STONY CREEK COLORS, INC. — Department of Agriculture SBIR Phase II: The market for natural colorants is growing. Trends in food, cosmetics, and textiles show

Description

The market for natural colorants is growing. Trends in food, cosmetics, and textiles show consumers are concerned over the use of synthetic, petroleum-derived dyes and seek a more environmentally friendly option. However, manufacturers cannot compromise on quality, stability, or functionality of colorants in their products. Natural colorants from plants have been used as dyes for thousands of years, yet many potential dye crops and by-products of agricultural processing are not currently exploited as sources of textile colorants. This project seeks to determine the most efficient, environmentally friendly, and economic process to convert low-value raw plant material into an industry-ready, high quality colorant. The natural colorants produced as a result of this research will be safer for the environment, "green" the textile industry, and benefits U.S. farmers and foresters with access to a new market. We will develop storable, stable, shippable colorants from black walnut hulls and indigo plants. We will improve the technical extraction process and creating production protocols for these alternative crops. Stony Creek Colors will facilitate the entry of these value-added colorants, grown by small and medium size U.S. farmers and foresters, into the U.S. and export natural colorant market. The U.S. company that can create cost effective, machine-ready, andsustainably sourced dye extracts from known dye plant resources will open up high-growth markets by linking agricultural producers and the raw material supply chain with the end consumers demand, including textile and sewn-product manufacturers and dyehouses. Dozens of native and cultivated species contain natural colorants. However, raw material must be extracted intoa standardized and high quality colorant in order to reach industrial textile market, which has very specific product and performance needs. This project works across the natural colorant value chain to reach our commercialization goal: high quality U.S. grown colorants used in the textile industry. Reaching our goal of commercialization and market adoption of U.S. sources of natural colorants allows us to reach our desired outcomes: new and diversified income for farm and forestry communities and increased competitiveness of U.S. textile firms and rural industries.Stony Creek Colors is developing the compete agronomic supply chain for producing and processing U.S. grown natural colorants into reliable, high purity colorant through a scalable manufacturing process that will extend the reach of bio-based dyes into the industrial textile industry while benefiting small and medium size farmers in the Mid-South. Indigo will be a profitable and reliable crop for farmers in the Mid-South tobacco producing states, as it is well suited as a small acreage, high value crop. By 2019, SCC plans to contract with growers on 15,000 acres of crop land in the Mid-South for this new, industrial crop, representing a farm gate income of $150M. Additionally, SCC will build off its success in Phase I to develop scalable extraction techniques for black walnut that yield high quality dye and specific methods to source from the agricultural waste stream and foresters.