Company Announces Market-Leading Partners to Accelerate Commercialization in 2019
EMERYVILLE, Calif., Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Amyris, Inc. (Nasdaq:AMRS), a leader in the development and production of sustainable ingredients for the Health & Wellness, Clean Beauty and Flavors & Fragrances markets, announced the accelerated commercialization of its new zero calorie, sugarcane-derived sweetener in 2019 in partnership with several food and beverage industry leaders.
Amyris and its partners are ushering in the next wave in better-for-you, better-for-the planet sweeteners. While many other sweeteners on the market today are made with impurities that may result in a bitter aftertaste, Amyris’s sweetener is made from sugarcane using a proprietary process of fermentation to create the product at scale, yielding a sweetener with 95 percent purity – far higher than competitors. The Amyris sweetener has all of the good and none of the bad that’s available in today’s natural high potency sweeteners.
“Through our strong partnership base, Amyris is reinforcing its commitment to accelerate the production of our groundbreaking new sweetener in response to high consumer demand,” said Amyris President & CEO John Melo. “We’ve chosen our partners carefully in order to get our sweetener into the hands of consumers as quickly as possible and at the lowest possible cost. This product was built on our No Compromise™ ethos, and we certainly made no compromises in choosing to partner with only the best to introduce the world’s best sweetener.”
“Shaklee was built on the principle of living in harmony with nature, so the decision to formulate our shakes with a zero calorie, high-purity sweetener made from natural ingredients and produced in the most sustainable way possible was an easy one,” said Shaklee CEO Roger Barnett. "We believe that our products made with the new Amyris sweetener will offer a significant value to our customers, beyond just cost.”
This partnership comes on the heels of Amyris’s first major supply and distribution agreement in North America with ASR Group, the world’s largest refiner of cane sugar, with brands including Domino® Sugar and C&H® Sugar in its expansive global portfolio. Per the agreement, which was announced in October, ASR will purchase up to 80 percent of Amyris’s sweetener production for the next three years.
Amyris will also expand its long-term collaboration with Givaudan, the global leader in the creation of flavors and fragrances, a partner on the research, development and production of active cosmetic ingredients since 2016. As part of the partnership between Amyris and Givaudan, Givaudan is developing the Brazilian consumer tabletop sweetener to be marketed and sold by Camil in the Latin American market.
Outside the U.S., Amyris recently announced a new partnership with food producer Camil Alimentos, owner of Brazil’s number one sugar brand União. Camil Alimentos will introduce Amyris’s sweetener to the Brazilian retail market, with the intent to create an extension of its União sugar product, dubbed União Zero Calorie. Product development, consumer research, marketing and distribution planning has already begun for the product, also set to launch in 2019.
As announced during Amyris’s sweetener launch event (watch video) the Company has finalized a manufacturing partnership with Raízen, one of the world's leading producers of cane sugar. Together, Amyris and the Brazilian production giant will build several new manufacturing plants in the country, with the first facility advancing immediately.
With several more deals in the works, Amyris looks forward to disrupting the sweetener market in 2019, bringing its No Compromise™ sweetener to consumers with a product that’s better for people, better for business, and better for the planet.
About Amyris
Amyris is the integrated renewable products company that is enabling the world’s leading brands to achieve sustainable growth. Amyris applies its innovative bioscience solutions to convert plant sugars into hydrocarbon molecules and produce specialty ingredients and consumer products. The company is delivering its No Compromise™ products and services across a number of markets, including specialty and performance chemicals, flavors and fragrances, cosmetics ingredients, pharmaceuticals, and nutraceuticals. More information about the company is available at www.amyris.com.
About Shaklee
Shaklee is one of the leading natural nutrition and green product companies in the US. Dr. Shaklee invented the multi-vitamin in the US over 100 years ago and developed the first plant based protein supplement made with soy lecithin.
Shaklee products are backed by more than 100 patents and over 100 published clinical studies proving the safety and efficacy of our products.
Founded on the philosophy of living in harmony with nature, Shaklee has a deep commitment to the environment and became the first company in the world to fully offset its carbon emission to leave no footprint on this earth. We market our products through more than 2 million members and distributors in the US, Canada, China, Malaysia, Japan, Taiwan, and Indonesia.
