CLEAN Palm: Scale-up and Genetic Tools for Sustainable UK Palm Oil Production

**Why we use Palm oil in the UK**

Palm oil is the most widely used of all oil crops, with over 69 million tonnes produced annually. The market for palm oil is projected to continue expanding at a rate of approximately 2% per year. The main application for palm oil, accounting for 70% of total global use, is as a cooking oil and food ingredient. Palm oil is neutral-tasting and has a smooth texture, which can give food products an appealing mouth-feel. The high stability of palm oil means it can contributes extending the shelf life for processed foods.

**The drawbacks of UK food companies sourcing Palm oil from trees grown as cash crops**

Palm oil is considered unsustainable for the UK and many other countries for several reasons. The production of palm oil is associated with significant deforestation, particularly in Southeast Asia, which contributes to habitat destruction, loss of biodiversity, and climate change. The growth of palm oil plantations is expected to add over 558 million metric tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere in 2020, surpassing the total emissions from Canada's fossil fuels.

The cultivation of palm oil often involves the use of harmful pesticides and fertilizers, which can pollute waterways and harm local communities. Finally, the transportation of palm oil from producing countries to the UK requires significant amounts of energy and contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. From a sustainability standpoint, this means that the production and consumption of palm oil can have significant negative impacts on both the environment and society, making it an unsustainable option for the UK and other countries seeking to reduce their environmental footprint and promote sustainable practices.

**A solution from Clean Food Group**

With significant consumer interest in healthy and sustainable alternatives to saturated fats from ingredients such as Palm Oil, the UK-based foodtech SME, Clean Food Group Ltd are commercialising an alternative technology for Palm oil production using precision fermentation of microorganisms. The CLEAN Palm project brings together a world-leading team of foodtech entrepreneurs, chemical engineers, synthetic biologists and experts in microbial evolution. The 18-month project will enable UK-based production of Palm oil at industrial scale, using microbes and processes that are proprietary to the Clean Food Group. Funding the CLEAN Palm project will give the UK a competitive edge over companies overseas, such as C16 Biosciences in the US, in the emerging microbial oil space.