Agronomics Limited, a leading listed company in cellular agriculture, has announced that its portfolio company, Bond Pet Foods, has reached a significant milestone in sustainable protein production. Bond has delivered two metric tons of animal protein to Hill's Pet Nutrition Inc, a division of the Colgate-Palmolive Company, marking a major step towards commercializing its fermentation technology for pet food applications. This delivery will allow Hill's to formulate test products for regulatory review and evaluation, with the data being used for the ingredient's eventual review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Center for Veterinary Medicine.
The commercial agreement between Bond and Hill's reinforces their partnership, which began with a joint venture in 2021 to develop a more sustainable source of animal protein for the dietary needs of dogs and cats. This is significant as pets alone account for 30% of the carbon dioxide emissions associated with domestic meat consumption. Agronomics holds 531,692 Series A Preferred Shares, representing an equity ownership of 1.85% in Bond.
Rich Kelleman, Founder and CEO of Bond Pet Foods, expressed that the delivery is a major milestone in the collaboration with Hill's, demonstrating the opportunity they collectively see in Bond's ingredients for the pet industry's food future. Jim Mellon, Co-Founder and Executive Chair of Agronomics, highlighted the rapid progress being made and the anticipation for the results of the prototype and market evaluation.
Agronomics is a leading listed alternative proteins company with a focus on cellular agriculture, including precision fermentation and cultivated meat. The company has established a portfolio of over 20 companies in this rapidly advancing sector, seeking to secure minority stakes in companies owning technologies with defensible intellectual property that offer new ways of producing food and materials historically derived from animals. Bond Pet Foods, a Boulder, Colorado-based company, uses biotechnology to create meat proteins that are nutritionally comparable to their conventional counterparts but without the associated harmful material.
This achievement represents a significant step forward in the development of sustainable protein sources for the pet food industry, aligning with Agronomics' focus on driving disruption in agriculture to improve sustainability, address human health, animal welfare, and environmental damage.