Ginkgo Bioworks and Robertet USA have had a successful commercial-scale fermentation of a key flavor and fragrance ingredient.
The partnership has been an early driver of innovation in cultured ingredients, focusing on products such as rose oil ingredients and a family of lactone ingredients.
Cultured ingredients are produced by designer yeasts during fermentation, a process akin to making beer in a brewery.
After the fermentation, the ingredient is separated from the yeast cells and can be used like other products.
Ginkgo designs yeast for the production of cultured ingredients and currently has a portfolio of over 40 products under contract with 20 customers.
“It’s great to see a project go from conception with a customer, through design of the organism and process development, all the way to a 50,000 liter fermentation,” said Jason Kelly, co-founder and CEO of Ginkgo Bioworks.
From essential oils to cultured ingredients, Robertet has been a leader in natural ingredients for 167 years.
This milestone comes on the heels of the news that earlier this week, Ginkgo was named 7th on CNBC’s annual Disruptor 50 list, a compilation of forward-thinking companies with innovations that are changing the world.
The company was recognized for its technology innovations in biology and ability to scale across consumer and industrial products, “enabling customers to grow rather than manufacture better products”.
