Innovation

"Young Mexican man produces a sugar substitute based on corncob."

XiliNat finds its heart in the diabetes problem in the country, seeking to improve patient care and providing a healthy and sustainable sugar substitute.

Javier Larragoiti, founder of XiliNat, after knowing Xylitol (naturally occurring alcohol) thanks to his sister and after trying it, begin to do research and concludes that Xylitol is a good substitute for sugar but at the time not very well known because it was very expensive to be manufactured.

Javier, while studying Chemistry, decides to make use of Xylitol, but not creating it in the traditional way (obtaining from the birch, mountain tree) but from the corncob, a much cheaper way. Unfortunately Javier leaves the project at age 22 but takes it back 4 years later when he returns to Mexico after having worked abroad.

XiliNat begins to win national and international competitions, thanks to the viable process and solid team they form. XiliNat is mainly known for its sustainable process and its positive impact on consumer health, as well as for helping to reduce pollution caused by burning organic waste.

This is how XiliNat is known as an emerging company that produces Xylitol, a sugar substitute, based on corncob.

Currently XiliNat is taking action on 4 objectives of the 17 Development Goals approved by the UN in the 2030 Agenda to contribute to a better world:

Poverty goes beyond the lack of income and resources, and also includes the absence of participation of the poor in decision-making. In Mexico, 6 out of 10 farmers live in poverty.

XiliNat provides employment to corn farmers by providing them with fair pay and assigning a farmer member to the working group of the business. With that, XiliNat helps mitigate farmer’s risks in the face of economic difficulties and improves the quality of life of these farmers.

“783 million people live below the international poverty line, with $ 1.90 per day.” XiliNat pays $500 for every 7 tons of corncob to farmers, an amount that goes above the minimum wage in the country .

XiliNat creates a healthy product that helps people prevent tooth decay and osteoporosis, contributing mainly to preventing obesity problems and reduces the onset or progress of type 2 diabetes and does not alter blood sugar levels.

To reduce the ecological footprint, a change in methods of production and consumption of goods and resources is necessary. XiliNat creates green jobs, better quality of life for farmers and sensitizes the consumer through education about sustainable lifestyles (through labeling and making known the origin, process and values ​​of the company).

XiliNat creates profits from economic activities by reducing pollution, achieving a systemic approach. This company creates cooperation between those involved, from the farmer to the end customer, reducing environmental costs.

Climate change has a negative impact on people's lives and their economy. To strengthen the actions towards this objective, XiliNat helps reduce carbon dioxide created by burning agricultural waste, transforming it into a useful, healthy and sustainable product.

Global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) have increased by almost 50% since 1990. XiliNat with its innovation contributes to measures of change in consumption and encourages limiting the increase in average temperature, which can decrease to 2 degrees Celsius by above pre-industrial levels.

XiliNat

Inspiration

It is well known that life is full of surprises; good surprises or bad surprises. In the end, it all depends on how one faces the situation. This happened to Javier Larragoiti Kuri, founder of XiliNat:

“Everything goes back when I was 18 years old. At that time I received one of the worst news I have received and that is that my dad was diagnosed with diabetes. Then I began to relate to the disease, to obtain more information and to see how Mexicans behaved towards it. ”

“I noticed something very curious […] Mexicans with diabetes continue to consume sugar ”.

As it is possible to observe between the lines, Javier had the strength to get ahead in front of a family problem and, not only that, but he had a vision to find a solution. In telling his story, he tells us that he realized that Mexicans with diabetes continued to consume sugar for two fundamental reasons: 1) the existing substitutes in the market were not pleasant in terms of taste, and 2) these same substitutes changed dramatically the taste of food.

Thus was born the idea of ​​creating a sugar substitute that really matched - as much as possible - in sugar flavor. It is here that his sister, who is a dentist by profession, plays an important role in the process by presenting Javier with a natural sweetener that is known in the dental field for helping to maintain the pH of the neutral mouth and, thus, preventing the appearance of caries: Xylitol.

Investigating a little more, Javier realizes that Xylitol also has the property of regulating blood sugar levels, is low in calories and does not lose the taste of sugar. In Javier's words: "It was the ideal solution."

Not too late, Javier realizes that the process for obtaining Xylitol is very expensive, since its origin is birch trees, whose sugar is transformed into Xylitol by certain chemical reactions.

Thus, doing research, they arrive with the corncob residue: the “olotes”, from which they realize their abundance and that through them it is also possible to reach the Xylitol through a biotechnological process (fermentation), a process that looks like the one used to make beer.

With this discovery, they not only create a beneficial product for the environment, for health and for society, but also reduce production costs.

This is how XiliNat was born, whose name comes from the mixture of the words "Xylitol" and "Natural".

Overall impact

XiliNat and its innovation have clear positive impacts, both environmental, health and also economic. By purchasing agricultural waste and transforming it into a low-calorie sugar substitute, XiliNat not only helps prevent tooth decay, mitigate obesity and diabetes problems, but also promotes sustainability.

Innovation currently counteracts a major problem: In the country 64 million tons of agricultural waste are burned, 40 percent of the carbon dioxide generated in the country comes from the burning of agricultural waste.

This problem is attacked by XiliNat by making use of the corncob, vast in Mexico, for the creation of its product, since close to 80 percent of agricultural waste is burned to avoid pests, resulting in carbon dioxide, harmful for the planet.

Another problem that counteracts is caries; The population rate with caries in Mexico is 80% and XiliNat, by making use of Xylitol (natural sweetener that helps maintain the pH of the neutral mouth), helps prevent tooth decay and bacteria.

