Biotech breakthrough
Spiber’s Brewed Protein is the first purely biotech fibre to be developed on a commercial scale. Fellow Japanese company and long-time partner Goldwin has played a crucial role in bringing the innovative fibre to market.
Twenty years is, roughly, the time it has taken to bring the first ‘fermented’ fibre to market. Spiber’s founders Kazuhide Sekiyama and Junichi Sugahara met in 2004 when studying bioinformatics at Keio University’s Institute for Advanced Biosciences, in Tokyo. They founded Spiber Inc in 2007 and the company, which now employs a staff of nearly 300, has since broken much ground to produce a protein-based bacteria-brewed polymer that can be turned into a textile fibre. It calls the product Brewed Protein. Spiber is not alone in this effervescent (pun intended) field, but few have scaled up. Genomatica, which has developed a biotech production process for caprolactam, a building block for polyamide, is the only example that comes to mind. Other companies seeking to biofabricate silk-like materials, AMSilk in Germany and Bolt Threads in the US, appear to have transitioned to cosmetics and medical applications.
The process of turning a polymer in powder form, which is the substance that comes out of Spiber’s fermentation vats, into a solution that can be spun into fibre and then knitted or woven into a fabric, is one of many challenges that the company has successfully overcome in recent years.
Protean proteins
The company’s scientific teams have dedicated extensive research to the identification and modification of protein-producing microorganisms. “They investigated the smart protein materials found in nature, such as those in the beak of an octopus, in sheep’s wool, in spider silk, and in the legs of grasshoppers,” says Spiber executive vice president, head of sustainability and European manager, Kenji Higashi. He joined the company in 2013, having also studied bioinformatics at Keio University with the founders. “Our team has analysed thousands of protein materials from nature and this has allowed us to acquire a large database of knowledge,” he says. From this, the company “synthesises the DNA that produces a protein, and injects it into microbes” he adds. The company has thus “created a platform” for making new materials.
In addition to textile fibres, which Goldwin has been experimenting with since 2015, Mr Higashi says the company’s innovation pipeline includes several other possible materials, including fibres with high levels of elasticity. A moisture-permeable waterproof membrane and a possible alternative to leather composed of ‘structural protein materials’ are in the works, through a partnership with Komatsu Matere, a Japanese textile manufacturer that might also decide to invest in Spiber.
Plant-based production process
Spiber’s fermentation is robust, says Mr Higashi, “as it can take any type of starch feedstock.” The company’s first industrial brewery, which is located in Thailand and began production in 2022, is designed to use primarily sugarcane. The decision to install the first plant in Rayong, some 100 km south of Bangkok, was motivated by its proximity to sugarcane farms. Spiber buys the sugar used to feed the microorganisms from Bonsucro, a sustainability- and socially-minded sugarcane platform. A future facility to be built in the US, in a partnership with ADM, would use dextrose from corn, cultivated using regenerative practices. But the company’s vision is to shift its sourcing from edible material to agricultural waste in the future.
Spiber has been working with ADM, a Chicago-based agricultural processing company with expertise in fermentation, since 2019 to fine-tune its process and help scale it. A plan to produce Brewed Protein polymers in ADM’s industrial campus in Clinton, Iowa, was announced in 2020. The timeline for its actual launch has yet to be set but should happen in the next few years, says Mr Higashi.
Improving the productivity and efficiency of the brewing process, including the microorganisms themselves and other production parameters is another area of constant research. “Fermentation processes have been optimised over the years and it is possible to improve the yield and speed of processing. We can, for instance, boost microbe growth to achieve higher efficiency,” he says. Like many biotech companies brewing various new substances, including plant-based meat alternatives (also protein), manufacturing in high volumes has proved tricky. “The tanks are a challenge to scale. It is one thing to produce in a multiple-tonne scale, and quite another to produce in multiple hundred tonnes,” he tells WSA.
Case in point, the Spiber’s Thai factory is fully operational, but not at full capacity. Its stated goal is to achieve a capacity of 500 tonnes per year. Mr Higashi says it is now running at 100 tonnes per year, with production gradually increasing. The powder made in this facility is then shipped to the company’s plant in Yamagata, Japan, where it is dissolved and spun into yarn.
