The company's activities were structured into two lines of business:
Food Ingredients and
Industrial enzymes. The Food Ingredients business supplied bio-based ingredients for food and beverage products and comprises the business segments Enablers,
Cultures, and
Sweeteners, while the Industrial Enzymes business (handled by subsidiary
Genencor) focuses on
industrial biotechnology and encompasses business segments such as Fabric and Household Care (enzymes for laundry and dishwashing
detergents), Technical Enzymes (enzymes for
bioethanol and
carbohydrate processing as well as textile treatment), and Food and Animal Nutrition (enzymes for bread, feed, and brewing applications). Danisco also had two biochemical projects:
DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol LLC, a
biofuels joint venture with
DuPont, and a project with
Goodyear to develop a new type of
synthetic rubber, called bioIsoprene. On 9 January 2011, DuPont announced that it had reached agreement to buy Danisco for US$6.3 billion. The acquisition was motivated by a desire by DuPont "to gain production of
food additives and enzymes used in
biofuels." On 16 May 2011 DuPont announced that its tender offer for Danisco had been successful and that it would proceed to redeem the remaining shares and delist the company. The food ingredients and enzyme businesses were combined with similar pre-existing efforts at DuPont into two business divisions named 'Nutrition and Health' and 'Industrial Biosciences', and subsequently into one 'Nutrition & Biosciences' division.
Research and development A considerable number of the employees are engaged in research and development of new products for the international food industry. Today, the Group holds more than 9,300 active patents and patent applications. Their work led to the understanding of the mechanism of
CRISPR, the bacterial antiviral defense. == References ==