DuPont's soy supplements JV with Bunge to be primary driver behind growth of company's food ingredients business, company says

Andrew Rogers

LOS ANGELES , March 15, 2012 (Industry Intelligence) – E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, more commonly known as DuPont, predicted that soy supplements would be the primary driver behind the growth of its food ingredients business, Reuters reported March 13.

At the Reuters Food and Agriculture Summit, DuPont Executive Vice President James Borel said that soybean supplements would most likely show the strongest growth in 2012, outstripping the company’s probiotics—digestion-aiding bacteria—sales.

Borel indicated that the increase in soybean supplements could largely be attributed to people’s interest in the health benefits of soy protein, which has led food companies to try to insert protein into their products.

Earlier this year, DuPont Chief Executive Ellen Kullman said that the company’s bottom line, which is threatened by a reduction in orders from businesses that make electronics and solar panels, would be bolstered by sales of the company’s food products including soy.

DuPont’s soy supplements are sold via a joint venture with Bunge Ltd., Solae LLC.

In addition to food supplements, DuPont sells genetically modified (GM) seeds, many of which have been engineered to use less water, or to be resistant to particular herbicides and insecticides.

Over the past decade, weed resistance to herbicides has increased.

DuPont expects that its GM products will help resolve the ongoing issue of the proliferation of pesticide-tolerant weeds.

The primary source of this article is Reuters, London, England, on March 13, 2012.

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