Unilever and Nufarm explore alternative raw materials for cleansing products

Unilever and Nufarm, a global agriculture innovator entered into a strategic partnership which enables the technical development and future commercialization of a ‘crop of the future’. The project aims to cultivate crops with significant biomass to produce sustainable oils. The oil will be a source of fatty acids – a core base ingredient for Unilever’s laundry detergents and beauty and personal care products.

Typically, plant oils like sunflower and canola oil are produced in the seeds and fruits; the breakthrough of this technology is that the ‘biomass oil’ (an oil derived from plant material, including the leaves and stems) will be produced using the entire plant, in crops like cane and sorghum.

The partnership will optimize and cultivate the new crop, which when grown at scale, could contribute to Unilever’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction ambitions in ingredient sourcing. This aligns with the ambition to reach net zero emissions by 2039 across its value chain. (Source: Unilever)

Nufarm has previously developed and commercialized a variety of sugar cane called energy cane, a sustainable crop which generates significantly more plant matter and sugar than traditional sugar cane. The multi-million-euro investment from Unilever will use recent breakthroughs in biotechnology to develop a new, commercially viable variety of energy cane that can also produce biomass oil.

The ultimate ambition of the partnership is to optimize and cultivate the new crop, which when grown at scale, could contribute to Unilever’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction ambitions in ingredient sourcing, aligning with the ambition to reach net zero emissions by 2039 across its value chain.

The goal of this technology for Unilever is to reduce its reliance on petrochemical-based ingredients, and it is expected to be the first time a biomass crop will be optimized to produce the plant-based oil, which if successfully grown at scale, will be used as an ingredient in consumer goods 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 build a more sustainable and diverse supply chain for the future. The partnership with Nufarm enables us to identify alternative ingredients for our household, beauty and personal care brands which will further support our ambition to reach net zero emissions across our value chain by 2039.”

“This technology and associated know-how enhance Nufarm’s novel, sustainable and scalable oils strategy in high biomass crops like energy cane and forage sorghum and provide new transformational oils platform potential,” said Greg Hunt, Nufarm CEO. “The agricultural industry has both the challenge and opportunity of the century.”

Unilever is aiming to build a more resilient and future-proof supply chain. In its current form, energy cane already has sustainability benefits such as climate stress tolerance, drought resistance, more efficient protection of soil against erosion and harvesting benefits for farmers and the environment. The project aims to replicate and build upon these traits in the new crop, to support Unilever’s climate ambitions.

As well as being more robust, the aim is for no parts of the crop to go to waste. In addition to biomass oil, the crop will also continue to produce sugar, which could be used in other biotechnology processes to generate speciality ingredients such as fragrances, enzymes, and cleaning ingredients used across Unilever’s portfolio. Other uses of the crop could include using the remaining plant fiber for paper and board in packaging as well as for renewable energy production.

Raw materials and ingredients account for approximately 52% of Unilever’s GHG emissions in scope of its net zero ambition and represent the largest emissions source (Unilever ARA 2023). This partnership is one way in which Unilever is utilizing biotechnology to advance sustainable sourcing of critical raw materials.