About ASR Group
ASR Group is the world’s largest refiner and marketer of cane sugar, with an annual production capacity of more than 6 million tons of sugar. The company produces a full line of grocery, industrial, food service and specialty sweetener products. Across North America, ASR Group owns and operates six sugar refineries, located in New York, California, Maryland, Louisiana, Canada and Mexico. The company also farms sugarcane and owns sugar mills in Mexico and Belize. In Europe, the company owns and operates sugar refineries in the United Kingdom and Portugal as well as jointly owns a refinery in Italy. The company’s portfolio includes the leading brands Domino®, C&H®, Florida Crystals®, Redpath®, Tate & Lyle®, Lyle’s®, Sidul® and Notadolce®. ASR Group is owned by Florida Crystals Corporation and Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida. For more information, visit www.ASR-Group.com.
About Givaudan
Givaudan is the global leader in the creation of flavours and fragrances. In close collaboration with food, beverage, consumer product and fragrance partners, Givaudan develops tastes and scents that delight consumers the world over. With a passion to understand consumers’ preferences and a relentless drive to innovate, Givaudan is at the forefront of creating flavours and fragrances that 'engage your senses'. The Company achieved sales of CHF 5.1 billion in 2017. Headquartered in Switzerland with local presence in over 100 locations, the Company has more than 11,100 employees worldwide. Givaudan invites you to discover more at www.givaudan.com.
About Camil Alimentos
One of the largest trading companies in Latin America, Camil Alimentos began its trajectory in the national market in 1963 as a cooperative of rice producers. Currently, the company has operations in Brazil, Chile, Peru and Uruguay, it exports to more than 50 countries.
The Camil Alimentos portfolio diversification process began in 1987 when the company started marketing beans. Currently, the company has market and top of mind brands in its categories: União, Camil (grains) and Coqueiro (fish).
With a business strategy based on portfolio diversification, product innovation, acquisitions and expansion to foreign markets, Camil Alimentos is today the leader in the processing and marketing of rice in Brazil, Chile, Uruguay and Peru.
About Raízen
Raízen is an integrated energy company that operates all stages of the process: from the cultivation of sugarcane, with the production of sugar, ethanol and bioenergy, to the commercialization, logistics and distribution of fuels. It is a leading producer of sugar, ethanol and bioenergy in the country – with 860 thousand hectares of cultivated agricultural areas – and it is one of the largest in the sector of fuels, with more than 6,200 Shell stations – in addition to 950 Shell Select convenience stores. The company stands out as one of the most competitive energy companies in the world and one of the largest in revenue in the country, with R$ 86.2 billion.
The company has about 29 thousand employees, who work every day to generate sustainable solutions that contribute to the development of the country, such as production of bioelectricity and ethanol of second generation from the by-products of sugarcane. With 26 production units, Raízen Energia produces about 2.0 billion liters of ethanol per year and 4.2 million tons of sugar. And it commercializes 4.6 million tons of sugar and 25 billion liters of fuel per year, which makes the company the largest seller of ethanol of the country. The company also has 1GW of installed capacity of production of electric energy from sugarcane bagasse and commercializes annually 3.9 TWh of energy.
Raízen Combustíveis is present in 68 refueling bases in airports, 68 fuel distribution terminals and commercializes approximately 25 billion liters of fuel to the segments of transportation, industry and retail. In addition to the 6,200 Shell gas stations and 950 Shell Select convenience stores.
Furthermore, the company maintains the Raízen Foundation, to develop a sustainable and cooperative relationship with the communities surrounding its units, offering professional training, education and citizenship. It was founded more than 15 years ago and has six cores in the countryside of the State of São Paulo and one in Goiás and it has helped more than 13 thousand students and more than 4 million people with actions carried out since 2012.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements, and any statements other than statements of historical fact could be deemed to be forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements regarding future events; including planned development, anticipated product qualities and launch date, and the terms of the partnerships referenced herein. These statements are based on management's current expectations and actual results and future events may differ materially due to risks and uncertainties, including risks related to Amyris's liquidity and ability to fund operating and capital expenses, potential delays or failures in development, production and commercialization of products, risks related to Amyris's reliance on third parties, and other risks detailed from time to time in filings Amyris makes with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K. Amyris disclaims any obligation to update information contained in these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
Amyris, the Amyris logo and No Compromise are trademarks or registered trademarks of Amyris, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Contact:
Peter DeNardo
Director, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications
Amyris, Inc.
+1 (510) 740-7481
investor@amyris.com