Convention record: Innovation Takes Root 2012

Highlights from the February 20-22 NatureWorks
conference including news of a new Ingeo plant.
 

Descending from blue sky serenity to a touchdown
in Orlando, FL, NatureWorks’ choice of tropical venue set
the stage for their 3rd biennial
biopolymer conference. Delegates representing 21 countries predominantly from
US, Europe, China and Japan meshed
with humanitarians, visionaries and chemists to deliver a strong message; waste not.

The journey truly began with Tom Clyne’s heart
retching photo narrative chronicling six individuals whose separate journeys of
passion and unselfish giving tipped the scales in favour of humanity. Today’s
solitary individual is still capable of making a difference as we learned; from
containing pandemic outbreaks to monitoring Greenland’s diminishing glacier
resources, trekking Amazon rivers to realizing wildlife reserves to braving
road blocks in war torn Afghanistan to rescue neglected animals.  The restoration of life cherishing values
certainly resonated with the audience as they applauded these exemplary
accomplishments.

Why
not an edible yogurt cup?

The
leap to present day reality was appropriately facilitated by Gary Hirshberg,
Chairman of Stonyfield Farms organic foods. 
In 1983 Stonyfield Farms asked the question; “Is it possible to build a
food business that can promote health, make money and NOT damage the
environment?”  The answer appeared on the
next slide with an impressive 21 year Compound
Annual Growth Rate of 23.8%, net sales in 2011 were USD 356 million.  It comes as no surprise then that consumers
want to eat healthy when confronted with the indisputable facts and
health concerns emanating from our food sources.  The staggering rise of obesity among Americans, increased incidents
of diabetes, cancers and pesticide related illnesses begs the question, why are
we not supporting more organic decisions? 
In fact the statistic is that one in three children born in the year
2000 will later become diabetic in the United States.  Alleviating the financial burden on health
care would be motivation enough to warrant a shift to healthy food. Stonyfield
Farms launched PLA packaging in 2010 and makes a strong case for bio-based
packaging leaving the audience with the thought, “Why not an edible yogurt
cup?”

Talk about timely intervention.  President Obama’s presidential memo requesting government
procurers to buy bio-based products supporting healthier choices appeared as
breaking news in USA
TODAY as the keynote presentations commenced. Drawing attention to the press
release Steve Davies, Director Communications & Public Affairs at,
NatureWorks
LLC,
 could not have delivered a more compelling
validation for biobased products.  Kate
Lewis, Deputy Program Manager of USDA’s BioPreferred program, translated the
significance of the decree by highlighting the $500 billion USD worth of annual
purchases.
 
Even
the lunch speaker Susan Freinkel author of “Plastic: A Toxic Love Story”,
conveyed a stern message regarding the utility of a synthetic material gone
astray.  How apropos, the formulation of
plastic in fact was a failed trial that produced a glob that was considered
waste until marketing found a way to mass market an inferior copy for the
genuine article. It appears that we have come a full 360  on that point. On a side note, “Slow Death by
Rubber Duck”   is an excellent
experimental accounting of how toxic chemistry of everyday life affects our
health.  It’s a must read for sure.

For the
duration of the two-day conference, a succession of validating and thought
provoking presentations were interspersed with a triple stream of expert panel
discussions prompting debate on technologies, process chemistry and marketing
initiatives. 

Feeding the world

Memorably,
Vice-Chairman Paul Conway’s keynote address delivered from notes and a short
video clip depicting Cargill`s philanthropic
gesture of delivering rice to the Horn of Africa from India dramatizing the
global severity of “Feeding the World”. 
The notion that agricultural self-sufficiency is a worthy aspiration is
counterproductive and has in actual fact been a root cause to increased food
prices.  Governments imposing export bans
are interfering with global supply and demand thus intentionally or not driving up prices.  Interestingly enough recent statistics show
that many countries are importing nearly the exact tonnage as they export of
that identical product.  

It’s
not until we hear from  President & CEO Marc Verbruggen
that  NatureWorks LLC takes centre stage
to address  “what’s changed since ITR2010.”  Dispelling three popular bio-plastics myths as a review of the
Ingeo value proposition at the outset of his presentation is the mark of a
master strategist. 

Perhaps the most encouraging news is that by 2015 a
second Ingeo plant located in Rayong Province, Thailand is expected to be
operational. When that plant is operational, NatureWorks will utilize 3
feedstock sources of corn, sugar cane and cassava. The combined yield capacity
of 700 MM lbs. will be delivering to a global market.

The 1st
generation family of polymers under the
Ingeo Technology Platform now includes a 2nd generation family of
monomers and a 3rd generation Ingeo Platform of compounded
solutions. 

Marc`s
closing statement that “Game-changing
technology requires a “journey” approach” is a mantra to be taken to heart and
integrated into daily business practice. 
As we all know, life is about the journey.


Dean Bellefleur is a subject matter expert in packaging consulting
to private equity management firms and the Food & Beverage Industry. The
company website is 
D-idea