RCS - Agronomics Limited - Clean Food Group Update

AgronomicsAnnouncement

Yesterday 08:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
https://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20250912:nRSL9959Ya&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 9959Y  Agronomics Limited  12 September 2025

12 September 2025

Agronomics (https://agronomics.im/) Limited

("Agronomics" or the "Company")

Clean Food Group's precision fermented CLEAN Oil™ 25 receives regulatory
approval for cosmetics in the United Kingdom, Europe, and the United States

Agronomics (LSE: ANIC), a leading company in the field of clean food, is
pleased to announce that its portfolio company, Clean Food Group Limited
("CFG"), has received approval for its CLEAN Oil™ 25 product to be used as a
cosmetic ingredient in the United Kingdom, Europe, and the United States. This
approval marks a significant milestone in the commercialization of CFG's
proprietary CLEAN OilCell™ technology platform, unlocking access to the
high-value global personal care and cosmetics sector, which is projected by
Modor Intelligence to grow to more than US$ 776.35 billion by 2030.

CLEAN Oil™ 25, developed in collaboration with THG LABS and Croda
International plc, offers a sustainable alternative to conventional oil and
fat ingredients. With this clearance, Clean Food Group and THG LABS will
continue working together to scale the impact of CLEAN Oil™ 25 and help
shape the future of sustainable beauty.

Jim Mellon, Executive Chair of Agronomics, commented:

"Palm oil is used in around 70% of cosmetic products, and it remains one of
the leading drivers of tropical deforestation. For decades, the beauty
industry has faced a difficult challenge, aware of the damage caused by palm
oil, but unable to replace it due to its unique properties. Today, that
changes. With this new regulatory approval, Clean Food Group is demonstrating
the huge potential of biotech innovation and its ability to develop and scale
a sustainable alternative that not only reduces environmental impact but also
shortens and secures supply chains. This is a major step forward for the
industry and the planet, and a clear signal of how clean food technologies can
lead the way to a better future."

To date, Agronomics has invested a total of £1.6 million in CFG which,
subject to audit, is currently carried at £6.9 million. This position
represents c.4.8% of Agronomics' last stated Net Asset Value as at 30 of June
2025.

The full announcement is set out below without any material changes:

 

London, September 2025: Clean Food Group's CLEAN Oil™ 25 secures cosmetics
approval unlocking new pathways for sustainable beauty. Milestone championed
as an example of UK collaborative innovation in action at the BBIA UK
BioFinance Summit.

 

Clean Food Group, a leading UK food tech business, manufacturing sustainable
oils and fats through fermentation, announces that it has received approval
for its CLEAN Oil™ 25 product to be used as a cosmetic ingredient in the
United Kingdom, Europe, and the United States.

 

CLEAN Oil™ 25 offers a sustainable alternative to traditional oil and fat
ingredients and was developed in collaboration with leading full-service
beauty manufacturer THG LABS, the R&D and manufacturing arm of THG Beauty
as well as Croda, a specialty chemical company.

 

The partnership combines Clean Food Group's biotechnology expertise with THG
LABS' 30+ years of product innovation and manufacturing insight, alongside
Croda's ability to manufacture for the global personal care market, ensuring
CLEAN Oil™ 25 is ready for commercial application in beauty.

 

The approval was unveiled at the BBIA UK BioFinance Summit 2025 event
yesterday in London, attended by senior Government ministers including Lord
Vallance, Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation. Speaking on
a panel with THG LABS and Croda, Professor Chris Chuck, Technical Lead of CFG
said:

"The announcement of our cosmetics approval is a brilliant example of the
pioneering biotech innovation being driven in the UK today, and the importance
of collaborative innovation and partnerships across supply chains and
manufacturing to bridge biotech innovation to commercial scale and success."

 

The approval marks a major milestone in the commercialisation of CFG's
proprietary CLEAN OilCell™ technology platform, unlocking access to the
high-value global personal care and cosmetics sector, projected to grow to
more than US$445.98 billion by 2030, ahead of the Group's planned entry into
the food market.

 

With approval now secured, the breakthrough ingredient is positioned to
accelerate the development of high-performance, sustainable products across
skincare, haircare, and wider personal care categories and represents a
significant step in bringing biotech-led innovation into the global cosmetics
industry.

 

Alex Neves, CEO of CFG, said:

"This is a pivotal step forward in our mission to provide sustainable
solutions for global supply chains. In terms of the beauty industry and
product development, it gives brands the confidence to adopt CLEAN Oil™ 25
in their formulations, supporting efficacy and responsibility without
compromise. Our collaboration with industry leaders like THG LABS and Croda
has been instrumental, and we are thrilled that our CLEAN Oil™ 25 is now
ready for market-ready formulations that will meet the growing consumer demand
for sustainable cosmetics products."

