Sloot will begin his tenure as VP of commercial development in September 2022
Calysta, producer of FeedKind protein, has announced that Herman Sloot will join its team as VP for commercial development. Sloot comes to the company having spent the last eight years with collagen protein giant Gelita, where he was most recently the Global VP of fats, proteins and minerals. Based in Germany, Sloot’s primary focus will be on the European market, where Calysta’s proteins are approved for use in pet food applications.
He said: “I am thrilled with the challenge, I want to do something that makes a real difference – and Calysta truly is a game changer. It has a technology that addresses one of the biggest challenges in food production; how do we feed the world? It’s been such a big question for the industry for years.
“We can’t all become vegetarian – there’s not enough land. We can’t keep flattening rainforests for soy. We can’t all just eat meat. We need additional options. Calysta’s technology is part of the answer to that and it’s enormously exciting to be a part of that story.”
Calysta is the world’s largest alternative protein company and the first of its kind to build an industrial-scale production facility. The company is developing a family of natural-sustainable and traceable feed ingredients for the aquaculture sector, with plans to expand into the pet and human food industry. Calysta produces its FeedKind protein by fermenting low-cost, land-free carbon sources with a naturally occurring bacteria. Its fermentation technology produces protein without using any arable land, very little water and no animal or plant matter.
Calysta is currently putting the finishing touches to the Calysseo JV it is building in China with 50/50 partner Adisseo. Coming online at the end of the year, the first phase will produce 20,000 tonnes of protein per year.
Welcoming Sloot to Calysta, President, CEO and co-founder, Dr Alan Shaw, said: “Herman is a really important addition to Calysta’s global team. With Calysseo, we are addressing at scale the opportunity in aquaculture, but our technology can address multiple needs in the food supply chain. Herman’s recruitment is part of our strategy to develop our proposition firstly in the pet food market, then also in human food products.
“Our technology means we can produce a sustainable protein with no impact on biodiversity. Importantly, it is also non-GMO and unaffected by many of the issues experienced by other proteins in the food space, such as seasonal production challenges, or impurities in the final product.
“Herman will help us explore how these unique attributes can benefit these markets and we’re delighted to welcome him to Calysta.”
Herman Sloot, who also worked with Dupont Nutrition and Health (formerly Danisco) for 10 years, officially takes up his new position on 1 September.
