Yeast to oil: NoPalm Ingredients eyes replacement with fermentation-based technology

10 Jul 2024 --- USDA statistics indicate that global palm oil production is on an upward trend, with a 2% year-over-year increase from 2022 to 2024. However, its association with deforestation has triggered a string of innovations to reduce reliance. Netherlands-based NoPalm Ingredients is one company that is innovating to get ahead of the forthcoming EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).

Food Ingredients First speaks with Jeroen Hugenholtz, co-founder and CTO of NoPalm Ingredients, to navigate the challenges, applications and technology behind alt-palm ingredients as the EUDR implementation deadline approaches, with palm oil production as one of its key concerns.

“We have insights from consumer study work, showing that consumers, especially in the EU, score palm oil lower in terms of attractiveness, health, naturality, and sustainability compared to other alternatives,” he says. 

“However, they do not want to compromise on the quality and taste of their favorite food.”

Notably, he adds that 41% of consumers associate palm oil with a negative environmental impact. 

Despite this, studies indicate that consumers are unaware of which products contain palm oil and very few recognize the sustainable palm oil label, which may hinder sustainable palm oil-related purchases.

By valorizing food by-products into high-quality oils, we help food manufacturers transform by-products that would otherwise clog their processes, Hugenholtz said at the event.Hugenholtz shared his insights on how the company uses microbes to create fats and oils at the recent Sustainable Foods Summit event in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Replacing palm oil
NoPalm Ingredients was established in 2021 and formulates yeast oils & fats, made from food industry waste streams that are “perfect substitutes” to palm and other vegetable oils in food, cosmetics and home care products.

“What makes NoPalm Ingredients unique is the fact that we offer a perfect 1-to-1 drop-in replacement at price parity with palm oil, thanks to our patented process combining the use of agri-food side streams with low capex fermentation technology,” explains Hugenholtz.

“Unlike most of our competitors, who use genetic modification, we have invented a process and technology that delivers oil for perfect drop-in replacements with no reformulation needed, using an asset-light model that is easy to scale.”

Utilizing sidestreams
The company formulates the alt-palm oil using a biomass fermentation process with non-GMO yeasts, Hugenholtz states. 

The process uses agri-food sidestreams as feedstocks.

“We can use any feedstock containing sugar, organic acids or alcohols. These feedstocks are pre-processed to make them fermentable, and we use our proprietary yeasts and expertise in fermentation conditions to influence the oil composition and properties to perfectly match our customer needs.”

Additionally, the upcycling of side streams offers a “two-sided solution” that reduces both the use of palm oil and food waste. The agri-food side streams are converted to circular yeast oils, which reduces their adverse environmental impact.

The company uses low capex fermentation technology to formulate its palm oil substitute from yeast (Image credit: NoPalm Ingredients).“An independent assessment by the Buhler Group shows that our ingredients deliver a minimum of 90% reduction in carbon emissions compared to conventional palm oil. Additionally, we use only 1% of the land required to produce palm oil,” underscores Hugenholtz.

Lab to market
NoPalm Ingredients’ palm oil replacer has been validated in various food applications such as chocolate, margarine, or plant-based cheese, dairy and meat alternatives, he adds.

“Customers like Unilever and Zeelandia have tested our ingredients in bouillon powder and bakery applications, respectively.”

“Consistent feedback from our customers shows that our oil is a perfect drop-in replacement, requiring no reformulation and providing a reliable supply security solution without additional costs.”

Meanwhile, the company also faces the challenge of scaling the technology, which includes demonstrating the ingredient at industrial scale “as soon as possible” to match the volumes required by its customers and to have a real impact.

“This requires both money and time, as we face limited capacity at external facilities to run these trials. Nevertheless, we are excited to announce that by the end of the year, we will have validated our entire technology, including the downstream process, at an industrial scale (100-thousand-liter fermentation scale) to provide our customers with hundreds of kilograms of oil for testing at their facilities.”

“In 2025, we will build our first demonstration plant to showcase the viability of our solution,” he concludes.

By Insha Naureen