Evolva has signed ‘a major collaboration agreement’ with Cargill for the commercialisation of its EverSweet stevia sweetener.
On track for a 2018 launch, EverSweet is brewed to produce large quantities of intense sweetness from Reb M and Reb D, even though the stevia contains ‘minute quantities’ of the ingredients.
Evolva will receive up to 30% of the EverSweet business, with a right to ask Cargill to support some of Evolva’s early cashflow commitments at a favourable interest rate.
The sweetener will initially be produced at a fermentation facility on Cargill’s campus in Nebraska that will be retrofitted for this purpose.
The facility will be operated by Cargill and additionally be used for the fermentation of other Evolva products. In parallel, Evolva will build and operate a new bioprocessing facility on adjacent land leased from Cargill. This bioprocessing facility will manufacture Evolva products such as nootkatone and resveratrol and is expected to come online in 2019.
The Swiss-based company said that the integrated infrastructure would provide it ‘with a global hub for the production of high-value specialty ingredients’.
Evolva CEO Neil Goldsmith said: “EverSweet is coming to market, and given it succeeds as we expect it to, Evolva will see 30% of the upside whilst mitigating some of our initial cash outflows. Plus our planned US production hub, working alongside Cargill, provides the foundation for truly scaleable, low-cost, high-quality production for Evolva’s other key products.”
The production strategy provides a lower-risk route for Evolva to establish its own production of specialty ingredients through a collaboration with one of the world’s pre-eminent bioprocessing companies.
The agreement follows news that Evolva will receive investment of up to CHF 30 million (€28 million) over the next three years from funds managed by US investment firm Yorkville Advisors.
Once completed, the Blair production facilities will play a pivotal role in accelerating the reduction of the cost of goods sold for Evolva’s products, increasing the company’s long-term profitability.
The facilities are expected to have sufficient capacity to generate upwards of $50 million in annual product revenues for Evolva, over and above Evolva’s share of EverSweet profits, and provide room for further expansion.
Over the next three years, principally in 2018 and 2019, Evolva expects to invest an estimated $60 million in the combined fermentation and bioprocessing facilities for EverSweet and its other products.
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