It all started with a European Project on ecological (say biobased) binders. Bôke and myself were partners in the Consortium, he as Wood Technologist and binder expert, myself as business developer. The natural match was obvious and resulted some years later in the creation of Orineo. Our ultimate goal was clear: become active participants in the biobased economy.

The route to the goal was foggier. Food and/or non-food? Trading or own creation? Building blocks or formulations? Based on our skills, our interests and above all the market opportunities, we started to scratch out our options. Food gone, trading gone, building blocks gone. Remain the design, development, production and marketing of proprietary non-food formulations made with renewable feedstock.

In 2013 we started to develop biobased glues, on specific demand of customers, along with first exploratory work towards novel biobased materials ‘that are looking good’. In May 2014, we exhibited some of our creations at the SINAL exhibition in Northern France, an exhibition fully dedicated to biobased materials.

The feedback we received on our prototype biomaterials with a ‘sensual dimension’ was so positive that we decided to start the industrial development of these materials. In 2015 we created our biomaterial brand, Touch of Nature® (www.touchofnature.eu). Commercialization of these materials is also starting in 2015.