US-based Planet Green Holdings Corp., a company with diversified interests in consumer products and online advertising, has recently entered into new business to source, market and distribute lactoferrin, a critical glycoprotein used in a wide range of health products, including the company’s chewable immune tablets. Lactoferrin is also widely used in infant formulas, sports nutrition, and a wide range of dietary and immune supplements.
Recognising the importance of this new lucrative segment, the Company intends to expand its executive team to include a Chief Scientist. This newly added role will play a key role in sourcing and prioritizing strategic scientific investments, joint ventures and new product launches with a goal to expand and enhance the Company’s product portfolio and revenue generating capabilities.
Commercially-produced lactoferrin is currently produced using 2 main methods as follows:
(1) Extraction from Bovine Milk (most popular)
Whey or skim milk from traditional dairy processing is highly purified using membrane filtration and ion-exchange chromatography to isolate bovine lactoferrin. As milk contains relatively little lactoferrin, very large volumes of milk are required, making production expensive and supply constrained.
(2) Precision fermentation (emerging technology)
Using genetically engineered microorganisms (such as yeast or fungi) to produce recombinant lactoferrin in fermentation tanks. This approach also offers greater scalability, consistency, and potentially lower costs, although commercial adoption is still in its early stages.
Planet Green is focused on delivering world class products that require the highest quality lactoferrin for the Chinese market, which is currently the largest market for lactoferrin estimated at 22% of the US$300 million market. The China market is forecast to grow rapidly at 9% per annum and is expected to exceed US$100 million by 2030, while the global lactoferrin market will reach US$500 million.Planet Green CEO Zhou Bin said, “Lactoferrin is a crucial glycoprotein that is part of your body’s immune response and is the hero ingredient in our chewable immune tablets. With our rapidly growing market share and consumer adoption, gaining access to this critical ingredient should only enhance our market position going forward.”
Lactoferrin is dubbed as ‘Pink Gold’ due to its extremely high commercial value apart from being a highly sought after bioactive ingredient. Planet Green claimed that it uses pure lactoferrin which is unavailable in China and as such, expects to command a premium for its products. Zhou concluded, “We see China as a rapidly growing market with compelling business opportunity for many years to come.”
Planet Green Holdings Corp is headquartered in New York but with business operations conducted through its subsidiaries in mainland China and Canada.
