ADM reveals US$55.5 million investment in Clinton precision fermentation expansion
ADM is investing US$55.5 million to convert an underutilized 463,503-square-foot fermentation facility in Clinton, Iowa, for large-scale precision fermentation, adding new detail to the site where The EVERY Company’s OvoPro egg white protein is set to enter commercial production.
• ADM planned to invest US$55.5 million converting an underutilized Clinton fermentation facility, with new downstream processing equipment and upgrades supporting large-scale protein and enzyme production
• Iowa awarded ADM US$2.23 million in tax credits for the project, which was expected to create 53 jobs at the company’s Clinton manufacturing complex
• The investment followed ADM and The EVERY Company’s July agreement to manufacture precision-fermented OvoPro egg white protein commercially at the same Iowa site
The Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) approved US$2.23 million in tax credits for the project on August 21 through its Business Incentives for Growth program. The expansion is expected to create 53 jobs.
The state disclosure provides the clearest picture yet of the physical investment behind ADM’s growing precision fermentation operation in Clinton.
According to IEDA, ADM plans to convert the 463,503-square-foot facility to expand its ability to manufacture additional high-value biobased products. The project will include new processing equipment for separation, purification, drying and packaging, alongside upgrades to existing fermentation equipment, piping and supporting systems.
Those additions will enable large-scale production of proteins and enzymes, according to the authority.
The investment comes little more than a month after ADM and The EVERY Company announced a commercial manufacturing agreement to produce EVERY’s OvoPro egg white protein at the Clinton site.
Announced in July, that partnership significantly expanded EVERY’s US manufacturing capacity and provided the company with the commercial-scale production infrastructure it had spent much of the past decade working toward.
OvoPro is produced through precision fermentation and is designed to provide the binding, whipping, foaming and gelling functionality associated with conventional egg white. It has a Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score (PDCAAS) of 1.0 and is being targeted at manufacturers seeking protein fortification alongside functional performance.
“By far, that’s the most challenging puzzle piece,” Elizondo said. “It’s the one that has taken companies the longest to solve. The manufacturing capacity required is enormous.
“If you’re building a greenfield facility, you’re talking about three years and hundreds of millions of dollars. A lot of companies have struggled or failed on that journey because their business models depended on being vertically integrated and owning production themselves.”
EVERY instead pursued a partnership-led manufacturing strategy, allowing it to access existing industrial infrastructure rather than finance and construct its own commercial plant.
“For us, my view was always: why reinvent the wheel when there is already capacity out there?” Elizondo told PPTI. “We just need to strike the right deal on the right terms.”
The newly disclosed Clinton investment provides more detail on how that existing infrastructure is now being upgraded.
Importantly, the Iowa documentation indicates ADM’s plans extend beyond a single protein or customer. The facility is being developed to produce proteins and enzymes and to increase ADM’s capacity for additional high-value biobased products.
That is consistent with comments made by Kris Lutt, ADM’s Vice President for Innovation and Growth, when the EVERY agreement was announced.
“Through this agreement with EVERY, we’re strengthening the global protein supply chain while demonstrating how ADM’s industry-leading precision fermentation capabilities can complement existing production, expand supply and help customers innovate,” Lutt said at the time.
“We look forward to working with EVERY and other partners as we continue investing in Clinton, advancing our precision fermentation capabilities, and supporting innovation and value creation across the entire food supply, from farm to store shelf.”
The IEDA announcement does not specify how much of the US$55.5 million investment relates directly to production for EVERY, and ADM has not indicated that the Clinton conversion is dedicated exclusively to OvoPro.
Instead, the combination of fermentation upgrades and downstream separation, purification, drying and packaging equipment suggests ADM is building out a broader production platform capable of taking fermentation-derived products through multiple stages of commercial manufacturing.
For EVERY, the additional capacity comes as it seeks to supply multinational food manufacturers and capitalize on demand for protein fortification in the USA.
“We’re thrilled to work with ADM to significantly expand production of OvoPro to service our multinational customers,” Elizondo said when the agreement was announced. “The global surge in demand for protein fortification across almost all major food segments – especially in the USA – requires incredible scale and reliability. Our partnership with ADM enables both.”
The Clinton project also illustrates an alternative route to adding fermentation capacity without constructing a new facility from the ground up. ADM is taking an underutilized fermentation asset and upgrading both its fermentation and downstream processing infrastructure for new biobased products.
The US$55.5 million project is expected to create 53 jobs at a qualifying wage of US$23.57 per hour.
For EVERY, the investment provides further visibility into the manufacturing infrastructure underpinning its move to commercial-scale OvoPro production. For ADM, Clinton is taking shape as a larger precision fermentation manufacturing platform, with EVERY among the partners set to use that capacity.
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