ADM and Temasek-owned Asia Sustainable Foods Platform, have signed a 50-50 joint venture (JV) agreement to provide precision fermentation and serve the growing demand for a wide variety of bio-based products in Singapore and the wider Asia-Pacific (APAC) region.

The proposed JV would be a “one-stop-shop” for start-ups and mature businesses looking for support in food-grade fermentation, downstream processing, lab services and consulting, according to ADM. 

Scaling microbial-based solutions
The partnership will be able to assist customers, from bench-to-pilot scale. It would also specialize in the technology development of microbial-based proteins to create alternatives to meat and dairy proteins and F&B solutions.

“Advancing a partnership with Temasek’s Asia Sustainable Foods Platform and the Singapore Economic Development Board will bring our precision fermentation expertise to companies across APAC who are meeting the growing demand for alternative proteins,” says ADM chairman and CEO Juan Luciano. 

“From our recent investment in Acies Bio to our work with Nature’s Fynd, Air Protein and now Temasek, we’re finding new ways to propel growth and offer exciting solutions to serve the nutritional needs of the world’s growing population.”

“We’ve talked to innovators, from start-ups to mature food providers, in Singapore and across APAC, and they have told us that they are eager and waiting for a partner that can provide support for food-grade precision fermentation technology,” adds Joe Taets, president of ADM’s APAC business. 

“This first-of-its-kind JV in Singapore would meet that demand, and in doing so, will help further the development of the alternative protein industry in APAC.”The proposed JV would be a one-stop-shop for start-ups and mature businesses looking for support in food-grade fermentation, says ADM.

The Singapore Economic Development Board support the proposed JV.

“As an end-to-end enabler, operator and investor, the Asia Sustainable Foods Platform will provide bespoke solutions and support to innovators at each stage of their growth cycle,” explains Mathys Boeren, CEO, Asia Sustainable Foods Platform. 

“Our partnership with ADM will allow us to better support innovators to efficiently scale their fermentation innovations through a pilot launch and eventually accelerate their commercial scale-up and go-to-market.”

ADM expanded its health and wellness portfolio earlier this month with its pending acquisition of US-based Deerland Probiotics & Enzymes. The financial details of the move, pegged as reinforcing growth across ADM’s nutrition business unit, have not been disclosed.

Fermented food heats up
In the fermented food space, Döhler and Sacco System recently formed an alliance in the plant-based dairy alternatives and food cultures categories. The partnership will start with formulating new dairy-free yogurts and progressing over time to drinks, cheeses and spreads.

In other moves to optimize the quality of plant-based food products, a new consortium of European food manufacturers, universities and food research institutes launched a project to develop bio-purification techniques based on fermentation. The project will explore the potential for fermentation to remove off-flavors and other unwanted characteristics in various plant proteins and isolates.

Meanwhile, food-tech company Enough (formerly 3F BIO) broke ground on constructing its “first of a kind” protein factory, targeted as the world’s largest non-animal protein farm to be built in 2022. The factory will have an initial capacity to produce 10,000 metric tons of mycoprotein annually, the equivalent of more than five cows’ worth of protein every hour.