CHICAGO — Last quarter, ADM executives identified natural colors as a long-term growth pathway with the potential to generate $80 million to $100 million of annual operating profit. Now, the executives are laying the foundation for another pathway — precision fermentation — to power its next phase of growth.
“Fundamentally, we believe that the combination of biology and technology will be a major driver of food innovation at scale for decades to come,” Juan Luciano, chief executive officer of ADM, said during a Nov. 3 third-quarter earnings conference call with analysts.
He pointed to protein as one of the clearest examples of potential.
“Global demand is outpacing traditional supply, and the world needs new sources of high-quality, sustainable protein,” he said. “By combining our deep R&D expertise with our substantial fermentation assets we are helping build a more resilient protein supply chain through biomanufacturing. We are already building with customers and partnerships across several key areas.”
He mentioned the company’s efforts to move toward commercial scale production of an egg white ingredient alternative for baked foods, protein bars, pasta and other products. Earlier this year ADM said it would commercially scale production of OvoPro, a high-protein egg ingredient from The Every Co., at its Clinton, Iowa, corn processing facility.
Meanwhile, in dairy and food manufacturing, where whey is in short supply, Luciano said ADM is working with a technology partner to produce a whey alternative that matches the molecular profile of conventional whey with more consistent quality.
Luciano said three advantages set ADM apart from its peers and de-risk the near-term opportunity set for the company.
First, its feedstock.
“Our access to commercial scale dextrose supply gives us a cost and reliability edge,” he said.
Second, capital efficiency.
“We are using fermentation assets we already own so we can scale without the time and capital of greenfield projects,” Luciano said.
Third, the company’s integrated value chain.
“Our R&D expertise, our global supply chain network, and our customer relationships enable us to deliver a wide range of clean label ingredients around the world,” he said. “Together, these advantages position us to deploy capital efficiently while helping customers meet growing demand. And the opportunity extends well beyond protein, including natural colors and highlights the strength of our organic growth plans. We’ll continue to showcase other growth platforms in future earnings calls.”
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