DuPont, a world leader in market-driven innovation and science, and Tereos, a global player in the primary processing of sugar beet, sugarcane and cereals, celebrate the culmination of a joint investment by announcing the start-up of the first facility in the world to produce betaine from vinasse.

In 2011, DuPont acquired Danisco, forming two new business units Nutrition and Health and Industrial Biosciences, which incorporates Danisco Animal Nutrition. Initiated in 2010, prior to the acquisition, this pioneering investment will allow DuPont to better satisfy market demand for natural betaine.

Natural betaine benefits

Natural betaine is used in a large variety of different applications across many markets, in particular as a technical additive in animal feed. For Danisco Animal Nutrition the natural betaine product Betafin® is a key element supporting the business' strategy of providing healthy nutrition solutions to the animal feed industry. The osmolytic and hydration functionality of Betafin® provides exceptional value to producers by improving livestock intestinal health and it reduces the negative impact of heat stress and disease challenges that can disrupt the animals' water balance.

Increasing availability

Since the early 1990s, when Danisco's pioneering research into the applications of natural betaine in animal nutrition clearly demonstrated superior value compared to synthetic analogs, supply has been outweighed by market demand. This opening in Origny will bring DuPont closer to meeting market demand by increasing substantially the availability of natural betaine from 2013.