Ingesting Xylitol, the main element in the XiliNat product, improves calcium absorption and helps prevent osteoporosis, in addition to providing a taste equal to sugar, having 0% fewer calories as well as 75% less carbohydrates than conventional sugar.

Mexico ranks first place in the OECD in proportion of the diabetic population. Thanks to XiliNat, a product has been found that these people can consume and that reduces the onset or progress of type 2 diabetes.

Business benefit

XiliNat, in addition to bringing environmental and health benefits, brings economic benefits by generating jobs for both farmers and producers of Xylitol. As mentioned in the document, XiliNat makes an alliance with the farmers in order to buy them the corncob and make them partakers of this sustainable innovation.

One of the closest regions where olote abounds is Puebla, where most of the farmers live in poverty. With the purchase of this garbage that they burned in their homes XiliNat decides to double the income of these families and reduce the pollution that this burning caused.

XiliNat makes use of 7 tons of corncob to be able to create a ton of xylitol, the process of making its product is as follows:

“Every year XiliNat collects the corncob, as this residue being hard and dry, it is well preserved in a dry place without risk of decomposition. These residues are ground (1), macerated (add hot water to release sugars) (2), then pass the macerated to a fermentation with yeast (3), which finally transforms the sugar (xylose) into xylitol. Finally, we proceed to a purification process, where the yeast is separated (4), it is discolored without chemicals (5) and crystallized (6),” Javier mentioned to us in the interview.

National Geographic has mentioned that Xylitol responds the same way as sugar in the kitchen, which is why it is considered the best substitute there is. [1] For diabetics, sugar substitutes are a necessary and pleasant alternative in addition to xylitol being low in calories and an excellent baking option.

XiliNat decided to include a farmer as part of his advice to build trust with them and make communication much more efficient. Having someone they know directly within XiliNat made it possible to establish a vision to double their monthly salary with this purchase of waste.

Mentioning the operating and production costs of XiliNat, 40% goes into the operation of the company, leaving 60% for production. Regarding indirect costs, Javier mentioned that the majority are associated with the distribution of the product.

In Mexico, 2800 tons of corncob are produced every year, 6 times the current Xylitol market worldwide, so it has great growth potential.

Financial data:

- REFLEXES

7 Tons of Olote per 1 Tone of Xylitol

7 Tons of Olote per 1000000 grams of Xylitol

Tons of Olote that are incinerated per year in Mexico = 2,800 tons

In the last year (2018) Xilinat “rescued” 21 tons of olote (with this, they stopped producing 18 tons of CO2 approximately).

1 bag - 454 grams

Therefore, in 2018 Xilinat generated 3 tons of Xilitol, which is equivalent to a sale of 6,607 bags of this sugar substitute (*Net content 1 lb (454 g)).

- Income

$ 200 pesos per bag

Total sale 2018 = $ 1,321,400 pesos

- Costs

Payment to farmers = $ 500 for 7 tons of olote sold

Payment 2018 = $ 1,500 dlls (approx. $ 30,082.5 pesos, with TC $ 20,050 MXN / USD-Fix as of August 30, 2019 / Banxico-)

*The cost of transportation and the production process cost is not considered since such information is not available. However, according to comments by Javier, since it is still a laboratory process, the cost of producing this sugar substitute is high; of its operating costs, 60% goes directly to production, while the remaining 40% is absorbed by the company's administrative operations as such.

*Notwithstanding the foregoing, the intention of the company is to produce a scale and, thus, lower production costs and, as a consequence, lower the sales price of the product. In short, it is a company with a lot of growth potential.

Social and environmental benefit

As mentioned before, currently XiliNat is part by taking action on 4 objectives of the 17 Development Goals approved by the UN in the 2030 Agenda to contribute to a better world:

Poverty goes beyond the lack of income and resources, and also includes the absence of participation of the poor in decision-making. In Mexico, 6 out of 10 farmers live in poverty.

XiliNat provides employment to corn farmers by providing them with fair pay and assigning a farmer member to the working group of the business. With that, XiliNat helps mitigate farmer’s risks in the face of economic difficulties and improves the quality of life of these farmers.

“783 million people live below the international poverty line, with $1.90 per day.” XiliNat pays $500 for every 7 tons of corncob to farmers, an amount that goes above the minimum wage in the country.

XiliNat creates a healthy product that helps people prevent tooth decay and osteoporosis, and contributes mainly to preventing obesity problems and reduces the onset or progress of type 2 diabetes and does not alter blood sugar levels.

To reduce the ecological footprint, a change in methods of production and consumption of goods and resources is necessary. XiliNat creates green jobs, better quality of life for farmers and sensitizes the consumer through education about sustainable lifestyles (through labeling and making known the origin, process and values ​​of the company).

XiliNat creates profits from economic activities by reducing pollution, achieving a systemic approach. This company creates cooperation between those involved, from the farmer to the end customer, reducing environmental costs.

Climate change has a negative impact on people's lives and their economy. To strengthen the actions towards this objective, XiliNat helps reduce carbon dioxide created by burning agricultural waste, transforming it into a useful, healthy and sustainable product.

Global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) have increased by almost 50% since 1990. XiliNat with its innovation contributes to measures of change in consumption and encourages limiting the increase in average temperature, which can decrease to 2 degrees Celsius by above pre-industrial levels.

Interview

Javier Larragoiti Kuri, CEO and Founder