#Raw Materials

2024-10-24

AMSilk announces successful partnership negotiation with Ajinomoto for industrial fermentation

AMSilk GmbH (“AMSilk/the Company”), a frontrunner in advanced biomaterials made from spider silk-based proteins, today announces that the Company and Ajinomoto Foods Europe (AFE), a company with over 50 years of experience in industrial fermentation, and the affiliate of the globally established Ajinomoto group, have expressed mutual interest to step into a long-term partnership to biomanufacture silk proteins at Ajinomoto Foods Europe’s manufacturing facility in Nesle, France.

AMSilk is forming a strategic collaboration with Ajinomoto, leveraging Ajinomoto’s extensive industrial expertise in precision fermentation and its strategically located site in France. The facility, in the vicinity of AMSilk’s key customers in the premium textile and consumer goods industries, is backwardly integrated with local raw materials and renewable energy, aligning perfectly with AMSilk’s commitment to sustainable business practices.

This partnership marks a significant step for AMSilk as it rapidly progresses towards becoming a commercial supplier of spider silk-based proteins. By harnessing Ajinomotos’s global fabrication capabilities and state-of-the-art facilities, AMSilk is well-positioned to achieve its commercial milestones and further its mission of delivering high-performance biotech materials on a large scale.

Hiroshi Kaneko, President Ajinomoto Foods Europe: “We are thrilled to partner with AMSilk and are committed to accelerating the market development of their innovative products by supporting their large-scale biomanufacturing efforts. Together, we aspire to create a substantial economic and social impact while driving global innovation forward.”

Ulrich Scherbel, Chief Executive Officer at AMSilk comments: “As a global player with longstanding expertise, Ajinomoto is an ideal production partner for us. Their premier fermentation capabilities in France enable us to meet the demands of our European customers by providing nearshored, high-quality materials.”

AMSilk provides disruptive material solutions to enable the world’s leading brands to address their carbon footprint. Its protein formulations do not contain any substances of animal origin or fossil-based raw materials and leave no microplastics behind. At the end of their life, they are verifiably biodegradable or recyclable. Being biofabricated, these materials can be tailored at a molecular level to specific markets or product requirements.

AMSilk and Ajinomoto Foods Europe expand partnership to enable industrial-scale production of silk proteins

AMSilk GmbH (“AMSilk”), a global leader leader in biotech produced silk materials, today announced a significant expansion of its partnership with Ajinomoto Foods Europe (AFE), marking a key step in scaling the industrial production of its silk proteins. Building on the collaboration first established in 2023, the two companies have now entered into a long-term manufacturing and supply agreement, enabling the transition from industrial validation to dedicated, large-scale production.

Christian Wichert appointed Chief Executive Officer to lead next phase of growth

AMSilk GmbH (“AMSilk”), a global leader in advanced biomaterials made from silk proteins, today announces the appointment of Christian Wichert as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective 1 June. The appointment marks a pivotal moment in AMSilk’s journey, as the Company advances from development through scale-up to commercialization.

Cotton made in Africa partners receive top marks in independent verifications

Cotton made in Africa® (CmiA) and CmiA Organic are two internationally recognised standards that aim to promote sustainable development in the African cotton sector south of the Sahara. To ensure the standards’ credibility among brands, retailers, and consumers, independent verifiers evaluate compliance on the ground. The verification results for 2025, now published in the Aggregated Verification & Implementation Report, were very strong: The verifiers awarded consistently very good remarks regarding management, people, prosperity, and the environment.

Cotton ConneXions Insight to Impact brings supply chain leaders together around cotton innovation

Cotton Incorporated’s Cotton ConneXions Insight to Impact brought together more than 300 industry leaders from 140 companies across 10 countries, including more than 45 top global brands and sourcing organizations, underscoring strong global interest in cotton-rich product development, sourcing and supply chain collaboration.

Bremen Cotton Exchange: Fritz A. Grobien re-elected as President

The members of the Bremen Cotton Exchange have re-elected Fritz A. Grobien as President during the association’s 152nd General Assembly on June 18, 2026. The election confirms the organization’s commitment to maintaining its role as a leading international platform for the cotton and fiber industry amid a period of geopolitical and economic uncertainty.

Dedicated car seat model of SHIMA SEIKI’s P-CAM® R Cutting Machine unveiled

Leading Japanese textile solutions provider SHIMA SEIKI MFG., LTD. of Wakayama, Japan, showed a special version of its P-CAM® R multi-ply computerized cutting machine dedicated to the production of car seats for the first time, at a private exhibition held over two days on Thursday, July 2nd and Friday, July 3rd at the Kariya City Industrial Promotion Center in Aichi Prefecture.

ALADIN paves the way for circular and demand-driven textile production in Europe

Textile production can be organized sustainably by utilizing short supply chains and preventing overproduction. This can already be achieved today by intelligently connecting and efficiently utilizing existing infrastructure. At the same time, production becomes circular when innovative technologies and materials are used that enable high-quality recycling. The ALADIN research project, launched in May 2026 and co-funded with five million euros under the EU Horizon Europe program, is creating the conditions for this.

Katharina Obergruber appointed to the Management Board of Sandler AG

The Supervisory Board of Sandler AG has appointed Katharina Obergruber to the company’s Management Board. Effective September 1, 2026, the Board will consist of Philipp Ebbinghaus (CEO), Dr. Ulrich Hornfeck (currently CCO, future COO), and Katharina Obergruber (CCO). Katharina Obergruber, currently Chief Sales Officer Hygiene and member of the Management Team of Sandler AG, will assume responsibility for all sales activities as Chief Commercial Officer. She will assume this role from Dr. Ulrich Hornfeck, who will focus primarily on production and supply chain topics.

Ence and ShareTex begin initial testing of the ATENEA innovation project to promote textile recycling in Spain

Ence and ShareTex are making progress on the Atenea R&D project, which aims to develop a complete value chain for textile recycling in Spain. Specifically, the goal of the ATENEA project—which is funded by the Center for Technological Development and Innovation (CDTI)—is to connect all the necessary stages for the recovery of textile waste, from collection and management, through recycling and transformation into new raw materials, to their incorporation into new textile products.