THE NEW SUSTAINABLE EXOTIC VENEER FROM THE FRENCH CARIBBEAN

Project Information

GREEN BLADE

Grant agreement ID: 674155

DOI

10.3030/674155

Project closed

EC signature date 27 April 2015

Start date 1 May 2015

End date 31 October 2015

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Climate action, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

FIB AND CO
France

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - GREEN BLADE (THE NEW SUSTAINABLE EXOTIC VENEER FROM THE FRENCH CARIBBEAN)

Reporting period: 2015-05-01 to 2015-10-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Established in Martinique in 2009, FIBandCO gives a second life to banana plant trunks and aims to develop a new exotic material made from banana trunks (usually wasted) as a clean alternative to wood: GREEN BLADE®, an exceptional raw material, 100% natural and eco-designed.
The context: at the end of their life cycle, banana plants die on the spot and grow again from their bulb. Previously, after bananas fruits harvesting, trunk was naturally decomposing. From now on, the banana trees trunk is harvested and used to create value through this unique material Green Blade®. This process doesn’t use water nor chemicals. FIBandCO recycles this abundant agricultural waste, grab as a particularly virtuous renewable raw material.
FIBandCO has been created to develop and exploit commercially this idea and its business model is dual-sided:
- (1) First, the objective is to market this new raw material;
- (2) Second, the objective is to develop, provide and market “turnkey factories” for banana planters, to exploit the raw material throughout the year.
Thus, FIBandCO proposes the whole value chain, from the innovation concept to the commercialization of the products and services.
Preliminary work and experiments have led to the concept validation, production process definition, and patent filing. First prototype machines have been developed in relevant environment (TRL 6) allowing to produce GREEN BLADE® first prototype and samples. Up to now, the solution, almost operational, allowed the company to sign different investments and to address first commercial applications.
The final green economy outcomes and disruptive model perfectly fit with SC5-20-2014-1 call. This phase I helped our company to hit the market with a clear strategic view in terms of business model, R&D and IPR.
The next steps will focus on the subsequent development stages required in order to prepare the solution’s industrialisation and commercialisation, such as the first turnkey factory that will be developed and tested in operational environment (TRL 7), the products certifications and marketing and dissemination actions.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

In December 2014, FIBandCO applied to phase 1 of the SME Instrument and has been financed to lead its feasibility study. This study consisted in defining the next steps according to market studies all along the value chain to leverage developments and investments, both on banana planters side and product side.
The aim was to prepare the company to reach the market with a marketing and commercialisation strategy in a general refined business plan. The business plan represented the most important goal of this feasibility study since FIBandCO went through the technological feasibility study and proved the project’s viability.
Furthermore, even if the solution was already operational at this point, R&D has been necessary to pursue its development as a technology vendor; this had to be done in parallel with work on new version of the production line to improve the next technology transfert to the planters.
The work performed during this phase 1 has led to design new version of the turnkey factory in a go-to-market perspective. In sum, FIBandCO worked during this phase on market study, business model orientation, price strategy and design activities.
Thus, the results led us to the definition of the next objectives. For now, the four mains technical objectives of the project applying for SME instrument phase 2 are:
- Regarding the production process : (i) to prepare the industrialization of the tunrkey factories through the development of the V2 in operational environment (TRL 7), (ii) to pursue banana planters market entry;
- Regarding the raw materials produced: (i) to work on additional product development, (ii) to obtain strategic certifications, (iii) to disseminate the products to target audiences;
- Regarding the company development : (i) to implement the IP policy to disseminate the innovation internationnaly, (ii) to develop key partnership for R&D and distribution, (iii) to develop a strong international marketing & communication strategy.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

"The novelty is to propose efficient “turnkey factory"", in the heart of banana plantations, to operate a so far lost resource and to create value by preserving the environment through the optimization of the different phases of production (by optimizing consumption of raw materials), energy saving measures, and recycling wood waste. FIBandCO’s solution is disruptive in terms of business model and value chain.
Regarding the turnkey production, solution, the process developed by FIBandCO has never been encountered before to the industrial scale. FIBandCO succeeded in developing specific technologies: a line of innovative processing dedicated to this single commodity (slicing, pressing, etc.). The business model aims to make local producers work without exploiting their traditional resources. Local staffs are trained in its new businesses thereby creating skilled jobs. The products, available immediately, guarantee to the farmers a better use of their own production. Finally, low energy is required to exploit such resource, and factory uses all the electricity it consumes to produce GREEN BLADE® via solar panels.
Regarding the GREEN BLADE® products, this new elegant and organic ""essence"" to the world of design and construction enables sublimation of the creations and makes a difference. The exclusive finish creates a perceived quality highly appreciated by professional decorators. This new high-end, eco-designed and responsible material, without compromise, offers many possible applications for interior architecture, furnishing and panels: extending the merchandizing to other key markets. FIBandCO will consider developing additional functions that could generate added value and therefore the turnover for the company.
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