Future Origins and Kao Enter Purchase Agreement for Palm Alternative NALO™

Agreement advances future supply chain resiliency for Kao's home and personal care markets

SAN DIEGO, March 19, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Future Origins, a U.S.-based joint venture that is commercializing sustainable alternatives to critical ingredients in the formulations of cosmetics, personal care and cleaning products, announced it has secured a multi-year purchase agreement with Kao Corporation of its C12/C14 fatty alcohol, NALO. The agreement is the largest Future Origins has entered for NALO and underscores the increasing demand for high performing and sustainable ingredients in surfactants, used for detergents, soaps and cosmetics.

"Companies across the globe are looking for ingredients made from more resilient and traceable supply chains and Future Origins has developed NALO to meet that need," said John Gugel, CEO of Future Origins. "As a leading global producer of surfactants, Kao has upheld rigorous standards for both product quality and sustainability, especially in bioalcohols."

NALO is the world's first high-performing, drop-in replacement for widely used ingredients that have traditionally been made from palm oil. NALO will be manufactured at industrial scale in the United States. Future Origins has launched its early access program for NALO that provides pre-commercial product samples for testing, with eventual access to commercial volumes from the first manufacturing plant. The agreement with Kao secures offtake for a majority of the planned capacity of Future Origins' first manufacturing plant.

"Kao is committed to sustainable material sourcing based on its Mid-Term Plan 2027 with the vision of "Sustainability as the Only Path." Kao has been collaborating with Future Origins to develop NALO that could be a sustainable alternative for fatty alcohol produced from palm oil and has been preparing to introduce not only NALO but also its derivatives to the market through its chemical business. This development will be important for supplying enough materials to maintain our quality of life and also essential for protecting palm tree forests to conserve the planet environment. Additionally, Kao will promote these materials to be incorporated into consumer products. Thus, Kao further reinforces its commitment to sustainable material sourcing by establishment of such transparent and traceable supply chains," said Daisuke Hamada, Kao Senior Executive Officer in charge of Chemical Business.

Future Origins was founded by industrial biotechnology leader Geno, together with Unilever, Kao, and L'Oréal, to commercialize and manufacture high-volume sustainable ingredients for widely used surfactants used in home and personal care applications. Future Origins' product development activities are on track to meet all critical benchmarks, including completion of its demonstration-scale fermentation program. Several tons of purified product will be available for sampling by the second quarter of 2025.

"We look forward to meeting the needs of Kao and the broader marketplace with this low-carbon, deforestation free material," added Dr. Priti Pharkya, SVP of Business Operations at Future Origins. "NALO is not only a high-quality ingredient that performs but it will also enable our customers to grow their businesses in a more reliable and sustainable way."

The company is advancing plans around its first commercial-scale manufacturing plant with top sites under consideration in Midwestern states where the company can source the feedstocks it requires. This significant offtake commitment is a critical step in successful execution of those plans.

For more information, visit the Future Origins website at www.futureorigins.com.

SOURCE Future Origins