The investment is enabling Mazza to install innovative drying technology and expand its laboratory.
This expansion will help Mazza to meet growing global demand for phytonutrients, which give plants their vibrant colours and are used as an ingredient for functional foods, dietary supplements, and cosmetics and beauty products.
Mazza also provides custom services and analyses for companies and partners with unique proprietary botanical ingredient challenges and opportunities.
This funding builds on a previous $300,000 federal investment the company received to develop an advanced new method of extracting phytonutrients and bioactives from plants using the most natural solvent possible: water.
"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," stated Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities, Carla Qualtrough in a presentation at Mazza’s head office.
"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," said Benjamin Lightburn, President of Mazza Innovation Ltd.
Mazza’s PhytoClean fully natural 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. Mazza also won innovation awards for its ingredients at the 2015 Engredea tradeshow in Anaheim (CA, US).
