"Witnessing the commitment of the government, biofuels and bio-agriculture will be our focus areas"

Denmark-based biotechnology firms Novozymes and Chr. Hansen are merging as a result of the 12.3 billion deal announced a few months back. Although there have been several mega-mergers in the ingredients space in recent years, this latest deal between Novozymes and Chr. Hansen is set to have a huge impact, as it appears to be the largest merger in Danish history. While both companies’ main business is producing enzymes, Chr. Hansen focuses more on enzymes and microbials for the food sector, while Novozymes’ largest business areas include enzymes for household products, food and beverages and biofuels. Following up on this latest development and the company’s future plans, AgroSpectrum spoke to Krishna Mohan Puwvada, Regional President, Middle East, India and Africa MEIA), Novozymes in detail.

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What have been the high points of your business in India during FY 202223? What more is in store for the food and agriculture sector? 

We have completed 40 years in India, so right now we are celebrating this milestone. We started as Novo Nordisk Enzymes, now we are Novozymes. The market has accepted our technologies well and for us, India is a strategic asset. India is a very big player in the whole emerging market as such, we have been growing double digits for the last 15-18 years in India. Sustainability has been a guiding force for our company, and it is expressed in multiple ways. When we try to look into the future and what is ahead of us, we feel that there is a lot to do in food processing, reduction of food waste etc as society and countries become richer, there will be an increased demand for better nutrition, more protein on the table. We are seeing a big food transformation happening in the country as the country expands its GDP. When we began our operations in 1983, the country’s per capita income was $270 and now we are at $2500. That has driven a lot of change in the food habits and as we now have an ambitious target of a $5 trillion economy, a lot of new things will have to come.

Today, globally, most of the protein consumption sources are animal-based and as the population and affordability increase, we also need to have sustainable practices. Towards this, we are talking about alternate proteins, and plant-based meats, among others. As a result, we are investing in co-creating centres for plantbased meat across the world. We are starting with Denmark, the US and China. We have also made an investment of 2 billion DKK in the US in a facility to produce alternate proteins.