CREMER and Differential Bio deepen fermentation partnership
CREMER and Differential Bio have formalized a strategic partnership, combining raw material supply chains with AI-driven lab automation to scale products like the Y-Base Blend and expand FermBase's tech-supported services for the fermentation industry.
CREMER and Differential Bio have expanded their collaboration into a strategic partnership. The move aims to scale FermBase’s technology-supported product and process development for the bio-based production sector.
Hamburg-based CREMER, a family-owned trading group founded in 1946, has formalized the partnership as it seeks new opportunities. The alliance pairs CREMER’s raw material and supply chain infrastructure with Differential Bio’s robotic lab automation and machine-learning tools.
Y-Base Blend origins and performance
Y-Base Blend, a standardized trace element formulation for yeast fermentation, was launched in September. It emerged from screening more than 50,000 possible combinations of 10 trace elements using AI and automation.
Machine learning narrowed the field to 3,300 experiments conducted on Differential Bio's automated platform. Nine high-performing formulations were identified at microliter scale before one final blend was validated in customer bioreactors.
According to CREMER, the blend delivered comparable performance in all customer trials. It outperformed respective in-house formulations in more than half of cases across biomass production, precision fermentation, and secondary metabolite processes.
The blend addresses a common industry bottleneck. Most companies need up to a day to prepare trace-element solutions, while some spent hours dissolving ingredients. Y-Base Blend dissolves in 10 minutes.
Its composition and specification remain unchanged across all supplied quantities. This consistency is critical when moving from laboratory-grade to industrial supply to avoid variations that affect process performance.
| Quantity | Use Case |
|---|---|
| 1kg | Laboratory trials |
| 25kg | Pilot and scale-up |
| Several tons | Industrial production |
Complementary expertise drives innovation
The partnership leverages distinct strengths. FermBase by CREMER provides a fermentation media portfolio, raw material expertise, and supply-chain infrastructure serving clients from pilot to industrial scale.
Differential Bio, a Munich-based startup and spin-off from the Technical University of Munich, contributes its automated screening platform. This system runs miniaturized experiments to generate training data for predictive models that optimize bioprocesses before scale-up.
Gerlis von Haugwitz, Product Manager Fermentation at FermBase, represents CREMER's operational expertise. Differential Bio brings AI-supported process optimization. Christian Spier is the CEO of Differential Bio. Dr. Christian Flach is the CEO of CREMER.
Dr. Christian Flach noted the strategic shift. "Throughout CREMER’s history, we have grown whenever we were willing to rethink our existing business and identify new opportunities at an early stage."
Broader goals and limitations acknowledged
The partnership aims to develop further products and services for fermentation companies. CREMER plans to provide more technology- and data-based services alongside its core trading business.
However, the partners acknowledge that standardized formulations like Y-Base Blend cannot replace all media development. Different microorganisms and specific production processes will continue to require individual, bespoke optimization.
Nils Rupp, Head of Business Unit at CREMER Sustainable Nutrition, has previously highlighted the value of outsourcing non-core activities. He stated that companies can separate their core intellectual property from sourcing, media development, and supply-chain management.
The partners aim to develop further products and services for fermentation companies, advancing the transition toward more efficient, data-driven bio-based production.
