Holiferm Limited and Sasol Chemicals, a business unit of Sasol Ltd. announced a collaboration to produce and market rhamnolipids and mannosylerythritol lipids (MELs). This collaboration expands the partnership announced in March 2022 between the two companies to develop and commercialise another biosurfactant product, sophorolipids. The partnership will use Holiferm's proprietary technology to develop the fermentation-derived biosurfactants.

Sasol and Holiferm will develop and commercialise formulations and applications for the new molecules. Biosurfactants use natural materials to produce surfactants, which are key ingredients in detergents, cleaning products and personal care products. Sophorolipids, rhamnolipids and MELs are all glycolipids made through fermentation, using yeast or bacteria to convert vegetable oils and/or sugars into final product.

The Holiferm process offers an extensive reduction in carbon footprint compared with conventional surfactants. Since March 2022, Sasol and Holiferm have collaborated on research and development into accelerating innovation to help meet the growing demand for sustainable solutions in primary surfactants. This has now been expanded to include developing processes to manufacture rhamnolipids and MELs.

The companies' joint aspiration is to prepare for testing at pilot plant scale, before they begin a full manufacturing process at Holiferm's Wallasey plant.