Company expanding to Stanislaus County. Wants to ‘invest,’ in the talent here

Mango Materials, a women-founded biomanufacturing company that transforms methane emissions into biodegradable materials, announced plans to expand the company’s operations to Stanislaus County, adding 11 immediate jobs to the region. Over the next five years, the company plans to expand to 50 positions.

“We can hopefully invest in the talent that is here and that we’re seeing from… the winery industry or any agricultural industry,” Chief Operations Officer Anne Schauer-Gimenez said. “It will translate really nicely, and so I think that’s really exciting to be kind of able to be tapped into that local ecosystem.”

The expansion is in part due to the BEAM Circular Award, which Mango Materials received earlier this year. The grant provides the company with $500,000 to “support equipment purchase, installation, and launch of the Mango Materials operation in Stanislaus County,” according to the Turlock Journal.

“We’re really excited to be able to not only just say what we do and do it in a lab, but get it out into the real world,” Schauer-Gimenez notes. “I think that’s really important, and that’s what this (award) means to us.”

Schauer-Gimenez stated that the company’s original operations were in Redwood City before moving part of them to Vacaville. They hope to employ locals from Stanislaus County and integrate into the community.

Beyond expansion, Mango Materials recently launched an environmentally-friendly sandbox playset for young children.

The toy, manufactured in the U.S., is made with biodegradable plastic pellets called YOPP (You Omit Polluting Plastics) and is Mango Materials’ first direct-to-consumer product. In addition to being sold online, the product will be available to buy in person through a partnership with Modesto’s Children Museum. The playset contains a scoop, bucket and a sifter with “eco-friendly colorants.”

Schauer-Gimenez notes that the process for making these pellets is rather complicated. The bacteria — which is housed in a tank that she compares to a jacuzzi — is fed methane gas as a food source. The methane is converted into a polymer as they grow larger with a powder inside of them. Once they are big enough, the bacteria is killed to harvest the powder. This powder is combined with other ingredients to create pellets used to produce consumer goods, such as shoes, sunglasses, textiles and other products.

In the past, the company has sold the pellets to other companies, such as Allbirds.

A common, unassuming child’s toy represents something much larger for the Vacaville-based company, according to the trio of women who have been at the forefront of the company for nearly two decades.

“This sandbox toy set isn’t about creating another plastic product, it’s about showing what’s possible when we work with nature,” said Molly Morse, CEO and co-founder of Mango Materials, in a press release.