SAN MATEO, CALIF. — Calysseo, a joint venture between Calysta and Adisseo, announced its plans to construct a new facility in Saudi Arabia in partnership with Food Caravan, a development company that specializes in protein and animal feed.

According to Calysseo, “advanced discussions and detailed planning” are underway on the new facility. Located in Al Jubail, the facility will feature a fermenter with a capacity of 100,000 metric tons (110,231 tons) to produce Calysta’s FeedKind® Aqua protein ingredient.

FeedKind requires no animal- or plant-based ingredients to produce, making it a more sustainable alternative compared to traditional proteins, according to the company.

“Our mission is to help the world meet one of its most pressing goals — feeding a global population that’s set to hit 10 billion by 2050,” said Alan Shaw, co-founder, president and chief executive officer of Calysta. “To do that, we need more sustainable protein, and to produce protein in places we are not currently able to. That’s what’s so exciting about the possibility of a Calysseo facility in Saudi Arabia.

“This would be our second industrial-scale plant and an important step on delivering enough sustainable protein to meet growing and pressing global demand,” Shaw added. “Our patented fermentation technology is proven to produce a high-quality protein ingredient and thanks to the efficiencies of using a naturally occurring bacteria process, we are ready to rapidly scale up and meet that demand.”

This new facility follows Calysseo’s construction of a FeedKind facility in China, which the company recently announced had begun operations. The facility in Saudi Arabia is anticipated to be five times larger than the facility in China.

“Today’s announcement is another significant milestone as we quickly move towards more sustainable forms of producing protein,” said Jean-Marc Dublanc, chief executive officer of Adisseo. “Calysseo is something we’re incredibly proud of, we’re committed to building on this valuable partnership with Calysta as we focus on bringing the next phase of development forward.

“Together with Calysta, we share an ongoing commitment to improving the security and sustainability of the feed ingredient market, our facilities fulfil a considerable part of that promise,” Dublanc added.

Calysseo has received a gas allocation from Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Energy and a site for the facility has been nominated by the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu. The facility is supported by the Ministry of Investment and the National Industrial Development Center of Saudi Arabia.

“From a national perspective, this project comes in full alignment with the Saudi 2030 vision,” said Saleh Al-Shabnan, chief executive officer of Food Caravan. “It also complements the country’s initiatives to ensure food security, reduce global emissions, create jobs for Saudi nationals and bring advanced technology to the country. Not to mention it’s a disruptive solution to the food supply chain globally.”

Calysta’s FeedKind Aqua ingredient has been validated in several independent trials, proving its effectiveness as a functional, nutritious ingredient for various species, including seabass, bream, largemouth bass and salmon. The company also offers sustainable protein ingredients approved for use in livestock feed and pet food.

“Saudi Arabia as a protein producer is a paradigm shift for the world,” said Dennis Leong, co-managing director of Claysseo. “We’re excited to progress plans to move forward with our second Calysseo facility, so soon after announcing start up activities at our Chongqing factory in China. Another milestone is exciting, expanding a new era of food and feed security.”

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