Spotlight - The Supplant Company

Dr. Tom Simmons

Founder and CEO

Tell us about your company 

I spent a decade in academia and the deeper into plant science I went, the more I realized that there was this big disconnect between plant science, and food science, and that a lot of the most important research in plant science wasn’t being commercialized into food products — things that people actually eat.

That’s what led me to start The Supplant Company, where we discovered a way to convert unused or low-value agricultural products into sugars from fiber — our new ingredient is a blend of plant sugar, but with the nutritional properties of the fiber.

We currently have 35 people based in the UK, many of whom are based full time in CSP, while the remainder work flexibly between CSP and home with some employees in the US.

The Supplant Company team on the Science Park comprises several business functions from marketing and business development to foundational science and applications testing. The technical team spans recent graduates to industry veterans, working in areas such as synthetic biology, organic chemistry, process science & manufacturing, analytical chemistry and food technology. As well as laboratories the company also has a technical development unit on site that allows scale-up from the bench to small manufacturing trials.

How does your business help build a better world?

Our food system is faced with three major issues: The food we eat isn’t good for us, it’s not good for our planet’s health, and it isn’t equitable for all our communities. We’re on a mission to solve all three problems, at once:

• Refined sugar and carbohydrates have been a nutritional problem for decades now. By bringing our fiber-derived ingredients into the food system, we're adding fiber benefits and reducing the negative impacts of refined sugar, carbohydrates and excess calories, while making delicious foods.
• By using the fiber-rich parts of plants that our farms already produce but that don’t normally make their way into the food system, we can reduce the impact on the environment and save emissions from burning or rotting of under-utilised side streams.
• There’s going to be 2 billion more people on the planet by 2050. That means we need 50% more food, but we don’t have 50% more land. Fortunately, farms already create more fiber-rich sidestreams than all the sugar, flour, starch, grains, beans, and vegetable oil combined. By bringing these into the food system we can significantly expand the global food supply in every region.

What makes your company such a great place to work?

There are many reasons it’s a great place to work, but here are a few!

Being part of The Supplant Company gives us the opportunity to make a huge impact on the world as we know it. While it’s incredible to see how far we’ve come already in the last year alone, it’s even more exciting to see our huge plans for what’s to come, and being part of that is extremely fulfilling.

All employees have chance to grow with the business and explore different areas that interest them whether that’s in science, food, business, sales and marketing and more. The team is also often the first to taste test, trial and feedback on new products, which is always exciting!

We have a relaxed and friendly atmosphere where everyone’s thoughts and ideas are listened to and taken on board, so it really feels like everyone is making a difference to what we’re doing. As for the foodie-specific perks, we order in a tasty lunch every Wednesday, and there’s an endless supply of snacks (both healthy and indulgent) and refreshments available at all times.

Why is it important for Supplant to be based at the Cambridge Science Park? 

The large amount of science-based real estate with integrated office space is one of the main reasons we moved to the science park and we have come to love the science park because of the greenery and walks that are possible over lunch breaks!

Who is your science hero and why? 

We’re really inspired by Ellen MacArthur and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Their work to advance the “circular economy” which is the idea of an economy where nothing gets wasted, where every output becomes an input into another process, is central to what we’re trying to do here at The Supplant Company. We’re enormously grateful for their pioneering work in this area.