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Help Us Elevate the Value of Porcine Co-Products

Sustainable Swine Resources (SSR), a subsidiary of Johnsonville LLC, is seeking breakthrough ideas that transform unused porcine tissue, blood, bone, skin, organs, and fat into higher-value products and sustainable innovations. Researchers, students, entrepreneurs, laboratories, and industry professionals are invited to submit concepts. Monetary awards will be granted to the top submissions at the close of the challenge.

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Understanding the Opportunity

SSR produces a broad range of porcine co-product streams—blood, hides, bones, organs, tissue, and fat. Many of these materials are currently sold into low-value markets such as rendering or traditional leather production. Yet they contain significant untapped potential for use in higher-value, specialized industries.
Our mission is to move these materials up the value chain. SSR is actively exploring markets such as specialty ingredients, medical devices, bioprinting, and regenerative medicine. With limited internal processing capacity, external innovation is essential. Ideas may include new intermediate products, technologies SSR could adopt, or collaborative opportunities with premium buyers.

Help Us Elevate the Value of Porcine Co-Products

A Medium-Sized Harvester

SSR operates primarily with sow-sized animals in Wisconsin, Kansas, and Canada. Larger animals produce stronger, more biologically active materials compared to butcher-sized pigs.

Facilities Built for Life Sciences

Each plant includes designated spaces for materials used in medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and premium applications, with some items already flowing directly into wound-care and drug manufacturing pathways.

Flexibility Advantage

With flexible processing lines and dedicated technicians, SSR preserves biological functionality; ideal for advanced biomaterials and high-value extraction processes.

What SSR Is Looking For

We are seeking solutions that meaningfully improve the value and sustainability of our porcine co-products. Strong proposals will demonstrate an understanding of market needs, operational feasibility, and pathways to commercialization.
  • Unlock higher-value uses or premium markets
  • Expand sales to new buyer groups
  • Show a clear route to commercialization, including regulatory and scalability considerations

Areas of Interest

SSR welcomes ideas from established and emerging fields. Your proposal may fit within one of the industries below—or introduce a new opportunity we haven’t yet explored.

Biotechnology

Functional proteins, ECM materials, and tissue culture components.

Medical Devices & Diagnostics

Hydroxyapatite, bioinks, and graft materials.

Medical/Surgical Applications

Regenerative scaffolds, heparin alternatives, wound-care biomaterials.

Nutraceuticals & Functional Foods

Collagen peptides, plasma-based ingredients, immunity-support compounds.

Pet Food & Animal Nutrition

High-protein feed, immune health plasma, specialized nutrition inputs.

Cosmetics & Personal Care

Collagen, gelatin, and bio-active ingredients for beauty products.

Advanced Materials

Bioprinting materials, sustainable packaging, and engineered biomaterials.

Emerging Opportunities

Any application that provides a credible route to a high-value buyer or differentiated market.

What Winning Ideas Look Like

SSR welcomes ideas from established and emerging fields. Your proposal may fit within one of the industries below—or introduce a new opportunity we haven’t yet explored.

To be considered among the top five winners, proposals must demonstrate strong commercial and technical potential. Ideas should be rooted in real use cases that reflect a clear understanding of SSR’s material streams.

Evaluators also look for regulatory viability—whether in food, medical, environmental, or international frameworks—as well as sustainability benefits and genuine innovation compared to current market solutions.

Winning submissions typically include:
  • A direct and necessary use of porcine co-products
  • A clear and viable sales pathway into premium or specialty markets
  • Potential for long-term partnerships with manufacturers, processors, or R&D groups
  • Feasibility at SSR’s scale and operational footprint

Areas Not of Interest

The challenge does not include solutions focused on low-value or commodity pathways unless they are part of a larger, step-by-step strategy that leads to premium market value.
  • Biodiesel production via conventional rendering
  • Traditional composting, bulk rendering, or landfill diversion
  • Commodity products without a clear value-elevation strategy
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