Phytolon and Ginkgo Bioworks Boost Natural Food Colors by Hitting Full-Project Milestone, Nearly Tripling the Manufacturing Efficiency of Phytolon's Innovative Colors
Phytolon and Ginkgo Bioworks (NYSE: DNA) have achieved a significant milestone in their natural food colors collaboration, nearly tripling manufacturing efficiency. The partnership, initiated in 2022, focuses on developing yeast strains to produce two natural colors: "Beetroot Red" and "Prickly Pear Yellow."
This breakthrough comes amid increasing pressure to eliminate artificial food dyes in the U.S., with FDA Commissioner Marty Makary announcing plans to remove synthetic colors from the food supply by 2026. The FDA has already banned FD&C Red No. 3 due to cancer risks.
The improved production process offers significant advantages:
- Higher production efficiency (3x increase)
- Reduced production costs
- Lower carbon footprint
- Successful coloring in multiple food categories including baked goods, snacks, dairy, and confectioneries
As part of the milestone achievement, Ginkgo will receive additional equity in Phytolon, strengthening their partnership in sustainable food coloring solutions.
Phytolon e Ginkgo Bioworks (NYSE: DNA) hanno raggiunto un importante traguardo nella loro collaborazione sulle colorazioni alimentari naturali, quasi triplicando l'efficienza produttiva. La partnership, avviata nel 2022, si concentra sullo sviluppo di ceppi di lievito per produrre due colori naturali: "Rosso Barbabietola" e "Giallo Fico d'India".
Questa innovazione arriva in un momento di crescente pressione per eliminare i coloranti alimentari artificiali negli Stati Uniti, con il commissario FDA Marty Makary che ha annunciato l'intenzione di rimuovere i coloranti sintetici dalla catena alimentare entro il 2026. La FDA ha già vietato il FD&C Red No. 3 a causa dei rischi di cancro.
Il processo produttivo migliorato offre vantaggi significativi:
- Maggiore efficienza produttiva (aumento di 3 volte)
- Riduzione dei costi di produzione
- Minore impronta di carbonio
- Colorazione efficace in diverse categorie alimentari, tra cui prodotti da forno, snack, latticini e dolciumi
Come parte del traguardo raggiunto, Ginkgo riceverà una quota azionaria aggiuntiva in Phytolon, rafforzando la loro collaborazione nelle soluzioni sostenibili per la colorazione alimentare.
Phytolon y Ginkgo Bioworks (NYSE: DNA) han alcanzado un hito importante en su colaboración para colores alimentarios naturales, casi triplicando la eficiencia de fabricación. La asociación, iniciada en 2022, se centra en desarrollar cepas de levadura para producir dos colores naturales: "Rojo Remolacha" y "Amarillo Nopal".
Este avance llega en medio de una creciente presión para eliminar los colorantes artificiales en EE. UU., con el comisionado de la FDA, Marty Makary, anunciando planes para eliminar los colores sintéticos del suministro de alimentos para 2026. La FDA ya ha prohibido el FD&C Red No. 3 debido a riesgos de cáncer.
El proceso de producción mejorado ofrece ventajas significativas:
- Mayor eficiencia de producción (incremento de 3 veces)
- Reducción de costos de producción
- Menor huella de carbono
- Coloración exitosa en múltiples categorías alimentarias, incluyendo productos horneados, snacks, lácteos y confitería
Como parte del logro alcanzado, Ginkgo recibirá acciones adicionales en Phytolon, fortaleciendo su asociación en soluciones sostenibles para colorantes alimentarios.
Phytolon과 Ginkgo Bioworks (NYSE: DNA)는 천연 식품 색소 협력에서 중요한 이정표를 달성하며 제조 효율성을 거의 세 배로 향상시켰습니다. 2022년에 시작된 이 파트너십은 효모 균주를 개발하여 두 가지 천연 색상인 "비트루트 레드"와 "프릭클리 페어 옐로우"를 생산하는 데 중점을 두고 있습니다.
