Future origins are the commercialization of NALO alternatives to palm oil. It is a bioengineering C12/C14 fatty alcohol designed for use in personal care and cleaning preparations. The company recently announced a multi-year purchase agreement with KAO Corporation, celebrating NALO’s biggest commercial agreement to date.
“Nalo works just like traditional palm-derived fatty alcohols in several applications, offering the same advantages and cleaning capabilities, and in a way it is even better. The ingredients are independently tested and validated for performance in surfactant-based applications.
According to a press release from the company, “Narro is the world’s first high-performance, drop-in alternative to a widely used material that has traditionally been made from palm oil.”
Sustainability-driven and regulatory response
With increasing scrutiny of regulations regarding palm oil and deforestation, NALO is designed to meet new global compliance needs. “We have always been focusing on the benefits of deforestation, palm-free and lower carbon footprint, which will allow businesses to meet their global compliance needs and meet future sources of ingredients,” Falkaya said.
She added that the appeal of the ingredients goes beyond regulatory checkboxes and also addresses the issue of supply chain disruption. This added, “We have found that the solutions we propose through NALO are more of a must-have than respected.”
US manufacturing investments to enhance supply chain resilience
The company plans to manufacture NALO on an industrial scale in the US with a focus on the Midwest. The area is an ideal location for production, Falka said it is centrally located for efficient national distribution, as it has access to “a large amount of high quality, low-cost raw materials needed for production.”
According to a press release, “the contract with KAO secures off-takes for most of the planned capabilities of future origins.” “This investment supports KAO’s Medium-Term Plan 2027 and its broad sustainability goals.
NALO production uses plant-derived sugars through fermentation, allowing for a more sustainable process. This could potentially sustain future origins when “lower carbon emissions compared to traditional palm oil production… NALO can be made with renewable, locally-grown feed, which further reduces carbon emissions,” she said.
Accelerate market adoption through strategic industry support
Future origins are leveraging partnerships with major global brands to speed up adoption. “Each partner has its own brand and market impact, which also helps to drive demand for more sustainable, non-deforestation materials,” Falkaya said.
Importantly, NALO is designed as a drop-in component to minimize disruption to existing product development pipelines. “Production of drop-in alternatives using Geno Technology will prevent companies using the product from having to modify existing processes,” she shared.
Looking ahead, scaling bio-based ingredients over the long term
Currently, demonstration-scale fermentation is underway, and several tons of NALO are expected to be able to sample by the second quarter of 2025.
She believes the momentum will continue, saying, “We are already developing a very consistent turn of chemical varieties. I think bio-based solutions like NALO will be integrated into more products in the future to stay here.”
