Our Competitive Advantage

Upcycled Aromatics’ competitive advantage lies in

• our flexible process,
• our tight integration between process, genetics and market,
• and our choice of feedstock. We plan to provide the aromatic chemicals with the volume and purity customers expect at a fraction of the financial and environmental costs.

Our Flexibility

The flexibility our process offers us the option to respond to shifting markets. Although the value of shikimic acid is many times higher than that of cinnamic acid and its derivatives, any lull in demand can be compensated for by simply flipping our genetic switch and changing our product. On the other hand, any future spikes in the price of shikimic acid (perhaps due to another pandemic scare) will allow us to take advantage of such opportunities. Furthermore, the switchability of Upcycled Aromatics will insulate us from price crashes in any one of our possible products. Furthermore, the semi-permanent, modular nature of the process allows us to avoid costs in the transportation of glucose, and to be consistent in the design and quality of our "tack-on" plants.

The Integration Between Process and Genetics

Process and genetics in Upcycled Aromatics have been and will continue to be developed in tandem. Such a relationship results in a great deal of synchronization between these two very different areas, which ensures that we will never experience any disconnect between biology and engineering. As these concepts feedback onto one another in an iterative process, improvements in one will always be a fruit of and perhaps a seed for improvements in the other.

The Feedstock

As mentioned previously, it is impossible for a recycling plant to process the same paper more than six or seven times before the fibres are deemed too short and are disposed of. Our revolutionary strategy is to utilize these useless fibres as the feedstock for our process, ultimately turning what was once waste into valuable industrial chemicals important in both the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries.

Our strategy ultimately allows us to save significantly on operating costs, and since our initial prototype facility will be located on-site at a recycling plant, costs associated with feedstock will be negligible if not zero. Many people are currently using cellulose as a feedstock, for example, as a precursor to bioethanol, but with Upcycled Aromatics' novel process, we are able to virtually eliminate any and all associated transportation costs, which constitute a huge energy sink in most other cellulosic approaches. Our revolutionary idea, while increasing our margins, also gives us the opportunity to funnel the money saved into other endeavours, such as expansion or R&D. In addition, as our operating costs are so low, if the need arises, we have a great deal of room to undercut competitors' prices to remain competitive.

Intellectual Property Concerns

To ensure that our process remains open and transparent to the public, we have decided against pursuing a intellectual property rights for the genetics involved in creating our strain. We instead plan to patent the process itself to ensure that we retain control and value for our company and potential investors.