Unilever and NUFARM partner on ‘crops of the future’

Unilever and global agricultural innovation company Nufarm announced a strategic partnership on November 26 to promote the technology development and future commercialization of ‘crops of the future’. The project aims to grow crops with large biomass to produce sustainable oils. This oil will be a source of fatty acids - a core building block of Unilever's laundry detergent and beauty and personal care products.

Typically, vegetable oils such as sunflower oil and rapeseed oil are produced in seeds and fruits; the breakthrough of this technology is that "biomass oil" (oil extracted from plant material, including leaves and stems) will be produced using the whole plant, such as crops such as sugarcane and sorghum.

Nufarm has previously developed and commercialized a sugarcane variety called Energy Cane, a sustainable crop that produces much more plant matter and sugars than traditional sugarcane. Unilever's multi-million euro investment will use the latest breakthroughs in biotechnology to develop a new, commercially viable energy sugarcane variety that can also produce biomass oil.

The ultimate goal of the collaboration is to optimize and cultivate new crops that, when grown at scale, will contribute to Unilever’s goal of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from raw material sourcing, in line with its goal of achieving net zero emissions across its value chain by 2039.

Unilever’s goal with this technology is to reduce its reliance on petrochemical ingredients, and it is expected to be the first time that a biomass crop has been optimized to produce vegetable oil, which, if successfully grown at scale, will be used as an ingredient in consumer products.

Neil Parry, Head of Biotechnology at Unilever, said: “By continuing to invest in biotechnology, we aim to further unlock the power of nature and create a more sustainable and diverse supply chain for the future. This partnership with Nufarm enables us to source alternative ingredients for our Home, Beauty and Personal Care brands, which will further support our goal of achieving net zero emissions across our value chain by 2039.”

Greg Hunt, CEO of Nufarm, said: “This technology and associated expertise enhances Nufarm’s novel, sustainable and scalable oil strategy in high biomass crops such as energy cane and fodder sorghum, and offers the potential for a new transformational oil platform. The agricultural industry faces both challenges and opportunities of this century.”

Unilever’s goal is to create a more resilient, future-proof supply chain. Energy cane already has sustainability benefits such as tolerance to climate stress, drought resistance, more effective protection of soil from erosion, and harvest benefits for farmers and the environment. The project aims to replicate and harness these traits in a new crop to support Unilever’s climate goals.

In addition to being more robust, the goal is to have no part of the crop go to waste. In addition to biomass oil, the crop will continue to produce sugars that can be used in other biotech processes to produce specialty ingredients used in Unilever’s portfolio, such as flavors, enzymes and cleaning ingredients. Other uses for the crop include using the remaining plant fiber for packaging paper and board and for renewable energy production.

Raw materials and ingredients account for approximately 52% of greenhouse gas emissions within Unilever’s net zero target, making them the largest source of emissions (Unilever ARA 2023). This collaboration is one way Unilever is using biotechnology to advance sustainable sourcing of key raw materials.