Solazyme, a pioneer in microalgae innovations and Bunge, one of the world’s largest agribusiness and food companies, have agreed to expand a joint venture to bring algae to kitchens and dinner tables around the world.
The expanded JV will focus on bring to market new oils for food and products for animal nutrition and will build on Solazyme’s microalgae innovation platform.
As part of the agreement, Bunge will help commercialise and produce AlgaWise Ultra Omega-9 Algae Oil, AlgaWise High Stability Algae Oil and AlgaWise Algae Butter.
“Bunge is a leading global agribusiness and food company, and has been a strong long-term partner who shares our vision,” commented Jonathan Wolfson, Solazyme’s CEO.
“Not only do they have fantastic capabilities but they also understand the value of both our ingredients and our underlying technology platform. We are very happy to be deepening and expanding the partnership to include Bunge’s global food sales, marketing, and applications strength and presence. This will further enable our algae-based food ingredients to bring great benefits to people and our planet.”
A close up on algae products
1. AlgaWise Ultra Omega-9 Algae Oil is a clean tasting oil with the highest level of monounsaturated fats (>90%) on the market and the lowest level of saturated fat of any food oil. This oil is ideal for meeting market demand for healthier alternatives to saturated fat oils, providing shelf-life stability and excellent culinary performance with one of the highest smoke points available.
2. AlgaWise High Stability Algae Oil delivers step change performance with one of the highest stabilities of any oil on the market, over 87% monounsaturated fatty acids and only 2% polyunsaturates, less than any other food oil. High Stability Algae Oil drives unprecedented oxidative stability with zero trans-fat per serving. With an exceptionally neutral flavor and high stability under varying conditions, this is a high performance oil 2 that works well in industrial frying, spraying/coating, pan spraying and blending. It can enable food manufacturers to remove added preservatives in everyday favorite foods such as dressings and mayonnaise, achieving cleaner labels with fewer ingredients, as well as completely removing partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
3. AlgaWise Algae Butter has a composition and functionality mirroring high value structuring fats such as shea stearin, with a high proportion of stearic-oleic-stearic triglycerides (~70%). This unique oil can be used in a wide range of products. It is expected to have significant value in confectionery based on its reliable, scalable and sustainable supply, as well as offering a better performing alternative for bakery, confectionary, spreads and other applications. The product is expected to be available for the US market in 2016.
Soren Schroder, CEO, Bunge Limited, said: “Strengthening our relationship with Solazyme gives us a differentiated product offering in specialty food and feed ingredients.
“With Solazyme, we believe we are bringing true innovation and enhanced sustainability to the global food industry. These healthier algae products have tremendous potential to make a positive impact in nutrition and functionality for our customers around the globe, and we’re excited about the potential to broadly commercialize them.”