이 돌파구는 미국 내 인공 식품 색소 제거 압력이 증가하는 가운데 이루어졌으며, FDA 국장 마티 마카리가 2026년까지 식품 공급에서 합성 색소를 제거할 계획을 발표했습니다. FDA는 이미 암 위험 때문에 FD&C Red No. 3를 금지했습니다.
개선된 생산 공정은 다음과 같은 중요한 이점을 제공합니다:
- 생산 효율성 향상 (3배 증가)
- 생산 비용 절감
- 탄소 발자국 감소
- 제과, 간식, 유제품, 제과류 등 다양한 식품 카테고리에서 성공적인 착색
이 이정표 달성의 일환으로, Ginkgo는 Phytolon의 지분을 추가로 받게 되어 지속 가능한 식품 색소 솔루션에서의 파트너십을 강화할 예정입니다.
Phytolon et Ginkgo Bioworks (NYSE : DNA) ont atteint une étape importante dans leur collaboration sur les colorants alimentaires naturels, en triplant presque l'efficacité de fabrication. Ce partenariat, lancé en 2022, se concentre sur le développement de souches de levure pour produire deux couleurs naturelles : « Rouge Betterave » et « Jaune Figuier de Barbarie ».
Cette avancée intervient dans un contexte de pression croissante pour éliminer les colorants alimentaires artificiels aux États-Unis, avec le commissaire de la FDA, Marty Makary, annonçant son intention de retirer les colorants synthétiques de l'approvisionnement alimentaire d'ici 2026. La FDA a déjà interdit le FD&C Red No. 3 en raison de risques cancérigènes.
Le processus de production amélioré offre des avantages significatifs :
- Une efficacité de production accrue (augmentation par 3)
- Des coûts de production réduits
- Une empreinte carbone plus faible
- Une coloration réussie dans plusieurs catégories alimentaires, notamment les produits de boulangerie, les snacks, les produits laitiers et les confiseries
Dans le cadre de cette avancée, Ginkgo recevra des actions supplémentaires dans Phytolon, renforçant ainsi leur partenariat dans les solutions de coloration alimentaire durables.
Phytolon und Ginkgo Bioworks (NYSE: DNA) haben einen bedeutenden Meilenstein in ihrer Zusammenarbeit für natürliche Lebensmittelfarben erreicht und die Produktionseffizienz nahezu verdreifacht. Die Partnerschaft, die 2022 begann, konzentriert sich auf die Entwicklung von Hefestämmen zur Herstellung von zwei natürlichen Farben: „Rote Bete Rot“ und „Kaktusfeige Gelb“.
Dieser Durchbruch erfolgt angesichts des zunehmenden Drucks, künstliche Lebensmittelfarbstoffe in den USA zu eliminieren. FDA-Kommissar Marty Makary kündigte Pläne an, synthetische Farbstoffe bis 2026 aus der Lebensmittelversorgung zu entfernen. Die FDA hat FD&C Red No. 3 bereits aufgrund von Krebsrisiken verboten.
Der verbesserte Produktionsprozess bietet erhebliche Vorteile:
- Höhere Produktionseffizienz (3-fache Steigerung)
- Reduzierte Produktionskosten
- Geringerer CO2-Fußabdruck
- Erfolgreiche Färbung in verschiedenen Lebensmittelkategorien wie Backwaren, Snacks, Milchprodukte und Süßwaren
Im Rahmen dieses Meilensteins wird Ginkgo zusätzliche Anteile an Phytolon erhalten, um die Partnerschaft bei nachhaltigen Lebensmittelfarblösungen zu stärken.
- Achieved second development milestone, triggering equity distribution from Phytolon to Ginkgo
- Nearly tripled manufacturing efficiency for natural food colors
- Significant reduction in production costs through improved efficiency
- Lower capital investment and energy requirements compared to traditional natural color production
- Successfully developed formulations for multiple food categories
- Strong market timing with FDA banning synthetic colors and regulatory push for natural alternatives
- Products still pending FDA approval before market entry
- Exact equity distribution terms and financial impact not disclosed
- Facing competition in natural food color market
Insights
Ginkgo's platform delivers 3x efficiency for natural food colors, perfectly timed with FDA's synthetic color ban timeline.
