Press release 
- The strategy responds to customers and stakeholders who are increasingly seeking more environmentally friendly solutions
- AFYREN’s move marks another step toward increasing visibility and recognition for its biobased products
- AFYREN’s biobased solutions have distinct advantages for each target market
Clermont-Ferrand/Lyon, 17th of May 2022, 8:00 am CEST – AFYREN, a greentech company that manufactures biobased ingredients using fermentation technology and a circular business model, unveiled its plan to market high quality solutions that will help customers in the industries it serves meet their sustainability goals.
AFYREN makes biobased carboxylic acids (C2-C6) that are needed in a wide variety of industries for their antibacterial, olfactory or conservation properties. Until now, these generic molecules have been, for the large part, made from petroleum derivatives, contributing to an extractive business that is no longer sustainable. The focus had always been on profitability and utility — environmental impact was mostly ignored as a key performance indicator. But today, investors, OEMs and end-users all scrutinize products and services to find out if companies are doing their best to reduce environmental impact. In a context where global production of biobased products is limited, AFYREN offer will create opportunities for the customers to access these acids locally in Europe.
Meeting The sustainability challenge
Chemicals with low carbon profiles will have a clear advantage as industries transition to renewable sources, a recent report noted. Just as makers of specialty chemicals have an advantage over makers of commodity chemicals, “the next ten years could see a separation between the portfolios of green leaders and green laggards.”
AFYREN is stepping up to the challenge, rolling out differentiated, high quality solutions that will help its customers meet their sustainability goals with high performance, competitive chemical building blocks. Starting from the end of May, AFYREN will roll out different solutions for these four broad industrial categories: food and feed, flavors and fragrances, lubricants, and life sciences and materials science.
AFYREN uses agricultural by-products instead of petro-based feedstock in a biobased, circular process that cuts the carbon footprint of these acids by 81 percent. The goal is to provide high-performance biobased solutions to its industrial customers who wish to offer more natural, eco-friendly products to their end users.
“We started AFYREN in 2012, focused every step of the way on sustainability and circularity,” said Nicolas Sordet, AFYREN’s CEO. “It’s not only about replacing petrol. Our process is biomimetic, low-waste and low-energy. It uses local agricultural byproducts, and what is left over goes back into the soil as an organic fertilizer. Our customers benefit from this dedication, this depth of purpose.”
An opportunity to increase visibility and facilitate access to biobased solutions
“What differentiates our offerings is the raw materials used and the way they are produced,” said AFYREN’s Chief Commercial Officer, Joachim Merziger. “It gives our final products unique value as they have equal or better technical performance, combined with an outstanding environmental performance, compared to the existing petro-based equivalents on the market. Our solutions will help stakeholders along the entire value chain, from suppliers to end-consumers, understand that a production process with a low environmental impact brings more value to the product.”
The product brands that AFYREN will introduce in coming weeks will emphasize the biobased nature of its offerings in an effort to educate markets that lack information and labeling on biobased components and processes.
All of the solutions that AFYREN will roll out in the coming weeks enable customers to market biobased products with high environmental and societal added value. The specific needs of the different markets vary, so AFYREN’s branded products will reflect these market needs.
Biobased solutions offering distinct advantages for each target market
Food and feed: For this sector, AFYREN’s biobased acids replaced fossil-based ingredients with natural ones of the same quality. They have properties that inhibit mold and microbes for food ingredients. AFYREN acids are building blocks to produce derivatives for animal feed additives like salts, coated salts, and glycerol esters, which are powerful gut health promoters for many species.
Flavors and fragrances: AFYREN is launching high quality natural (NATURAL EU 1334/2008) and non GMO acids that can be used as ingredients for formulations and derivatives in the flavors and fragrances industry, where customers increasingly seek to emphasize “naturalness, sustainability and wellness.” They have a high level of purity and a consistent organoleptic profile.
Lubricants: AFYREN is providing unique, high quality, biobased organic acids for this sector: building blocks for high performance lubricants and functional fluids. Many companies in this sector are facing particularly strong pressure to lower the carbon footprints of their products as their customers adjust to electrification, the rise of wind power and other tectonic shifts. AFYREN’s low carbon solutions are designed to help these companies meet their environmental impact goals amid this transition.
Life sciences and materials sciences: Afyren is offering a wide range of solutions that can increase the sustainability of coatings and polymers, or esters. For example, replacing fossil-based ingredients in surfactants for hair conditioning without compromising the quality of the formulation, or providing biobased precursors for active pharmaceutical ingredients.
Full Press release: