Biomanufacturing Pioneer Selects Queensland for Its First Industrial Facility
A first-of-its-kind biomanufacturing facility is coming to Mackay, Queensland, Australia. On October 2, 2024, global hyper-fermentation company Cauldron Ferm received support from the Queensland Government through its Industry Partnership Program (IPP) to develop what will be the first and largest end-to-end contract manufacturing facility for precision fermented bioproducts in the Asia-Pacific region.
Launched in 2021, the $350 million IPP incentive has strengthened industry development in Queensland by facilitating private sector investment, supply chain development and job creation. In August 2023, an additional $53.5 million in funding was announced to bolster projects that align with the Queensland new-industry development strategy which aims to develop industries that will be in demand as the world decarbonizes, such as renewable energy manufacturing, critical minerals, biofuels and sustainable aviation fuel, and battery production, among others.
Cauldron proved to be a perfect fit for this endeavor. The company’s “hyper-fermentation” technology, a breakthrough continuous fermentation process, enables large-scale fermentation production to be five times more cost-effective compared to current industry standards. This allows more sustainable bio-based products to achieve price parity with other, less-sustainable options on the market and become more widely adopted.
Precision fermentation has the potential to play a vital role in increasing food production without expanding agricultural land, solving one of the most important barriers to food sustainability and national resilience.
In addition to food production, the Cauldron Bio-fab in Mackay will have the manufacturing capacity to produce more than 1,000 metric tons a year of bioproducts to be used as ingredients in nutrition, materials, beauty, personal care, chemical and biofuel-related sectors.
Cauldron plans to develop a global network of industrial facilities, with the MacKay Bio-fab being the first one in the queue. The company currently runs its operations out of a 25,000-litre demo facility in New South Wales.
“We are honored to be receiving support from the Queensland Government to develop our first industrial-scale operations in Mackay,” said Michele Stansfield, co-founder and CEO of Cauldron. “This funding enables us to scale our innovative technology as a major milestone in our journey to redefine the scope of biomanufacturing.”
