Growers are being asked to rely more on biological products, from biocontrol to biostimulants and biofertilisers, as chemical options narrow. But a promising microbe is only useful if someone can produce it reliably, in large volumes, at a price growers will pay.
Belgian company Zymofix is building a factory to do exactly that. It has chosen Deinze, near Ghent, for its first full-scale manufacturing plant, a €6 million investment that will produce around 300 tonnes of microbial product a year from late 2027. Zymofix says that’s enough to treat around 1 million hectares.
If the first production line is commissioned successfully, a further €25 million expansion planned for 2028 would raise capacity to 2,000 tonnes a year, enough for around 10 million hectares.
Why making microbes is hard
Most microbial products are made by liquid fermentation, growing microorganisms in tanks of liquid. But not every useful microbe grows well that way, which means some promising strains never reach the market.
Zymofix’s platform, Zyft, uses solid-state fermentation instead, growing living microorganisms on solid materials in a controlled way. The technique has long been difficult to scale up, and that’s the problem Zymofix has spent four years working on. More than 170 strains of bacteria, fungi and yeasts have been tested on the platform.
Co-founder and chief executive Emile Redant said: “Finding a promising microorganism is only part of the challenge. The harder part is manufacturing it consistently, efficiently and at the volumes the market requires.”
Making products for others
Zymofix doesn’t sell under its own brand. It works as a manufacturing partner for more than 15 customers, most of them multinational companies that supply farmers and growers with crop inputs. It helps them develop, ferment, formulate and scale up their own biostimulant, biofertiliser and biocontrol products.
Demand from those customers now exceeds what Zymofix can produce at its pilot site, which is why it’s moving to industrial production. The investment was backed by a Series A round led by First Imagine!, with existing investors VP Capital, HTGF and The Nest Family Office.
Boris Dorin, partner at First Imagine!, said manufacturing is “exactly where Europe is thinnest” when it comes to microbial products.
The company, founded in 2022, employs around 35 people and expects to reach about 60 by the end of 2027.
What it means for growers
The pressure on growers to switch is real. Last year, Dutch lettuce growers lost two key insecticides used against aphids, Batavia and Movento, leaving them looking for alternatives just as aphid pressure rose. Read more here: our report on this year’s UK lettuce aphid outbreak
Investment in biologicals is growing across the supply chain. This month, Belgian biocontrol group BioFirst took full ownership of Brazilian biologicals company Biotrop.
For growers, more manufacturing capacity should eventually mean a wider range of biological products, and more reliable supply of them. Because Zymofix makes products for other brands, growers won’t see its name on the label. But factories like Deinze will help decide how many biological options reach the field, and how quickly.
About Zymofix
Zymofix is an industrial biotechnology company specializing in scalable, cost-efficient manufacturing of beneficial microorganisms using biomass residues. Supported in its pre-seed stage by biotope by VIB, Zymofix later closed seed funding led by HTGF, with participation from VP Capital and The Nest Family Office. The company partners with product developers to bring field-ready microbial solutions to market across agriculture, bioremediation, and other sectors.
Learn more at: https://zymofix.com
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