Manmade protein polymer
Spiber’s Brewed Protein is a new fibre, one of few to come to market since the invention of synthetics. The introduction of any new material designed for apparel end-use immediately raises the question of what its composition label will indicate. “The polymer is natural, as it is derived from plants, but the production process is synthetic, as the powder is transformed into a dope for wet spinning.
It is thus similar to viscose, or rather lyocell, as the solvent is not discharged but remains in a closed loop,” Mr Higashi tells WSA. “In that sense, our Brewed Protein fibre is a semi-synthetic. But I don’t think the industry has reached a consensus on how to describe a fibre like ours. It is technically a manmade protein fibre, just as viscose is a manmade cellulosic fibre.” Casein, he goes on to say, is another manmade protein fibre that is derived from milk, and protein fibres can also be made from soybeans. Azlon was, back in the day, the technical name for this family of fibres. The term may not ring any bell with 21st century consumers, but it is nonetheless the closest officially recognised name garments made from Brewed Protein fibre could carry.
Its protein base makes Spiber’s fibre similar to natural protein fibres such as silk, wool and cashmere, and it is said to deliver the same softness, comfort and breathability. For its first, preliminary LCA, based on the company’s engineering plans, Spiber chose to compare the impacts of Brewed Protein with those of Mongolian cashmere and Australian merino wool. The LCA was conducted by a third party and critically reviewed by university professors, in line with ISO standards, says Mr Higashi.
The cradle-to-gate comparative LCA found that the potential environmental impact of a forward-looking Brewed Protein fibre was significantly lower than that of the two natural fibres. This, Spiber claims, was largely due to the small environmental impacts of inputs for the production of the biotech polymer (primarily plant crops and renewable electricity).
Commercial ranges
Goldwin, a manufacturer of performance apparel, has been turning the innovative fibre into physical products for years now. This autumn, a range of iconic Goldwin garments made from Brewed Protein fibre were available for purchase during a two-day pop-up shop in London’s trendy Soho district.
Goldwin’s general manager, Takuya Kinami, was present in London and confirmed the company's staunch support for the biotech material. “Up till now we were only able to make limited editions made from Spiber’s Brewed Protein,” he says, mentioning The North Face’s Moon Parka, of which 50 units were produced in 2019, and The Sweater, available in a run of 80 items in 2020. “Now, we can finally present the first real collection at commercial scale,” he says.
The collection included a sweater made from a blend of 60% Brewed Protein, 25% wool and 15% nylon with a raised ribbed like structure. Other items included a three-layer laminate jacket and raincoat, a matching denim jacket and trouser, a fleece sweatshirt and a down filled shirt-jacket all featuring varying proportions of Brewed Protein fibre in their fabrics. “We chose to make our most iconic products from our Goldwin-managed brands because they are timeless, universal pieces that are easy to wear. These are garments that people will not tire of and will therefore be more sustainable,” says Mr Kinami.
Goldwin’s general manager sees great promise in Spiber’s Brewed Protein as he believes it has the potential to replace nylon and polyester. The first real collection was made from fabrics that have all passed common tests for colour fastness and resistance, but he admits that using a new fibre always presents challenges. Dyeing the cream-coloured yarn that Spiber produces has been one issue. “Sometimes dyes commonly used for silk or wool will work, and sometimes, they won’t,” he tells WSA.
Tackling these challenges has been central to the partnership between the two companies, and proof of their shared values. Mr Kinami notes: “We felt a need for change. We cannot carry on business as usual, as our activities do too much damage to the environment”. Spiber’s artificial proteins make a strong thread, ideally suited to Goldwin’s performance-oriented ranges. “We saw that Spiber had a solution that extends beyond the benefits of the fibre itself but can have an impact on society,” he adds. Though the new fibre has been tremendously expensive to develop and remains costly to produce, Goldwin did not pass on the full added price to consumers in its first commercial offering. But, as Mr Kinami insists, “this it is not just about money. We are investing in the future, we are co-creating the future. We ask our customers to think about their purchases. And, in time, when volumes go up, prices will go down.”
Spiber’s Brewed Protein fibre has featured in performance outerwear created by its long-time partner Goldwin.
CREDIT: Goldwin x Spiber
