Product History Aspartame * White powder * Made of L- aspartic acid, L-phenylalanine, methanol * 180 times sweeter than sugar * When exposed to high temperatures becomes unstable * Limited shelf life in soft drinks * Cost $85-$90 per pound * Accidently Discovered by G.D. Searle & Co. in U.S.
Monsanto
* Headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri * Leader in the US in production of agricultural products, plastics and specialty chemicals, performance materials and industrial control equipment * Summer of 1985 G.D. Searle was acquired by Monsanto Corporation * Searle developed markets for aspartame as a food and beverage additive * By 1986, Searle had built the NutraSweet to reach up to sales of $711 million.
Tosoh Corporation * 1935 began as producer of soda ash and caustic soda * Since 1935 the company grown to become a diversified manufacturer of basic chemicals, intermediates, and downstream products, as well as scientific instruments and ceramics * Tosoh brought to the hook-up with DSM a patented process for manufacturing aspartame that employed a natural catalyst to solve the problem of achieving a precise coupling between the aspartic acid and phenylalanine inputs * Process was capable of using either L-Phenylalanine or D, L-Phenylalanine
DSM
* Based in Heerlen, the Netherlands * Company began as “Dutch State Mines” * Was a chemical group with interest in plastics, synthetic rubber, fine elements, fertilizers, resins, consumer products, and oil and natural gas exploration and development * Since 1986, DSM had been publicly traded with the Dutch retaining a one-third interest * Contribution to the joint venture was knowledge of European market, raw material supply and traditional chemical process
Ajinomoto
* Leading player in Amino Acid research and production dominating the monosodium glutamate market * Supplied a chemical coupling process for manufacturing aspartame, as well as the L-Phenylalanine input * A cross licensing deal was struck which Ajinomoto was given exclusive access to Japanese aspartame market * Under deal it helped sell aspartame under the brand names Pal Sweet and Pal Sweet Diet
NutraSweet
* Took 2 to 3 years to bring aspartame production up to speed * Minimum efficient scale was of the order of 2,000 tonnes annual capacity * Plant construction costs exceeded $100 millions * Shipping cost 15-20 cents per Ib * By 1992 had cut manufacturing cost by 70%
NutraSweet-Ajinomoto
* G.D. Searle needed Ajinomoto to help manufacture aspartame on commercial scale * Searle agreed to pay Ajinomoto royalties for access to process technology * Had a method of manufacturing aspartame that was covered by process patents extending through the late 90’s * Overtime work increased the efficiency of their manufacturing operations
Holland Sweeter Company (HSC) * Winfried Vermijis is head of company * Formed in April 1985 in Maastricht, the Netherlands * A joint venture between Tosoh Corporation and DSM to enter the aspartame market * Claim that it’s method of producing aspartame would be less costly and more flexible than NutraSweet’s * In February 1986, HSC began work on a 500-tonne aspartame plant in Geleen, the Netherlands * HSC received a $ 17 million loan from European Investment Bank for this project