Natural Products Canada invests in botanicals extraction company

September 27, 2017

VANCOUVER

A Vancouver-based company with a powerful ‘made in Canada’ extraction technology just got a financial boost.

Natural Products Canada, a not-for-profit entity that streamlines commercialization of natural products, has invested in Mazza Innovation Ltd. and its unique PhytoClean™ extraction technology. NPC was one of several institutional and individual investors in Mazza’s $3-million financing round.

“NPC is very proud to partner with Mazza and the other investors in this opportunity,” says Shelley King, Chief Executive Officer of Natural Products Canada. “Mazza has a proven technology, high growth potential in an expanding market, and a service that can benefit the whole natural products industry.”

Mazza’s PhytoClean™ extraction technology serves a global clientele of companies striving to meet the demands of customers seeking pure ingredients in their nutraceuticals, cosmetics, flavourings, colourings, pharmaceuticals, and functional foods and beverages. The innovative water-based extraction process concentrates bioactives by pressurizing water at moderate temperatures, providing better yields and higher purities than industrial solvents.

“Demand for Mazza’s botanical ingredients requires us to more than double our production capacity,” said Mazza Innovation’s CEO, Benjamin Lightburn. The financing from Natural Products Canada and others will allow Mazza to meet that need through the construction of a second extractor processing unit that is 20 percent more productive than its first commercial extractor. The investment also contributed to Mazza hiring three senior managers and adding three members to the production team.

The PhytoClean™ technology is a true Canadian success story. Originally developed by Dr. Giuseppi (Joe) Mazza when he was a researcher with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Mazza recognized its potential to deliver a fully natural product. Subsequently, he and his partners obtained a patent and went on to found Mazza Innovation. Today, in addition to supplying the extraction service to global leaders in the supplement industry — among them Naturex, Chromadex and Life Extension — Mazza Innovation is developing plans to launch proprietary ingredients for the global health supplement markets.

For more information, contact:

Sue Coueslan

VP, Communications and Stakeholder Relations

Natural Products Canada

[email protected]

Natural Products Canada (NPC) is a not-for-profit organization with a vision to make Canada flourish as the Silicon Valley of natural products. It aims to align, expand and optimize the Canadian natural products ecosystem to accelerate the development of products and technology platforms that bring real value to real customers. NPC was established in 2016 and is funded by a range of public and private investors, including the Government of Canada’s Centre of Excellence in Commercialization and Research (CECR) program, administered by the Networks of Centres of Excellence. Visit www.naturalproductscanada.com

Mazza Innovation specializes in extracting solvent-free bioactives from botanical sources for use as ingredients in functional foods, dietary supplements, natural food colourings/flavourings, and personal care and cosmetics products. Mazza’s environmentally friendly PhytoClean™ pressurized water extraction process produces ingredients that are free of any carrier compounds or residual solvents. The company is fully certified as GMP and organic, and currently offers 15 extract ingredients, including blueberry, green tea, cranberry (all three of which won product innovation awards at Engredea 2015), flaxseed and algae. Based in Vancouver, Canada, Mazza’s portfolio of award-winning ingredients gives product manufacturers the opportunity to tap into consumer demand for high-quality, 100% clean-label products, all while preserving a healthy planet. Visit www.mazzainnovation.com.