Belgium-based biotech company KitoZyme has noted an acceleration in demand for its patented Chitosan derived from fungi. The coronavirus outbreak in China seems also to have boosted the quest by purchasers for a safe supplier of chitosan.
The trend for a non-animal version of this biopolymer is becoming a “must-have”, driven by consumers but also by the industry itself which is looking to reduce quality and regulatory risks by finding non-animal ingredients.
“2019 was a turning point”, said François Luthers, Chief Operations Officer. “Our ingredient for Food, Supplements & Beverages is on the market since 2011."
Luthers explained that sales have been consistently and steadily rising. But last year the company clearly noticed an increasing frequency of requests for new applications. "Most interestingly these requests are coming from global industry leaders, and top executives from those companies, who understand the urgency for their organisation to find safe, non-animal ingredients."
Coronavirus
The sudden outbreak of Covid-19 seems also to contribute to expanding the spectrum of customers for KitoZyme. The largest manufacturers of the “old-fashioned” shrimp- or crab- derived chitosan are based in China. With the current factory closings, restrictions on travel and problems of transportations, the Purchasing managers around the world are now looking for alternatives.
Luthers said: “We have received many more requests since the beginning of February. I am not aware of a shortage of shrimp-derived chitosan, but I believe that the management and the buyers of industry leaders are now understanding how crucial it is to find manufacturers outside China."
He emphasised that KitoZyme is not China-dependant for its raw materials.
Fakes
But this problem in China is also solving one of the concerns of the company.
Luthers said: “We, at KitoZyme, have developed -and patented- the fungal-derived chitosan. Yet, recently we have noticed a couple of websites pretending to sell fungal-derived chitosan from China. Not only do these potentially infringe our patents, but also, we have analysed those products through independent labs and it turns out that these products are not in the specifications or the authorised ingredients in Food or Wine for example. Sometimes they are even derived from shrimps, but sold as, supposedly, non-animal! In fact, simply put, these are counterfeited products, putting at risks all the products containing those ingredients and the health of the consumers.”
Expanding
In 2019 the company had increased its production capacity to serve more customers and to be able to shorten its lead times. “We are very reactive and able to answer very quickly to all new inquiries. We propose new variants of our material for new applications outside of our core business of Food & Wine," said Luthers.
"Today we address requests in Personal Care, Cosmetics and Agriculture. Those industries are also looking more and more to safer, vegetal alternatives for a greener and healthier planet,” Luthers concluded.