CPM|Crown unveils new alcohol-based solvent extraction technology for oilseed processing

CPM|Crown unveiled Oct. 21 its new Monarc Clean Oilseed Processing™, a revolutionary, patent-pending alcohol-based solvent extraction technology that is projected to have competitive operational efficiency to traditional hexane-based extraction systems while delivering significant advantages in safety, environmental impact and consumer appeal.

Historically, oilseed processors have relied on hexane-based extraction as the most efficient and cost-effective method to produce the cooking oils, protein meals and ingredients that form the foundation of countless food products consumed worldwide.

Without the efficiency of hexane-based extraction, the world simply couldn’t produce enough affordable protein and oil to feed today’s population of over 8 billion people.

Now, Monarc Clean Oilseed Processing gives producers the choice to work with alcohol-based solvents like ethanol and take advantage of meaningful benefits:

• Alcohol is already present in or utilized to produce many foods and beverages.

• The use of an alcohol-based solvent enables companies to produce clean-label products that appeal to health-conscious consumers.

• Alcohol-based solvents significantly improve worker-safety profiles at factories.

• Alcohol-based solvents reduce environmental impact compared to petroleum derivatives like hexane.

• Alcohol-based solvents better align with sustainability goals.

• Alcohol is a renewable source material, as ethanol can be produced from plants.

• Alcohol-based solvents facilitate easier permitting of new extraction facilities compared to hexane.

While these advantages have technically always been available, it has been impossible for alcohol-based solvent extraction to compete with hexane-based extraction at scale.

Monarc Clean Oilseed Processing, however, maintains the economic efficiency of hexane-based extraction that keeps food affordable and accessible globally.

Kris Knudson, the president of Crown, described the effort that went into creating Monarc.

“Starting from our company’s foundation of industry-leading experience in solvent-based extraction technology—and specifically over 50 years in alcohol-based extraction—our experts spent over five years developing this revolutionary technology with cutting-edge process-simulation software, our unmatched R&D resources and dozens of runs at our state-of-the-art Innovation Center,” Knudson said. “We’re proud of the perseverance and hard work of our team and are thrilled to introduce Monarc to the industry and the world.”

Dave MacLennan, former Cargill CEO and a member of CPM’s board of directors, shared his perspective on Monarc’s potential.

“What makes Monarc such a remarkable innovation is that it’s safer, it’s clean label and it’s something that those in the world of food processing and agriculture will increasingly want to have in their food,” he said. “I think Monarc is going to be game-changing for the industry.”

CPM|Crown completed its first sale of Monarc in 2025 to a commercial-scale facility.

Installation will take place in Europe.

Crown invites customers to test and sample its products using Monarc technology at CPM|Crown’s Global Innovation Center.

For more information about Monarc, contact crownsales@cpm.net or 651-639-8900.

Crown, a division of CPM Holdings Inc., is a 147-year-old Minnesota-based global company with additional offices in the U.K., Argentina, Brazil, Singapore, China, Netherlands and Mexico.