Riverence Taps Benson Hill's Innovative Soy Ingredients to Raise the Standard of Aquaculture Sustainability

ST. LOUIS, Feb. 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Benson Hill, Inc. (NYSE: BHIL, the "Company" or "Benson Hill"), a food tech company unlocking the natural genetic diversity of plants, today announced a collaboration with Riverence Holdings, LLC, the largest land-based producer of steelhead and rainbow trout in the Americas, to enhance the sustainability of aquaculture supply chains using Benson Hill's innovative soy ingredients.

Aquaculture provides over half of the seafood for human consumption globally and is the fastest-growing food production sector. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, aquaculture is expected to overtake capture production in 2027 and account for 52% of all fish production for all uses by 2030. The market is projected to exceed $245 billion by 2027, up from approximately $180 billion today. Feed is the primary cost of the system and a major contributor to its carbon and water footprint. Sourcing plant-based, traceable ingredients free of deforestation is a challenge for the industry. Benson Hill's portfolio of innovative soy-derived ingredients offers an efficient and cost-effective solution to help improve sustainability and scale this growing market.

"Benson Hill has developed soy ingredients that are uniquely suited for aquaculture and check all the boxes from a nutrition, sustainability and cost perspective," said Jesse Trushenski, Chief Science Officer of Riverence. "It's exciting to have a product designed for our market that supports improved performance of our fish, is traceable, and has a very clean carbon and water profile. We decided to incorporate Benson Hill's ingredients again this year and believe it's the beginning of a long and valuable partnership."

Benson Hill uses its proprietary CropOS^® technology platform and advanced breeding techniques to leverage the natural genetic diversity within plants and develop improved ingredients beginning with a better seed. The Company's proprietary soybean varieties expressing Ultra-High Protein (UHP) and low anti-nutrient levels reduce the need for processing steps to concentrate protein levels. The result is a minimally processed ingredient designed as an alternative to commodity Soy Protein Concentrate (SPC) that requires up to 70% less water and up to 50% less CO₂e to produce than U.S.-sourced SPC, and up to 83% less water and up to 89% less CO₂e when compared to Brazilian-sourced SPC, accounting for the impacts of deforestation.¹

The ingredients derived from UHP varieties demonstrate equivalent performance to an SPC-based diet in salmon and trout, as measured by Feed Conversion Ratio.² Benson Hill works with farmers to grow its UHP soybean varieties with an emphasis on using regenerative agriculture practices under a policy that prohibits deforestation. Through this collaboration, the companies are working to develop a supply of traceable and deforestation-free certified Benson Hill ingredients to serve the Riverence supply chain.

"Sustainable aquaculture systems will be an increasingly critical source of animal protein as the pressures of climate change intensify," said Matt Crisp, Chief Executive Officer of Benson Hill. "Riverence is a true sustainability leader for the industry with a keen focus on resource conservation that consumers value. Ingredient innovation provides a meaningful impact on feed quality, sustainability and traceability. We're thrilled to work with the Riverence team to advance aquaculture together."

Benson Hill's proprietary ingredients will be incorporated into the aquaculture diets manufactured by Riverence's preferred supplier Rangen, a brand of Wilbur-Ellis Nutrition.

About Benson Hill
Benson Hill moves food forward with the CropOS^® platform, a cutting-edge food innovation engine that combines data science and machine learning with biology and genetics. Benson Hill empowers innovators to unlock nature's genetic diversity from plant to plate, with the purpose of creating nutritious, great-tasting food and ingredient options that are both widely accessible and sustainable. More information can be found at bensonhill.com or on Twitter at @bensonhillinc.

Riverence Holdings LLC
Riverence Holdings is the largest land-based producer of steelhead and rainbow trout in the Americas, with locations across Idaho and Washington. It is the parent company of Riverence Brood (egg production), as well as Riverence Farms and Riverence Provisions  (trout production, processing, and distribution). Together, the companies have full 'egg to plate' control of their supply chain, with nationwide availability. For more information, visit riverence.com and follow Riverence on social, @RiverenceUSA.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release may be considered "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events or the Company's future financial or operating performance and may be identified by words such as "may," "should," "expect," "intend," "will," "estimate," "anticipate," "believe," "predict," or similar words. These forward-looking statements are based upon assumptions made by the Company as of the date hereof and are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements regarding our strategy and our plans for growth, statements regarding expectations about the markets in which we participate, including the aquaculture supply chain, statements regarding the expected future performance of our technology and integrated business model, statements regarding the anticipated benefits of our proprietary soybean varieties, including their potential advantages to Riverence and the aquaculture supply chain, and statements regarding the anticipated benefits of our partnership with Riverence. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to, risks associated with successfully realizing the anticipated advantages of using our proprietary soybean varieties and CropOS^® technology platform to serve Riverence and the aquaculture supply chain, risks associated with our ability to grow and manage growth profitably, our ability to execute our business plans and leverage our technology, our transition to becoming a public company, and other risks and uncertainties set forth in the sections entitled "Risk Factors" and "Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), which are available on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. We expressly disclaim any duty to update these forward-looking statements, except as otherwise required by law.

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Benson Hill
Melanie Bernds
314-605-6363
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¹ On a per kilogram of protein basis, based on preliminary Life Cycle Assessment results conducted by Blonk Consultants (April 2021).
² Based on preliminary nutritional evaluation study results conducted by The Center for Aquaculture Technologies (July 2021).

SOURCE Benson Hill