A Swedish start-up promising near‑zero nitrogen leakage is betting that soaring fertiliser prices, stricter EU regulation and geopolitical instability will finally push farmers to rethink how nutrients are delivered to crops
Niklas Astrom got more than a few raised eyebrows when he turned up in Brazil. He was there as the chief executive of Arevo, a company promising a revolutionary approach to fertilising soy. His only problem was that he had come from the edges of the Arctic Circle in northern Sweden, hardly renowned for the warm, sunny conditions soy needs to thrive.
“I made a presentation, and everybody was looking at me like, ‘Do you really know what you’re talking about?’” he chuckles.
Luckily for Arevo, it seems he talked them around. The firm now hopes to enter the Brazilian market by the end of next year and is already scouting potential sites for a local factory.
A fertiliser designed to stop nitrogen losses
Arevo’s pitch is a fertiliser that combines arginine – a nitrogen‑rich amino acid – with phosphate to help soil retain nutrients more effectively. Unlike traditional fertilisers, which can lose 60-70% of their nitrogen through leaching, Astrom says Arevo’s losses are “close to zero”.
This, he claims, translates into a 4-6% boost in crop performance compared to conventional fertilisers.
Arevo initially focused on soy, as one of the world’s most economically important crops, but the company has since expanded into corn and hopes to launch a winter wheat product by the autumn.
Arginine is transformative because its positive charge acts like a magnet in the soil, Astrom explains. Traditional fertilisers, by contrast, are negatively charged and wash out easily. “That’s where the big difference is,” he says. “That’s why we don’t have any leakage.”
A crowded market with a credibility problem
Sustainable fertilisers often come wrapped in grand claims, even in the hyperbolic world of agtech – something Astrom says he knows all too well.
“It’s a very crowded market,” he says. “We’re fighting more than 1,000 companies trying to find the Holy Grail.”
Many of those products, he argues, fail to deliver. “There has been a mess with too many products that don’t do what they promise,” Astrom says, blaming a lack of regulation that has allowed ineffective products onto the market.
He is particularly sceptical of microbial biostimulants, which claim to use bacteria or fungi to stimulate nutrient uptake. Often they’re dead – “it’s just brown water,” he says. Products containing multiple amino acids can also cause unintended plant stress, he adds.
This has made farmers wary of bold claims – including Arevo’s. “If you go to a farmer today and say, ‘I have a biostimulant,’ they’ll say: ‘Sorry, I’ve tried so many – it doesn’t work,’” Astrom says.
Regulation, pricing pressure and a shifting mood
EU regulation introduced in 2022 may start to restore trust. Under the new rules, fertiliser products must demonstrate a positive impact on crop performance, although the multi‑year testing process means the full effect of the legislation is still emerging.
“That will probably clean up the whole market,” Astrom predicts. “Of course, we still need to convince farmers this isn’t snake oil.”
That task may be getting easier. Global fertiliser prices have surged following the near‑total closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which more than 30% of global fertiliser supplies pass.
“I talk to farmers every day and they’re worried,” Astrom says. “It’s not just about price. It’s whether they’ll actually be able to source enough fertiliser for the 2027 season.”
Scale, speed and the Tesla ambition
Whether geopolitical shocks – including the war in Iran – prompt long‑term change remains uncertain. Prices spiked following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, only to later ease. Regulation may prove the stronger driver.
The European Commission is expected to present its latest fertiliser action plan in May, outlining how it plans to tackle affordability while accelerating decarbonisation.
“You never know,” Astrom says. “If the EU decides we need to phase out mineral fertiliser within five years…”
If demand were to surge, Arevo says it is ready. “Scale isn’t our problem,” Astrom claims. “We can build a factory in a container and ship it anywhere. That takes about three months, with relatively low investment. I can probably build a factory in Europe for €3 million. It’s not that complicated.”
What could slow the company is its own caution. Arevo insists on running two seasons of field trials in each country before launch to prove performance under local conditions.
Trials are under way in Germany, Austria, Hungary and Italy. Registration in Ukraine is pending, understandably taking longer. Astrom expects commercial rollout to begin next year.
Arevo has the feel of a company riding powerful tailwinds. If Europe accelerates a shift away from conventional fertilisers while prices remain elevated due to instability in the Middle East, the industry may be forced to change quickly.
Astrom clearly hopes Arevo will be at the centre of that shift. “We would like to find a way where we can do the Tesla thing and shift the whole industry.”
