BASF and Cargill extend enzyme innovation alliance to US market

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BASF and Cargill announced their expanded cooperation at IPPE in Atlanta, Georgia this week, adding the US to their existing feed enzymes development and distribution agreement.

With the extended geographical reach, the companies said they want to include the commercial insights of US protein producers in their next generation enzyme development work. 

Cargill and BASF are looking to deliver enzyme technology that addresses the productivity, environmental and cost challenges of US customers. That R&D work will also focus on supporting animal wellbeing.

In 2021, the collaborators moved their relationship beyond pure distribution agreements into the joint development of new enzyme technologies and applications. This extended partnership built upon the go-to-market collaboration between the companies across Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Portugal, Spain, the Middle East, and Africa. As part of the partnership, BASF and Cargill co-develop, produce, market, and sell customer-centric enzyme products.

The revamped alliance combines the enzyme research and development strengths of BASF with Cargill’s know-how in application and broad market reach, said the partners.

Cargill has a broad service portfolio, a large database of experiments and global application know-how as well as great market access and a robust business structure. BASF's enzyme technology includes identification, engineering, registration, scale-up, production and formulation of innovative enzymes. Put the two together and you have an excellent market position, which we intend to develop further together,” a representative for the two companies told us previously.

Enzymes improve nutrient retention from feed and animal growth thereby reducing nutrient excretion into the environment, according to the collaborators. “They thus bring major benefits in terms of economic efficiency as well as environmental protection. A phytase such as Natuphos E or the NSP enzyme, Natugrain TS, reduce nutrient wastage such as phosphorus and nitrogen excretion. The negative impact on the environment is minimized, improving the overall sustainability of animal production," said those entities in 2021.