Biotech company Moolec harvests crops for innovative food ingredients

Moolec, a science-based food ingredient company, has announced the harvest confirmation of US campaigns for genetically engineered plant-grown products GLASO and Piggy Sooy during October 2024.

GLASO (gamma-linolenic acid -GLA- in safflower oil) campaign located in Idaho consists of 600 planted acres of genetically modified safflower, mainly for commercial purposes. As a result of the harvest, Moolec is expecting to produce between 300 to 400 tons of safflower seeds that contain high levels of GLA. To allocate most of the upcoming GLASO production, Moolec has secured an offtake agreement with a major global CPG company, targeting the US market in 2025. Following a successful and rigorous audit from Moolec’s CPG customer, production is set to begin in late 2024.

The company is also developing a broader commercial strategy to reach larger markets and clients. Moolec’s GLASO product contains almost three times more GLA than conventional sources such as borage and primrose oil, making it the most concentrated GLA oil available on the market.

Piggy Sooy (porcine myoglobin in soybean seeds) field trials are being carried out in three different US locations: Ohio, Missouri and Iowa. The main purposes for the campaign are product development (sampling), seed increase and gathering of environmental and regulatory data to continue Moolec’s US-FDA approval pathway. The team also projects a remarkable first open field performance for its bioengineered soybean Piggy Sooy after recent approval for cultivation from USDA-APHIS. This has set an unprecedented milestone in biotechnology last April, with Moolec becoming the first molecular farming company to obtain this kind of clearance for food crops growing animal proteins in US territory.

"Our commitment to scaling Moolec’s Molecular Farming Technology is demonstrated by our GLASO campaign and the field trials of Piggy Sooy," said Martín Salinas, Chief Technology Officer & Co-Founder. "These efforts not only reinforce our position as pioneers in the industry but also lay the foundation for sustainable solutions in agriculture and biotechnology. One acre of Piggy Sooy could potentially produce pork meat proteins equivalent to 10 pigs, reducing water footprint, land usage and CO2 emissions. This is a clear demonstration on how we promote environmental improvements throughout all our operations. Our aim is to heal the meat production system.”