Archroma and Stony Creek Colors Partner Up

Archroma and Stony Creek Colours Partnership Archroma and Stony Creek Colours enter strategic partnership to produce IndiGold™, a high-performance, plant-based, pre-reduced indigo at scale. Stony Creek Colors, a producer of traceable natural indigo dyes, and Archroma, one of the world's leading companies in specialty chemicals for sustainable solutions, announced they have entered into a strategic partnership to produce and commercialize Stony Creek's IndiGold™ high-performance plant-based pre-reduced indigo product on a large scale. Stony Creek sources its dye from proprietary Indigofera plant varieties grown in partnership with family farms as a regenerative rotational crop. Stony Creek Colors developed the innovative IndiGold™ concept as the world's first pre-reduced natural indigo dye and subsequently worked with Archroma to bring the first plant-based alternative to synthetic pre-reduced indigo to the market. The dye will be sold in a soluble liquid form at 20% concentration, delivering performance comparable to leading synthetic indigo products available on the market. Stony Creek Colors has become an innovative leader in plant-based indigo due to the complete development of an advanced agricultural value chain ranging from seed breeding and cultivation through biomass harvesting and extraction. The company has been supplying indigo grown in the US to denim mills since 2015. [caption id="attachment_138611" align="aligncenter"] Field to plant: Indigofera bushes grown in the US by Stony Creek Colors (photo: Stony Creek Colors)[/caption] The pre-reduced plant-based indigo partnership began in 2020 when Stony Creek wanted to work with like-minded partners to scale production of its new dye. In this context, Archroma proved to be an ideal partner given its commitment to transforming the denim industry to create better blue jeans and its recognized expertise in indigo production and application. Archroma continuously introduces eco-improved indigo innovations. These include the first aniline-free* synthetic pre-reduced indigo, the aniline and potassium permanganate-free* spray Archroma & CleanKore technology, and laser-enhanced abrasion for white wash effects. Archroma offered to support Stony Creek Colors' concept with comprehensive pilot-scale production trials and connected the company with its network of denim machinery manufacturers to test first samples under industrial conditions. The trials demonstrated excellent color build and typical indigo wash performance, just as with synthetic indigo. Archroma will produce the first batches of IndiGold™ at its facility in Salvatierra, Mexico, and has other locations where the product can be manufactured. The company will support Stony Creek Colors through its production and logistics capabilities and its expertise in denim dyeing with customers using pre-reduced indigo. [caption id="attachment_138612" align="aligncenter"] Field to mill: Indigo plant at Archroma's facility in Salvatierra, Mexico (Photo: Archroma)[/caption] As this development continues, the global innovation platform Fashion for Good selected Stony Creek Colors as an innovator in its Global Innovation Program. The program brings brands together with innovators to test, validate, and ultimately scale game-changing innovations in the fashion industry to create positive impact. Through the program, Fashion for Good facilitated a collaboration announced in December 2021 between brand partner Levi Strauss & Co. and Stony Creek Colors. The partners will conduct pilot applications at denim mills to scale the use of IndiGold™ with the aim of unlocking important learnings about color tone application and other performance benefits of this new dye. Sarah Bellos, CEO and Founder of Stony Creek Colors, said: "For years, our consistent powder and paste products have succeeded in filling a gap in the market for denim mills that need verifiable plant-based indigo. Like many in the industry, we view IndiGold™ as the holy grail of indigo dyeing, and we are very pleased to now bring it to life with a respected partner like Archroma. The combination of the two technologies enables us to fulfill our customers' ultimate desire for an easy-to-use, pre-reduced liquid formulation sourced from 100% plant-based supply." Heike van de Kerkhof of Archroma stated: "I am proud that Archroma is supporting Stony Creek's project. We shared the vision that plant-based pre-reduced indigo can be scaled and can color the nature-friendly collections that denim brands and retailers dream of, and we are pleased to help bring it to market." * Below the limits of detection according to industry standard test methods. IndiGold™ is a trademark of Stony Creek. ® Trademarks of Archroma registered in many countries. © 2022 Archroma and Stony Creek   Source