, leveraging emerging technologies for innovative product solutions. Consultant across various sectors with a proven track record in sustainability, including plastics and novel algal oils.