News & Press

Companies Embrace BiOH™ Polyols, Look At New Trends

August 7, 2006 - MINNEAPOLIS – Most upholstery foam relies on petroleum as its primary ingredient. Today, Cargill’s BiOH™ polyols offer a plant-based alternative comparable in performance to the petroleum-based products.

NCFI Polyurethanes, a division of BMC, Inc., is the most recent company to take advantage of the BiOH™ product. From his offices in Mt. Airy, N.C., company president Swanson Snow talked about the benefits.

“We’re looking at BiOH™ polyols because they’re part of a new technology that’s an alternative to oil,” he says. “We’re going to use it in our current production because of the stability of supply. It’s a product based on renewable feed stocks, and we believe there are more viable options down the road.”

NCFI began exploring soy alternatives in their rigid foam business about five years ago, and this is its first contract with a soy-based polyol producer. Snow says Cargill earned the contract because of the technological superiority. Looking into the industry’s crystal ball, Snow predicts greater demand for greener offerings in the office furniture side of the business as corporations begin to push for products using renewable sources.

Hickory Springs Manufacturing Company, a foam products manufacturing company for the upholstered furnishings and bedding industry, used BiOH™ polyols to create Preserve™, the first polyurethane foam product made with bio-based polyols. The company, based in Hickory, North Carolina, came out in support of BiOHTM products earlier this year. In addition, Canada’s The Woodbridge Group, a leader in automotive polyurethane foam products, has also endorsed the products.

Foam formulations with BiOH™ polyol offer the same consistency and durability as the oil-based foams. BiOH™-based foam comes in the same grades and densities to which customers are accustomed. Best of all, BiOH™ is made by Cargill. Their scientists’ superior knowledge of oilseed chemistry guarantees the consistency and standards needed in flexible foams.

Yusuf Wazirzada, business manager for Cargill’s Bio-based Polyols business, explained that what makes Cargill a very attractive partner for the supply of Bio-based Polyols is that the company not only has the capabilities but also all the right incentives to make this happen. “We have been processing renewables for 140 years,” he said.

The BiOH™ group currently operates a polyol manufacturing facility in the United States near the Chicago area. It can easily produce tens of millions of pounds of polyol and can ship to foam customers across the world. The BiOH™ team is the first polyol producer to meet the technical requirements for commercial-scale manufacturing of flexible foams, which is why major foam producers are adopting BiOH™ polyols

No one is better positioned to meet the scale needed for this industry than Cargill,
an international provider of food, agricultural and risk management products and services. As a $71 billion company with employees in 63 countries, the organization is committed to using its knowledge and experience to collaborate with customers to help them succeed. For more information, visit http://www.cargill.com.

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For More Information Contact:
Bill Brady
(952) 742-6608
bill_brady@cargill.com