Investee Company Update: Clean Food Group

Agronomics, a leading listed company focused on the field of cellular agriculture, is pleased to announce that its portfolio company, Clean Food Group Ltd ("Clean Food Group"), has reached a partnership agreement with Roberts Bakery Ltd ("Roberts Bakery"), one of the UK's leading bakery brands.

The partnership will enable Clean Food Group to use Roberts Bakery's surplus bread as a feedstock for its proprietary non-GMO yeast strain in the production of its precision fermentation palm oil. Waste bread is a significant concern to producers and retailers, with studies finding that nearly one million tonnes of bread are lost from the supply chain each year. This innovative process will convert the discarded bread into valuable oils and fats, showcasing the potential of circular economy principles within the food industry. Overall, it marks a significant step forward as both companies aim to address the pressing issue of food waste.

The partnership will begin with an initial trial phase and, going forward, the ambition is to create a circular ecosystem, with Roberts Bakery providing Clean Food Group with its bread waste, to produce oils that can be used as an ingredient in bread and biscuits, when combined with glucose syrup.

To date, Agronomics has invested a total of £900,500 into Clean Food Group which, subject to audit, is carried at £6.27 million, including an unrealised gain on cost of £5.37 million. This position accounts for approximately 4% of the last published Net Asset Value of Agronomics (30/09/23), including post-balance sheet date adjustments. Agronomics has an equity ownership of 30.59% on a fully diluted basis in Clean Food Group.

Jim Mellon, Executive Director of Agronomics and Director of Clean Food Group, commented: -:

"This partnership marks a significant milestone in the ongoing transition towards developing sustainable food production systems. A partnership between a household UK brand like Roberts Bakery and Clean Food Group shows the steps being taken to help address both the harmful problem of food waste and the unsustainable production of fats and oils."

Professor Chris Chuck, Co-founder at Clean Food Group, added: -

"We're seeing some great results from our early trials, irrespective of what the bread is, our yeast can use not just the whole carbohydrate fraction but the protein and microelements present as well. This all-in-one feed, gives us a real advantage over using more complex media, in both performance and sustainability."

The full announcement can be found here: Clean Food Group and Roberts Bakery Partner to Pioneer Bread Waste Reduction in the Baking Industry (prnewswire.co.uk)

About Clean Food Group:

Clean Food Group is a UK-based food-tech business delivering sustainable oils and fats solutions to the world's food and cosmetics manufacturers, with the mission to deliver scalable, healthier, competitively priced ingredients that have a positive impact on the economic, environmental, and social health of the planet. Clean Food Group is founded by a team with key experience in growing bio-tech, food industry and retail businesses supported by established venture capital and family office investors with a track record supporting fast-growth start-up companies in highly regulated industries. Clean Food Group's proprietary technology platform has been developed as a result of 8 years of pioneering research by Professor Chris Chuck, technical lead at Clean Food Group, and the University of Bath.