Results of a National Survey of Biobased Product Companies

Summary Iowa State University conducted a convenience survey of biobased product companies in 2008 to better understand some of the basic characteristics of companies that produce enduse biobased products and intermediate materials. The companies included in the survey were selected from a database of nearly 2,000 companies populated by Iowa State as part of their support of the BioPreferred program. This program is part of an effort by USDA to satisfy portions of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 and the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008. Companies in the database produce and distribute more than 100 types of products including bath products, candles and wax melts, facial care products, intermediate feedstocks, multipurpose cleaners, gasoline fuel additives, graffiti and grease removers, laundry products, disposable tableware, hydraulic fluids, sorbents, and animal repellants. Companies responding to the survey were very diverse, ranging from large multinational corporations to small start-ups. About one-third of the respondents had five or fewer employees. Nearly half had been in business for less than ten years and nearly two-thirds had been selling biobased products for less than ten years. Nearly 80% of the companies were located in a metropolitan area, with about 40% in cities with a population less than 20,000. The majority of the products the survey respondents sold were categorized in the chemical sector, with the greatest sub-group in the soap, cleaning compound, and toilet preparation category. Roughly half of all respondents only sold biobased products; the other half sold both biobased and non-biobased products. About two-thirds of the companies stated that biobased sales comprised 80% or more of sales. Some of the products cost less than alternative non-biobased products, but about 50% of the respondents stated their products cost 10% or more.