Australian food-tech company Cauldron Ferm is being supported by the Queensland government to develop a ‘first-of-its-kind’ precision fermentation contract manufacturing facility in the Australian state.

The ‘Cauldron Bio-fab’ will be located in Mackay, Queensland, providing the ‘first and largest’ end-to-end contract manufacturer for precision-fermented products in the Asia-Pacific region. It will deploy Cauldron’s ‘hyper-fermentation’ technology, a continuous fermentation process designed to significantly reduce costs.

The site will have the capacity to supply a range of sectors, with projected annual production output of more than 1,000 tonnes of bioproducts. It will produce key inputs for the food and nutrition sector alongside materials, beauty, personal care, chemicals and biofuels.

As the company expands production from its current 25,000-litre demo facility in New South Wales, the Mackay Bio-fab is the first planned industrial facility for the start-up. In future, it plans to develop a global network of industrial facilities in multiple regions.

Queensland government will support the project through its Industry Partnership Programme. It aligns with the government's strategy to develop industries that will be in demand as the world decarbonises.

Michele Stansfield, co-founder and CEO of Cauldron, said: “We are honoured to be receiving support from the Queensland Government to develop our first industrial-scale operations in Mackay”.

“This funding enables us to scale our innovative technology as a major milestone in our journey to redefine the scope of biomanufacturing. We look forward to developing the critical infrastructure to produce essential bioproducts more efficiently and sustainably to meet growing demand.”

Cauldron recently appointed a new chief technology officer and closed a Series A funding round of over $6.25 million.

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