NEW TECH FOODS

Precision-fermented dairy company Perfect Day has been sued by its Italian contract manufacturer Olon for breach of contract, fraudulent inducement and fraudulent concealment, as reported by Ag Funder News.

Olon is claiming $112 million in unpaid bills and a further $22 million in damages, according to a case filed at the New York Supreme Court.

When approached by The Cell Base, Perfect Day declined to comment on the lawsuit. The complaint accuses Perfect Day of stringing Olon along while it ‘secretly planned’ to switch production of beta-lactoglobulin (BLG) to cheaper fermentation facilities in India – the company already has a manufacturing business in the country, which it acquired in 2022.

For the last six years, Olon has been producing animal-free whey beta-lactoglobulin – the precision-fermented whey protein commercialised by Perfect Day. Perfect Day signed a contract under which Olon pumped over $86 million into “expanding and tailoring its manufacturing capabilities to Perfect Day’s unique specifications,” which would have enabled it to “earn substantial revenues by producing the vast quantities of beta-lactoglobulin needed to meet Perfect Day’s anticipated global supply chain needs”.

Olon said that, in 2022, Perfect Day had “explicitly stated that the India plants would not be used to replace Olon’s facilities,” hence the manufacturer continued to invest in the collaboration. It was expecting “at least five years of continuous manufacturing activity and revenues going forward”.

Olon claims that the parties’ relationship came to a halt in August last year when Perfect Day stopped paying its bills. Olon said that in September, it was shocked to learn that Perfect Day planned to move all manufacturing to plants it had recently purchased in India.

According to Olon, it is owed $112 million in unpaid manufacturing fees, unreimbursed CapEx, raw materials costs and other costs, with an estimated additional $32 million in damages resulting from Perfect Day’s alleged fraud, which it argues curtailed Olon’s ability to develop alternate revenue streams with other clients.

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