The successful completion of the second development milestone represents a significant technical achievement for Ginkgo Bioworks' cell programming platform. The company has leveraged both AI modeling expertise and high-throughput screening to deliver yeast strains with nearly 3-times higher production efficiency for natural food colors.
This efficiency improvement directly addresses a critical barrier in the natural food color industry - production costs. By achieving this milestone, Ginkgo enables Phytolon to develop formulations that meet coloring standards across multiple food categories including baked goods, snacks, dairy, and confectioneries.
The timing is particularly favorable given the regulatory environment. The FDA has already banned FD&C Red No. 3 due to cancer risks, and plans to eliminate synthetic colors from the US food supply by 2026. This regulatory pressure creates urgent market demand for natural alternatives that can match synthetic colors' performance characteristics.
The improved fermentation-based manufacturing process requires less energy and capital investment while delivering higher coloring efficiency compared to other natural colors that rely on farming and extensive post-processing. This addresses both cost and sustainability concerns simultaneously.
Milestone achievement grants Ginkgo additional equity in Phytolon, strengthening position in growing natural food color market.
This milestone completion triggers an equity-based compensation event for Ginkgo Bioworks, with the company receiving additional ownership stake in Phytolon. This aligns with Ginkgo's platform business model, where successful partner outcomes yield equity returns.
The regulatory tailwinds are substantial, with the FDA already implementing bans on synthetic colors and planning complete elimination by 2026. This regulatory pressure creates an accelerated market opportunity for natural alternatives like Phytolon's products.
The nearly 3x improvement in production efficiency directly impacts the economics of these natural colors, potentially enabling competitive pricing against synthetic alternatives. This addresses a key adoption barrier in the natural color market - cost effectiveness.
While the products still require FDA approval before market entry, the successful development demonstrates Ginkgo's technical capabilities in strain optimization. The partnership shows continued progress since its 2022 inception, with this representing the second achieved milestone (first was in early 2024).
The press release also notes potential for follow-up projects, suggesting this milestone could lead to expanded collaboration between the companies in the growing natural food ingredient sector.
- Replacing artificial dyes with natural colors has become a national priority, moved by consumer demand, regulation, and governmental pressure.
- Achieving this milestone—by increasing coloring efficiency and reducing costs—could unlock new market segments that are not well-supported by current natural food colors.
- The achievement grants Ginkgo with additional equity in Phytolon, and paves the way to explore further collaborations in the field of natural food colors.
YOKNE'AM ILLIT,
The collaboration, which started in 2022, consists of development of yeast strains to produce two natural colors, aimed at offering the food industry vibrant, fully functional replacements to synthetic dyes under strong regulatory and legislation pressure.
Artificial food dyes are under growing pressure in the
After achieving the first development milestone (in early 2024) that unlocked the entire yellow-to-purple spectrum, Ginkgo leveraged its strong AI modeling expertise and its high-throughput screening platform to deliver strains with nearly 3-times higher production efficiency, enabling Phytolon to develop high-quality formulations that successfully address the desired coloring standards in multiple food categories such as baked goods, snacks seasoning, toppings & icings, confectionaries, dairy yogurts, and ice creams & frozen novelties.
Moreover, the improved production efficiency drives a significant reduction in the production costs and carbon footprint. Phytolon's fermentation-based manufacturing process requires less energy and capital investment to reach high coloring efficiency compared with benchmark natural colors that rely on farming and extensive post-processing.
Phytolon's "Beetroot Red" & "Prickly Pear Yellow" are expected to be available in
Upon meeting the second development milestone, Ginkgo will receive additional equity in Phytolon, reaping new benefits from the growing Ginkgo–Phytolon partnership and planting the seeds for follow-up projects that amplify Phytolon's sustainable and cost-efficient offerings to the food coloring sector and the entire food industry.
Wissam Mansour, Phytolon's Chief Product Officer, commented, "This is an unprecedented opportunity. The vibrant colors Phytolon is now poised to deliver to customers will allow the food industry to explore the full potential of natural and healthy beet and prickly pear pigments that have never before been readily available with such purity and quality."
