What Primient does

Primient is a U.S.-headquartered (Schaumburg, IL) producer of plant-based food and industrial ingredients operating through six manufacturing facilities in the United States and Brazil and a network of 14 grain elevators across Illinois and Indiana. The company's core technology is corn wet milling, refined over more than 100 years, which converts corn into sweeteners (HFCS, fructose, crystalline dextrose), acidulants (citric, malic, fumaric acids), industrial starches, and fermentation-derived specialty ingredients including Bio-PDO marketed under the Zemea and Susterra brands. Proprietary microbial strains and enzyme-catalyzed processing underpin its biomanufacturing capability, and the Loudon, TN site is its core fermentation hub; the company is actively building iPROOF and iFAB Tech Hub infrastructure to offer third-party precision fermentation scale-up.

The business operates as a privately held entity under sole ownership of KPS Capital Partners (acquired from Tate & Lyle via full buyout in June 2024) and runs a B2B direct sales model selling into food and beverage, industrial/paper/packaging, personal care, animal nutrition, and bioeconomy customers. Revenue streams are dominated by one-time product sales across five families (food ingredients, industrial products, Bio-PDO, TEXTURLUX personal care additives, and animal nutrition), with pricing not publicly disclosed and conducted through a quote-based enterprise field sales motion. Distribution is direct to manufacturers, supported by grain origination through the elevator network, shared services in Łódź, Poland, and a new 2025 commercial hub in São Paulo, Brazil.

Recent capital allocation signals a pivot toward the bioeconomy: a $700M, five-year modernization program announced March 2024, $81M in U.S. federal and Illinois state funding through the iFAB Tech Hub, a February 2026 consolidation of 100% ownership in Primient Covation (Bio-PDO), and the April 2026 launch of a fourth business unit, Biosolutions, alongside Sustainea (~$400M Bio-MEG co-location at Lafayette), Synonym, and CIBO strategic partnerships. The company also pursues a regenerative agriculture program covering 1.2M acres via Truterra and holds SBTi 1.5°C-aligned targets with Scope 1&2 reductions of 46.2% and Scope 3 FLAG reductions of 26% by 2030.

Name

Primient

Legal name

Primient

Website

https://primient.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1906

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Primient is a privately-held, KPS Capital Partners–owned corn wet miller producing sweeteners, acidulants, industrial starches, bio-based propanediol (Zemea, Susterra), and personal care additives via six manufacturing facilities in the U.S. and Brazil, selling to food, beverage, industrial, personal care, and animal nutrition customers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Corn-Derived Food and Industrial Ingredients

NAICS

Grain and Oilseed Milling (3112), Flour Milling and Malt Manufacturing (31121)

SIC

Grain Mill Products (2040), Food And Kindred Products (2000)

akta.pro primary industry

Starches & Grain Derivatives Manufacturing (cornstarch, maltodextrin, glucose solids) (AFAKABAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Glucose Syrups & Dextrose (Corn/Wheat/Tapioca Glucose, Dextrose Monohydrate) (AFAJAAAD), Fibers, Starches & Texturizers (Resistant Starch, Maltodextrin, Inulin) (CRADAOAK)

Keywords

• Corn wet milling
• Food ingredients
• Industrial starches
• Bio-based chemicals
• Sweetener production

Headquarters

HQ city

Schaumburg

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices22 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Operations, Supply Chain, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Food Ingredients: Sale of corn-derived ingredients including sweeteners (HFCS, crystalline fructose, dextrose), acidulants (citric acid, fumaric acid, malic acid), and industrial starches to food and beverage manufacturers.
2. Industrial Products: Sale of industrial starches and corn-derived materials for paper, packaging, and industrial applications.
3. Bio-Based Solutions (Bio-PDO): Sale of bio-based 1,3-propanediol under Zemea® and Susterra® brands for cosmetics, personal care, textiles, coatings, and functional fluids.
4. Personal Care Additives: Sale of TEXTURLUX® plant-based personal care additives for cosmetics, skin care, and personal hygiene products.
5. Animal Nutrition: Sale of animal feed products providing energy and nutrients for livestock.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Primient is a producer of food and industrial ingredients manufactured from plant-based, renewable sources through corn wet milling. The company processes corn into sweeteners (corn syrups, fructose syrups, crystalline dextrose), acidulants (citric acid, fumaric acid, malic acid), industrial starches, bio-based 1,3-propanediol (Zemea and Susterra brands), plant-based personal care additives (TEXTURLUX), animal nutrition products, and specialty ingredients (maltodextrin, allulose), serving food, beverage, paper, packaging, personal care, apparel, and animal nutrition manufacturers.

