US – American multinational ingredient provider, Ingredion is set to expand its ingredient portfolio following the signing of an agreement with Amyris for the exclusive licensing of Amyris’ zero-calorie, nature-based, fermented Reb M sweetener at a cost of US$100 million.
According to a statement from the company, US$75 million will be for the exclusive license to sell and market Reb M from fermentation while the extra 25 million will be for Ingredion’s participation in the Brazil manufacturing joint venture.
With the deal, the parties will enter into an R&D collaboration agreement to create and advance sustainably sourced sweeteners and potentially other types of fermentation-based food ingredients.
PureCircle, an Ingredion subsidiary, will become the exclusive global business-to-business commercialization partner for Amyris’s sugar reduction technology that includes fermented Reb M while Amyris will get a share of the profits.
Amyris will however, continue to own and market its Purecane consumer brand offering of tabletop and culinary sweetener products.
A timely partnership
This partnership is particularly timely as demand for natural sweeteners has been soaring as consumer demand for clean label products, consequently forcing manufacturers to seek natural alternative to the synthetic sweeteners that are currently in use.
According to a report by Allied Markets, the clean label ingredients market size was valued at US$38.8 billion in 2018, and is projected to reach US$64.1 billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 6.8% from 2019 to 2026.
“We’re excited by the addition of this breakthrough ingredient to our sugar reduction portfolio, which complements our PureCircle stevia product line and will allow us to provide our customers with the broadest selection of nature-based, high-intensity sweeteners on the market,” says Jim Zallie, Ingredion’s president and CEO.
“Our partnership with Amyris positions Ingredion well to meet our customers’ increasing demand for quality ingredients that will drive transformational change in the food industry.”
The combination of Amyris’ synthetic biology technology platform to develop, scale and produce fermentation-based products with Ingredion’s global market reach will accelerate the availability and adoption of zero-calorie, nature-based sweeteners and other clean labeled fermentation-based food ingredients to the F&B companies.
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