Jennifer Wipf, Ginkgo's General Manager of Discovery & Manufacturing Solutions, commented, "It has been a pleasure to work alongside our partners at Phytolon to help bring their colorful products to market. We tapped many of Ginkgo's cell programming capabilities to deliver "Beetroot Red" & "Prickly Pear Yellow" production strains and processes that make possible an entire palette of food colors. We look forward to continuing to work with Phytolon as they innovate in this market."
About Ginkgo Bioworks:
Ginkgo Bioworks is the leading horizontal platform for cell programming, providing flexible, end-to-end services that solve challenges for organizations across diverse markets, from food and agriculture to pharmaceuticals to industrial and specialty chemicals. Ginkgo Biosecurity is building and deploying the next-generation infrastructure and technologies that global leaders need to predict, detect, and respond to a wide variety of biological threats. For more information, visit ginkgobioworks.com and ginkgobiosecurity.com, read our blog, or follow us on social media channels such as X (@Ginkgo and @Ginkgo_Biosec), Instagram (@GinkgoBioworks), Threads (@GinkgoBioworks), or LinkedIn.
About Phytolon:
Phytolon is focused on offering natural food colors that comply with the consumers demand for clean label, healthy, and sustainable food systems. Leveraging our novel fermentation-based production technology, we are committed to providing cost-efficient and sustainable solutions, while guaranteeing robust supply to customers around the world. Phytolon's portfolio currently includes multiple shades, covering the purple, pink, red, orange, and yellow spectrum, targeting multiple food categories in the food and beverage market
To learn more, visit Phytolon.com and follow us on our LinkedIn.
Forward-Looking Statements of Ginkgo Bioworks
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including statements regarding the capabilities and potential success of the partnership and Ginkgo's cell programming platform. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words "believe," "can," "project," "potential," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "strategy," "future," "opportunity," "plan," "may," "should," "will," "would," "will be," "will continue," "will likely result," and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are predictions, projections and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause actual future events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this press release, including but not limited to: (i) our ability to realize near-term and long-term cost savings associated with our site consolidation plans, including the ability to terminate leases or find sub-lease tenants for unused facilities, (ii) volatility in the price of Ginkgo's securities due to a variety of factors, including changes in the competitive and highly regulated industries in which Ginkgo operates and plans to operate, variations in performance across competitors, and changes in laws and regulations affecting Ginkgo's business, (iii) the ability to implement business plans, forecasts, and other expectations, and to identify and realize additional business opportunities, including with respect to our solutions and tools offerings, (iv) the risk of downturns in demand for products using synthetic biology, (v) the uncertainty regarding the demand for passive monitoring programs and biosecurity services, (vi) changes to the biosecurity industry, including due to advancements in technology, emerging competition and evolution in industry demands, standards and regulations, (vii) the outcome of any pending or potential legal proceedings against Ginkgo, (viii) our ability to realize the expected benefits from and the success of our Foundry platform programs and Codebase assets, (ix) our ability to successfully develop engineered cells, bioprocesses, data packages or other deliverables, (x) the product development, production or manufacturing success of our customers, (xi) our exposure to the volatility and liquidity risks inherent in holding equity interests in other operating companies and other non-cash consideration we may receive for our services, (xii) the potential negative impact on our business of our restructuring or the failure to realize the anticipated savings associated therewith and (xiii) the uncertainty regarding government budgetary priorities and funding allocated to government agencies. The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. You should carefully consider the foregoing factors and the other risks and uncertainties described in the "Risk Factors" section of Ginkgo's annual report on Form 10-K filed with the
PHYTOLON MEDIA CONTACT:
Shir Hait
shir@phytolon.com
GINKGO BIOWORKS INVESTOR CONTACT:
investors@ginkgobioworks.com
GINKGO BIOWORKS MEDIA CONTACT:
press@ginkgobioworks.com
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SOURCE Ginkgo Bioworks
FAQ
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