Solae's commitment to
technology and innovation has resulted in numerous
new soy product concepts with more than 100 patents and 340 patents pending — more than any other soy ingredient provider. Solae was the first to introduce many technologies that allowed food companies to use soy protein in their applications. A few of the groundbreaking milestones in Solae's history include:
- First to introduce soy protein isolate for infant formula and medical nutritional applications
- First to introduce soy fiber for nutritional beverages and bar applications
- First to introduce soy protein nuggets, enabling development of the slab form nutritional bar segment
- First to understand complex ingredient interactions in extruded products, leading to SUPRO® Max technology that simulates muscle fiber texture in meat and meat-alternative products
Solae's commitment to environmental stewardship is a
core value that has allowed us to continually improve key manufacturing processes to reduce our impacts on the environment. We systematically track our environmental progress across all manufacturing sites and replicate successful improvements wherever possible. For example:
- In 2009, Solae's corporate headquarters in St. Louis was given a LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building certification for being one of the world's greenest, most energy-efficient and high-performing buildings.
- Since 2005, Solae has reduced total energy use by more than 10 percent, including the addition of a new manufacturing plant.
- Since 2005, Solae has decreased its greenhouse gas emissions by 7.6 percent.
- Meanwhile, Solae has doubled its use of renewable energy in just three years from 3.5 percent to 7.0 percent of our total energy consumption.
As we continually seek to improve our
environmental profile, Solae also supports the protection of natural resources, such as the Amazonian rainforests. To do so, Solae requires contractual agreements prohibiting raw material vendors from purchasing soy grown on land in the Amazon biome.