Product overview

Primient is a plant-based ingredients company offering a diversified portfolio of corn-derived products through four business units: Biosolutions (bio-based propanediol under Zemea® and Susterra® brands), Sweeteners (corn syrups, fructose, crystalline dextrose), Performance Starches (industrial starches), and Agrifunctionals (animal nutrition and fuels). The company operates six manufacturing facilities producing acidulants (citric, fumaric, malic acids), sweeteners, starches, personal care additives (TEXTURLUX®), and specialty ingredients like allulose and maltodextrin. Primient serves food, beverage, paper, packaging, personal care, apparel, and animal nutrition industries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Zemea: Bio-based propanediol brand marketed for cosmetics, personal care, and functional fluids
• Susterra
• TEXTURLUX

Products and services

• Sweeteners

Quantifiable outcome

• 86% carbon footprint reduction (4.41kg CO2 eq.) for bio-PDO vs fossil-based alternatives
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship, major and minor.

• CIBO TechnologiescoreTechnology or Integration · 5 March 2026Multi-year strategic partnership to advance regenerative agriculture practice adoption and reduce Scope 3 emissions across Primient's agricultural supply chain. Leverages CIBO's data and analytics platform for monitoring, verification, and farmer enrollment using remote sensing and advanced modeling.
• SustaineaflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 October 2024Co-location partnership where Primient's Lafayette, IN facility supplies corn dextrose to Sustainea's Bio-MEG plant. Sustainea's ~$400 million investment will produce renewable, plant-based alternative to petroleum-based MEG for beverage bottles, food containers, apparel, and footwear. Production expected to start in 2028.
• SynonymflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 August 2024Strategic partnership to accelerate bioproduct innovation and commercialization. Initial project iPROOF at Primient's Decatur, IL facility focuses on re-commissioning and upgrading existing fermentation assets, expanding capacity and downstream processing for precision fermentation companies to scale from lab to commercial production.
• iFAB Tech Hub Consortium (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 July 2024Primient partnering with iFAB consortium led by UIUC to address manufacturing shortage in precision fermentation. $51 million EDA grant and $30 million state of Illinois funding. Consortium includes 36 partners including Kraft-Heinz. Primient opening fermentation facilities to smaller startups.
• Nestlé PurinamajorGTM or Marketing Partner · 20 July 2022Purina joined Primient's sustainable agriculture program, sponsoring 200,000 acres of corn grown in the U.S. Supports Purina's net zero commitment with greater visibility of environmental footprint and sustainable corn growing practices.
• Truterra (Land O'Lakes)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSustainable agriculture program partnership since 2018 supporting regenerative practices across 1.2 million acres. Uses Truterra Insights Engine platform for field-level monitoring, practice tracking, and sustainability reporting for enrolled growers.
• TrueNorth CollectiveminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerSustainability consultancy conducted comprehensive lifecycle assessment for bio-PDO, assessing 22 environmental impact categories and comparing to fossil-based alternatives.

Scale indicators15 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• AGRANA: Austrian company processing agricultural raw materials into fruit preparations, starches, and sugar. Comparable in starch and sweetener categories, though focused on European markets and fruit-based products alongside commodity starch.
• Tereos: French cooperative producing sugar, starch, sweeteners, ethanol, and alcohol from sugar beet, wheat, and corn. Comparable product portfolio (sweeteners, starches, ethanol) but primarily serves European markets rather than North America.
• Südzucker: Europe's largest sugar producer with adjacent starch and bioethanol activities through its crop energy and starch divisions. Comparable as a vertically integrated sugar/starch/ethanol platform, though primarily sugar beet-based and European in footprint.

Broad incumbents

• ADM: Global agribusiness major with significant corn processing, bioproducts, and nutrition segments. Directly comparable in corn-derived sweeteners, starches, and bio-based PDO/bioproducts, though operating at a much larger and more diversified scale.
• Cargill: One of the world's largest agricultural commodity processors with substantial corn wet milling, sweetener, starch, and bioindustrial capacity. Overlaps with Primient's food ingredients and industrial starch lines but operates across many broader value chains.

Direct peers

• Roquette: French-headquartered global leader in starch, polyols, proteins, and bioproducts derived from corn, wheat, and peas. Directly comparable in food-grade starches, sweeteners, and specialty bio-based ingredients serving pharma, food, and industrial markets.
• Grain Processing Corporation: Privately held U.S. corn wet miller producing maltodextrins, corn syrup solids, starches, and ethanol from a single Muscatine, Iowa complex. Closest U.S. mid-scale private comparator to Primient's wet milling footprint and product mix.
• Ingredion: Pure-play corn wet miller producing HFCS, dextrose, starches, and specialty ingredients for food, beverage, and industrial customers globally. Closest direct competitor across Primient's core sweetener, starch, and acidulant lines.
• Tate & Lyle: Former 49.7% owner of Primient and a global food ingredients company specializing in sweeteners, texturants, and fortification. Highly comparable product portfolio and customer base in food and beverage ingredients.

Emerging players

• Metabolic Explorer: French industrial biotechnology company developing bio-based 1,3-propanediol (PDO), glycols, and specialty ingredients via fermentation. Most direct comparator to Primient's bio-PDO franchise (Zemea®/Susterra®), though a smaller emerging player focused solely on fermentation.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/Primient.Global
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/primient
• Instagraminstagram.com/primient.global

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles16 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Primient