Cargill, Incorporated and Calysta, Inc., along with several third-party institutions, plan to invest in the creation of the world’s largest gas fermentation facility in Memphis, Tenn. to produce Calysta’s FeedKind® protein, a family of sustainable, traceable nutritional ingredients for fish, livestock and pets.

The new venture plans to build and operate this facility on Cargill’s 69-acre property on President’s Island, where Cargill currently produces corn oil and stores and distributes sweetener products. The facility is expected to come online in late 2018, producing up to 20,000 metric tons per year of FeedKind®protein initially and expanding up to 200,000 metric tons per year when operating at full capacity.

Upon completion of the plant, the new venture expects to hire 75 permanent employees and expand to 160 people when the plant is at full ramp-up.

“Cargill has been a part of the Memphis community for 40 years. With the strong support of the state of Tennessee, Shelby County and City of Memphis, we are pleased that the venture chose to locate the facility in Memphis,” said Cargill’s Global Vice President of Bioindustrial, Brian Silvey. “The venture’s building of a state-of-the-art fermentation facility on the existing Cargill Memphis site reaffirms our commitment to the community and state and our pledge to strategically invest in aquaculture as an ever increasingly important source of protein.”

“Partnering with Cargill, a leader in fermentation and protein production, and others to invest in the establishment of the venture as the first U.S. manufacturing plant to commercially produce FeedKind® protein, significantly accelerates FeedKind® protein’s launch in the aquaculture industry at commercial scale. This venture is an important first step to deploying this technology globally,” said Calysta President and Chief Executive Officer, Alan Shaw, Ph.D.

Learn more about Calysta and Cargill