Canadian government invests $820,000 in Mazza Innovation

Mazza Innovation will expand its plant extract production facility, following an investment of CAD 1.1 million ($820,000) from the Canadian government.

The company’s food processing technology allows it to extract phytonutrients out of leftover wine pomace and non-fermented grape juice pomace, which can then be re-injected back into the grape juice to enhance the health benefits. It is the phytonutrients that give plants their vibrant colours, and they are used as an ingredient for functional foods and dietary supplements.

The investment will enable Mazza to install innovative drying technology and expand its laboratory in Delta, British Columbia, and help it meet growing demand for phytonutrients in food and beverage products.

The latest round of funding builds on a previous CAD 300,000 investment for the development of an advanced new method of extracting phytonutrients and bioactives from plants using water.

Canadian government minister Carla Qualtrough said in a presentation at Mazza’s head office: “The government of Canada is proud to support Mazza Innovation in developing and commercialising their innovative plant extraction technology. This is a solid example of the government partnering with agri-based companies on innovations that add value to agricultural products, create good local jobs and bring economic prosperity to the agricultural sector and to our community of Delta.”

Mazza Innovation president Benjamin Lightburn said: “Mazza Innovation is pleased to receive the support of the government of Canada to assist in accelerating the commercial development of our Canadian-invented, environmentally friendly botanical extraction technology. This investment will help us meet demand for our ingredients and services from personal care, food supplement and food manufacturing companies worldwide.”

Mazza’s PhytoClean extraction process uses pressurised water as a natural solvent to extract clean phytonutrients and bioactive ingredients from plants. It can also apply this process and its in-house technical expertise to identify and analyse any botanical biomass for previously undiscovered high-value nutrients.