 

Kristal Goodman, Head of Product Innovation at THG LABS, added:

"Innovation has the greatest impact when it moves beyond the lab and onto the
shelf. The beauty brands we partner with are excited by what is possible, but
they also want what is practical. THG LABS formulation expertise has helped
take Clean Food Group's brilliant biotech breakthrough and prove it is
commercially viable with real-world product development and scalable
manufacturing for the beauty and personal care industry - a true example of
'Innovation with Purpose'. Backed by three decades of industry experience, our
expertise gives brands the confidence to trust us from concept to shelf."

 

Damian Kelly, Vice President, Innovation & Technology Development at
Croda, commented:

"Croda has a successful and proud history of supporting innovation partners
and customers to develop and commercialise new technology. We have offered
support to Clean Food Group since their inception and we are proud of their
progress and look forward to continued collaboration to maximise the value of
their new technology. Croda's know-how, as a global specialty chemical
company, in scaling and manufacturing new sustainable technology out of the
lab has been of great value to Clean Food Group. This collaboration is a great
example of UK industry, big and small, working together to solve global market
challenges."

 

The approval process was supported by Delphic HSE, whose regulatory and safety
expertise ensured that CLEAN Oil™ 25 meets the rigorous compliance standards
required for cosmetic applications. With this clearance, Clean Food Group and
THG LABS will continue working together to scale the impact of CLEAN Oil™ 25
and help shape the future of sustainable beauty.

 

- ENDS -

 

About Clean Food Group

CFG is a leading UK food tech manufacturer of sustainable oils and fats for
the global food, cosmetic and pet food industries. Through its proprietary
CLEAN OilCell™ technology platform, CFG delivers functional oils (CLEAN
Oil™) and fats (CLEAN Fat™) at price parity to agriculture alternatives,
whilst meeting the growing need for local and sustainable production.

 

Founded in 2022 after eight years of pioneering research, CFG manufactures its
oils and fats from food waste, leveraging scalable yeast strains and
fermentation technology to deliver sustainable alternatives to traditional oil
and fat ingredients. With the manufacturing process now validated at scale,
CFG has strategic and industrial collaborations in place with leading global
FMCG and ingredients manufacturers and has a strong demand pipeline for its
products.

 

CFG has a vastly experienced management team with a successful track record in
scaling businesses in high growth regulated industries. For more information
on CFG, please visit Clean Food Group (https://cleanfood.group/) .

About Agronomics

Agronomics is a leading London-listed company focusing on investment
opportunities within the field of clean food. The Company has established a
portfolio of over 20 companies in this rapidly advancing sector. It seeks to
invest in companies owning technologies with defensible intellectual property
that offer new ways of producing food and materials with a focus on products
historically derived from animals.

These technologies are driving a major disruption in agriculture, offering
solutions to improve sustainability, as well as addressing human health,
animal welfare and environmental damage. This disruption will decouple supply
chains from the environment and animals and improve food security for the
world's expanding population. A full list of Agronomics' portfolio companies
is available at (https://agronomics.im/) https://agronomics.im/
(https://agronomics.im/) .

For further information, please contact:

 Agronomics Limited   Beaumont        Canaccord Genuity  Cavendish Capital  Peterhouse           33Seconds Limited

                      Cornish         Limited            Markets            Capital Limited

                      Limited                            Limited
 The Company          Nomad           Joint Broker       Joint Broker       Joint Broker         Public Relations
 Jim Mellon           Roland Cornish  Andrew Potts       Giles Balleny      Lucy Williams        Jack Ferris

 Denham Eke           James Biddle    Harry Pardoe       Michael Johnson    Charles Goodfellow   Calum Warren-Piper
 +44 (0) 1624 639396  +44 (0) 207     +44 (0) 207        +44 (0) 207        +44 (0) 207          agronomics@33seconds.co

 info@agronomics.im   628 3396        523 8000           397 8900           469 0936

About Reach announcements

 

This is a Reach announcement. Reach is an investor communication service aimed
at assisting listed and unlisted (including AIM quoted) companies to
distribute media only / non-regulatory news releases into the public domain.
Information required to be notified under the AIM Rules for Companies, Market
Abuse Regulation or other regulation would be disseminated as an RNS
regulatory announcement and not on Reach.

 

This information is provided by Reach, the non-regulatory press release distribution service of RNS, part of the London Stock Exchange. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  NRAUASRRVAUKAAR