HOLYOKE, Mass., September 19th, 2023 – Clean Crop Technologies (“Clean Crop”), a Holyoke, Massachusetts-based electric innovation company that specializes in food and agriculture solutions at industrial scale, was recently presented with the Manufacturer of the Year award by the Massachusetts Legislature’s Manufacturing Caucus. Clean Crop’s proprietary ‘Clean Current’ technology combines electricity and food-grade gasses to remove contaminants from seeds and foods to increase crop yields, reduce food waste, and improve food safety.
The award was presented at the second annual ‘Manufacturing Mash-Up’ event hosted at Worcester’s Polar Park, which showcases the Commonwealth’s innovation ecosystem, in a statewide effort to connect growing companies with the critical resources required in the Massachusetts manufacturing sector, to produce over $55 billion worth of goods each year.
“We are honored to be recognized amongst our formidable peers in the Massachusetts technology community,” said Clean Crop CEO Dan White. “We are proud to be tackling a multifaceted global problem from right here in the Pioneer Valley.”
The company was nominated for the award by Sen. John Velis (Hampden and Hampshire).
“I was proud to nominate Clean Crop Technologies for the Manufacturer of the Year Award. Their essential work to safely use technology to benefit and expand our food supply is critical as we work to address the challenges of climate change and food insecurity in our Commonwealth. Clean Crop has been a great partner to our local community and farmers and I look forward to seeing them continue this work to benefit our agricultural sector in an eco-friendly way.”
Every year, 500 million metric tons of food is lost to pathogens, toxins, pests, and molds. This food is worth $1 trillion and is responsible for 7% of GHG emissions. These same contaminants lead to 600 million cases of food borne illness every year and 480,000 deaths. Today, seed companies use hot water and chemical washes to address these contaminants. These tools are energy intensive, damage seed health and germination, and leave residues on the seeds. Long-term impacts of these residues include increased environmental runoff, human health issues, and increased pathogen resistance.
To address the constraints plaguing the seed industry, Clear Crop launched the world’s first cold-plasma seed-treatment tolling manufacturing site earlier this year. Customers send their seeds to Clean Crop’s HQ in Holyoke, Clean Crop treats the seeds to remove contaminants, repackages, and sends the decontaminated seeds back to customers (the standard business model in the seed industry). Clean Crop’s proprietary Clean Current technology works without harming food or seed quality and is up to 10X more energy efficient than existing technologies such as hot water treatment. Unlike chemical coating treatments that are used today, Clean Current is a residue-free process, eliminating chemical run-off after planting and long-term environmental damage.
Climate change is projected to decrease yields for food crops by 40% due to extreme drought, heat, and weather conditions. The Clean Current technology is a fully decarbonized solution that exclusively uses air and electricity as the sole inputs, replacing dangerous and energy intensive pesticides and fungicides. Clean Crop’s revolutionary approach has the potential to transform the way seeds are treated and processed, making the world’s food system more efficient, sustainable and secure. Clean Crop’s bold mission is to mitigate at least 1 gigaton of global emissions from agriculture and food by 2050.
“We are one of a handful of companies at the leading edge of the global Power to X transition, replacing fossil fuel-derived chemicals with electro-chemistry,” said Clean Crop CEO Dan White. “The addition of our seed treatment facility allows us to contribute deeply to our local community while furthering our work to stabilize the world’s food supply.”
Formed in August 2014, the Manufacturing Caucus includes more than 70 legislators from around the Commonwealth. Lawmakers focus on training for manufacturing employees, encouraging innovation by helping start-ups access resources, and expanding apprenticeship opportunities in key manufacturing sectors. The Manufacturer of the Year Award was presented on September 19 at the 8th Annual Manufacturing Awards Ceremony held at the Massachusetts Manufacturing Mash-Up at Polar Park in Worcester.
About Clean Crop Technologies
Clean Crop Technologies is a Holyoke, Massachusetts-based electro-chemical innovation company, specializing in food and agriculture solutions at industrial scale based in the Pioneer Valley since 2019. Clean Crop’s proprietary ‘Clean Current’ technology combines electricity and food-grade gasses to remove contaminants from seeds and foods to increase crop yields, reduce food waste, and increase food safety. To learn more about Clean Crop, visit cleancroptech.com.
