CJ CheilJedang has announced the launch of l-cysteine and its derivatives produced through the use of an environmentally-friendly fermentation technology. According to the company, the technology uses raw sugar and glucose as a raw material, while the majority of manufacturers in the market are using a hydrolysis process that starts with duck feather as a raw material.

With the newly-launched l-cysteine products that have been developed through CJ’s proprietary fermentation technology with unprecedented production yield, CJ is hoping to take a major step into the market.

Prior to launch of this product, CJ Haide – a recently acquired subsidiary of CJ CheilJedang – has utilized hydrolyzed cysteine, mostly outsourced, as the raw material to produce cysteine and its derivatives. But, now CJ Haide will be utilizing fermented cysteine produced at CJ Shenyang, which has already started its full production in utilizing a lysine production line.

The company notes that the recent market prices of cysteine and its downstream products have significantly grown due to an unstable supply triggered by the reinforcement of the government’s environmental regulations in China. CJ’s vertically integrated process from fermented cysteine to end products will allow CJ Haide to take a full advantage of both secure supply and cost competitiveness.

As one of the food and functional amino acids, cysteine and its derivatives have various applications such as being a key ingredient for reaction flavors, bakery and pet food. According to the company, the global market demand for cysteine products is estimated to be $85 million, but it has the potential of growing further through derivatization, ultimately expanding the realm of applications in cosmetics and other health supplements such as antioxidants.

For the year 2017, CJ aims at focusing on global sales expansion through finding new customers for cysteine and reaching revenues of $15 million for this particular product. This plan comes with further investment for improving plant facilities and recruiting talents at CJ Haide along with the launch of new umbrella brand, AMINATURE, that covers various functional amino acids produced through fermentation.