Clean Food Group’s CLEAN Oil™ 25 Secures Cosmetics Approval Unlocking New Pathways for Sustainable Beauty

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3:01 AM on Friday, September 12

The Associated Press

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 12, 2025--

Clean Food Group, a leading UK food tech business, manufacturing sustainable oils and fats through fermentation, announces that it has received approval for its CLEAN Oil™ 25 product to be used as a cosmetic ingredient in the United Kingdom, Europe, and the United States.

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CLEAN Oil™ 25 offers a sustainable alternative to traditional oil and fat ingredients and was developed in collaboration with leading full-service beauty manufacturer THG LABS, the R&D and manufacturing arm of THG Beauty as well as Croda, a speciality chemical company. The partnership combines Clean Food Group’s biotechnology expertise with THG LABS’ 30+ years of product innovation and manufacturing insight, alongside Croda’s ability to manufacture for the global personal care market, ensuring CLEAN Oil™ 25 is ready for commercial application in beauty.

The approval was unveiled at the BBIA UK BioFinance Summit 2025 event yesterday in London, attended by senior Government ministers including Lord Vallance, Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation. Speaking on a panel with THG LABS and Croda, Professor Chris Chuck, Technical Lead of CFG said :“The announcement of our cosmetics approval is a brilliant example of the pioneering biotech innovation being driven in the UK today, and the importance of collaborative innovation and partnerships across supply chains and manufacturing to bridge biotech innovation to commercial scale and success.”

The approval marks a major milestone in the commercialisation of CFG's proprietary CLEAN OilCell™ technology platform, unlocking access to the high-value global personal care and cosmetics sector, projected to grow to more than US$445.98 billion by 2030, ahead of the Group's planned entry into the food market. 1

With approval now secured, the breakthrough ingredient is positioned to accelerate the development of high-performance, sustainable products across skincare, haircare, and wider personal care categories and represents a significant step in bringing biotech-led innovation into the global cosmetics industry.

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1https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/cosmetics-market

Cosmetics Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Product (Skin Care, Hair Care), By End-user (Men, Women), By Distribution Channel (Offline, Online), By Region (North America, Europe), And Segment Forecasts, 2024 - 2030

Alex Neves, CEO of CFG, said:“This is a pivotal step forward in our mission to provide sustainable solutions for global supply chains. In terms of the beauty industry and product development, it gives brands the confidence to adopt CLEAN Oil™ 25 in their formulations, supporting efficacy and responsibility without compromise. Our collaboration with an industry leaders like THG LABS and Croda has been instrumental, and we are thrilled that our CLEAN Oil™ 25 is now ready for market-ready formulations that will meet the growing consumer demand for sustainable cosmetics products."

Kristal Goodman, Head of Product Innovation at THG LABS, added:“Innovation has the greatest impact when it moves beyond the lab and onto the shelf. The beauty brands we partner with are excited by what’s possible, but they also want what’s practical. THG LABS formulation expertise has helped take Clean Food Group’s brilliant biotech breakthrough and prove it’s commercially viable with real-world product development and scalable manufacturing for the beauty and personal care industry – a true example of ‘Innovation with Purpose’. Backed by three decades of industry experience, our expertise gives brands the confidence to trust us from concept to shelf.”

Damian Kelly, Vice President, Innovation & Technology Development at Croda, commented: “ Croda has a successful and proud history of supporting innovation partners and customers to develop and commercialise new technology. We have offered support to Clean Food Group since their inception and we are proud of their progress and look forward to continued collaboration to maximise the value of their new technology. Croda’s know how, as a global speciality chemical company, in scaling and manufacturing new sustainable technology out of the lab has been of great value to Clean Food Group. This collaboration is a great example of UK industry, big and small, working together to solve global market challenges. ”

The approval process was supported by Delphic HSE, whose regulatory and safety expertise ensured that CLEAN Oil™ 25 meets the rigorous compliance standards required for cosmetic applications. With this clearance, Clean Food Group and THG LABS will continue working together to scale the impact of CLEAN Oil™ 25 and help shape the future of sustainable beauty.

Notes to Editors:

About Clean Food Group

CFG is a leading UK food tech manufacturer of sustainable oils and fats for the global food, cosmetic and pet food industries. Through its proprietary CLEAN OilCell™ technology platform, CFG delivers functional oils (CLEAN Oil™) and fats (CLEAN Fat™) at price parity to agriculture alternatives, whilst meeting the growing need for local and sustainable production.

Founded in 2022 after eight years of pioneering research, CFG manufactures its oils and fats from food waste, leveraging scalable yeast strains and fermentation technology to deliver sustainable alternatives to traditional oil and fat ingredients. With the manufacturing process now validated at scale, CFG has strategic and industrial collaborations in place with leading global FMCG and ingredients manufacturers and has a strong demand pipeline for its products.

CFG has a vastly experienced management team with a successful track record in scaling businesses in high growth regulated industries. For more information on CFG, please visit cleanfood.group.

About THG LABS

THG LABS is a UK-based leader in beauty product development and manufacturing, specialising in bespoke formulations for skincare, haircare, bodycare, and suncare. Its multidisciplinary team of in-house beauty experts includes world-class cosmetic scientists, regulatory specialists, packaging technologists, and highly experienced production professionals.

As the R&D and manufacturing arm of THG Beauty, THG LABS powers innovation and product development for its brands and global names in beauty. THG LABS offers cutting-edge solutions at every stage of the product journey - from concept to consumer. Please visit https://www.thglabs.com for more information.

About Croda International

Croda is a specialty chemicals company that creates high performance ingredients and solutions principally for Consumer Care and Life Sciences markets. Established 100 years ago in 1925 and headquartered in the UK, Croda is a FTSE 100 company with over 5,800 employees across 94 locations in 36 countries. Revenues in 2024 were £1.6bn. With a shared Purpose to use Smart science to improve lives™, and with around two thirds of its organic raw materials already from bio-based sources, Croda has committed to be the most sustainable supplier of innovative ingredients, becoming Climate, Land and People Positive by 2030 while providing solutions to some of the world’s biggest challenges. To find out more about Croda visit: www.croda.com

About the BBIA

BBIA is a membership and trade association and exists to champion the industrial bioeconomy to accelerate the development and adoption of bio-based and biodegradable materials and products through advocacy, collaboration, and education. Its vision is for a more sustainable future, where the UK is a global leader in developing, manufacturing, using and exporting bio-based and biodegradable solutions.

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CONTACT: Clean Food Group

Alex Neves, Chief Executive Officer

Tom Ellen, Chief Financial Officer

Hannah Du Beke, Chief Marketing Officer

Via Burson BuchananBurson Buchanan

Henry Harrison-Topham / Jamie Hooper / Abby Gilchrist

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7466 5000

[email protected]

www.bursonbuchanan.co.ukTHG Group

Sodali & Co - PR adviser

Russ Lynch / Maria Sizyakova