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Origin by Ocean partners with the CABB Group for a first-of-a-kind biorefinery to commercialize ingredients from invasive brown algae

The transition away from fossil-based ingredients has put industries like cosmetics, food, and pharmaceuticals in urgent need of sustainable, functional alternatives on a large scale. With the new partnership, Origin by Ocean aims to build a biorefinery in Finland, opening the pathway to establish multiple facilities globally where algae is a major problem for the environment and people. The biorefinery will be the first in the world to extract valuable chemicals from sargassum.

Finnish green chemicals company Origin by Ocean and the CABB Group, a leading contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) specializing in fine chemicals, have entered into a strategic partnership to establish a first-of-a-kind (FOAK) algae biorefinery at CABB's production site in Kokkola, Finland. The facility will use Origin by Ocean’s patented biorefinery technology and is set to begin operating in 2028, processing sargassum, an invasive brown seaweed, into high-value ingredients, such as alginate, fucoidan, and biomass residue. Origin by Ocean will construct the biorefinery and CABB will operate it under a Manufacturing as Service (MaaS) arrangement.

Currently, nearly all everyday consumer products, such as plastic items, cosmetics, detergents, and soaps, contain fossil-based chemicals. Simultaneously, mounting plastic waste, tightening regulations, and consumer demand have put pressure on brands to find alternative, safe options for traditional ingredients.

The answer may lie in our oceans. Fueled by agricultural nutrient runoffs and rising ocean temperatures, harmful algal blooms have impacted coastal communities in the Caribbean and West Africa. Producing up to 40 million tons of biomass annually, these blooms have rendered beaches unusable and disrupted local economies, especially fishing, as marine ecosystems are thrown off balance. According to the Government of Jamaica, cleaning up sargassum from Caribbean beaches costs an estimated $120 million annually. However, algal blooms are starting to affect marine communities all around the world, not just in the Caribbean.

Origin by Ocean intends to turn the environmental disaster into a solution for the chemical industry. “Our fossil-based world is broken. For change to be possible at a large scale, we need to reimagine the value chains of the products that we use every day in our lives. As we partner with CABB and prepare for the construction of the first-of-a-kind biorefinery, we are already planning for additional biorefineries in the Caribbean, closer to the sargassum blooms. The advantage of our technology is that we can establish facilities anywhere around the world. Now, we are ready to scale and actively looking for partners to accelerate the widespread industrial adoption of new ingredients derived from brown algae,“ says Mari Granström, Chief Executive Activist and Founder of Origin by Ocean.

Origin by Ocean is currently looking for strategic investors and partners for the biorefinery, set to be built on CABB production site in Finland’s Kokkola Industrial Park (KIP), Northern Europe’s largest ecosystem of inorganic chemical industry. The market that Origin by Ocean has identified can benefit immediately from algae-based ingredients is worth 220 billion dollars. CABB is the ideal partner with its existing industrial infrastructure and industry-leading expertise in the scale-up and production of customized and complex molecules.

“CABB is excited to partner with Origin by Ocean and the opportunity to advance our sustainability agenda as well as our growth strategy in Life Science," says Ari Venninen, Managing Director of CABB Oy in Finland.

To date, Origin by Ocean is working with multinational consumer goods companies, and Finnish fashion and lifestyle companies, such as Marimekko.

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