Pennakem Europa, the developer of EcoXtract®, an innovative bio-based solvent for the extraction of oils, proteins and natural ingredients, is delighted to announce that it has been awarded a European Union grant to develop EcoXtract® as the extract of choice for the global oilseeds sector.
The 2.8 million EUR grant is awarded by the European Commission’s European Innovation Council under the Horizon 2020 Fast Track to Innovation programme. This great achievement is the result of a proposal submitted by a consortium of 5 partners. All are private-for-profit entities established within the European Union. Along with Pennakem Europa (France) , an affiliate of Minafin Group, the consortium comprises Vivaorganic GmbH (Cloppenburg, Germany), De Wit Speciality Oils B.V. (De Waal, The Netherlands), New Holland Extraction Ltd (New Holland, United Kingdom) and Donal Murphy-Bokern (Lohne, Germany). The total project investment is nearly 4 million EUR. The project is coordinated by Vivaorganic GmbH.
Solvent-based extraction of vegetable oil is an essential step for many plant-based products, especially for vegetable oil and protein. Our ambition is to bring our biobased solvent EcoXtract® to the oilseeds processing market. This will provide an extremely safe and bio-based option for all involved in processing oil-rich seeds such as soybean, oilseed rape, sunflower, and the seeds from a large number of minor crops such as borage, hemp and evening primrose. EcoXtract® is a game-changing renewable upcycling technology: a 100% biobased solvent made from crop by-product. Pennakem and New Holland Extractions in particular are focused on the core engineering challenge of upscaling the use of this new solvent. Parallel to this, Vivaorganic and De Wit will lead in the development of pioneering value chains in soybean processing and niche speciality oils. Donal Murphy-Bokern provides support in project management, communications, assessment of environmental and agricultural impacts, and liaison with policy agencies.
“We are thrilled with the European Commission’s decision to support our innovation plans. The grant enables us to combine the technologies, skills and ambitions of five partners in four European countries. This allows us to accelerate our technical development and access pioneering markets at the same time to develop a more reliable, healthier and more eco-conscious oil extraction sector for the food and feed industry” says Laurence Jacques, Managing Director at Pennakem Europa.
“Consumers’ expectations have dramatically changed over the last decades. Food and other products of nature must be truly natural. As the oil industry being one important player of the food industry, it appears essential to us to be part of this project to deliver a safer and healthier solution to the consumer” says Gertjan De Wit, Director at De Wit Speciality Oils.
“Leading this dynamic consortium is a great honour for Vivaorganic. All four industrial partners are new to the European Union Framework Programme. With this European Innovation Council grant, the European Commission is investing in us to make a significant contribution to the sustainable development of the oil- and protein-based sectors using a European invention and know-how. We are fully committed to giving Europe a good return on this investment, in Europe and world-wide” says Amos Ramsauer from Vivaorganic.
