Calyxt Partnership Developing Soy-Based Alternative to Palm Oil

Innovative plant-based tech company Calyxt announced a partnership with an unnamed Asian ingredients manufacturer to develop an improved soybean capable of producing an oil suitable as an alternative to palm oil.

Issues such as deforestation, natural habitat destruction, sustainability, climate change, and human rights abuses have plagued the palm oil industry for years, despite efforts by some of the world’s biggest food companies like Mars, General Mills, Danone, Unilever, and Nestlé, among others.

This collaboration will serve to address the food manufacturer’s need for greater sustainability in its supply chain, and will leverage Calyxt’s strong foundation of research and its novel understanding of plant metabolism developed over the course of a decade. Calyxt will use its proprietary technology platform based on a deep understanding of plant genomes and pathways to engineer plant metabolism.

Under the parameters of the partnership, Calyxt will receive cash payments during the two years of the term of the agreement. It also includes a commercial option for the global ingredients maker, that if exercised, has the potential to generate future aggregate payments exceeding $35 million over the term of the commercial agreement, based on the palm oil market share of the partner.

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