The hidden properties of many New Zealand seafood species will be explored and revealed at a new marine extract factory that has just opened in Blenheim, Marlborough. The $20 million+ Bioactives Innovation Center is the brainchild of New Zealand’s largest seafood company, Sanford, and it will make the most of the beneficial properties of several underappreciated marine products from around the world. ‘Aotearoa.
Sanford chief innovation officer Andrew Stanley said the plant would do two key things.
“First, Sanford Bioactives will take marine products that we already know have beneficial properties. These include products like Greenshell Mussel Powder, which has proven anti-inflammatory and joint health benefits. We already make it, we already sell it, it is very popular. Our new Bioactives center introduces new technologies and equipment that give us a chance to double and eventually quadruple our production.
“Second, there are the new areas of marine extracts and science that we will explore. Some of these are confidential for commercial reasons, but the potential is huge, given that Sanford is a fishing and dredging company. aquaculture that works with over 100 different marine species. We already know quite a bit about some of their hidden properties and we will work to uncover more. This science is done with great partners like Cawthron, Plant & Food and the “Massey University. And our factory in Blenheim will host a lot of that work.”
Sanford CEO Peter Reidie said some of the products Sanford will manufacture in Blenheim may sound like science fiction the first time you hear about them.
“Hoki dermal collagen is one of them. Sanford has produced this on a relatively small scale. We extract the collagen from the hoki skins and then one of our partners turns it into nanofiber. This fiber is then woven into beauty masks that melt over time. moist skin contact, delivering the collagen deep into the dermis.These are selling in South Korea, showing that there is huge potential for growth and upscaling of a product, in this case a skin of fish, which many people would previously have considered waste.
“It’s all part of Sanford’s strategy to improve value utilization of all fish and eliminate waste. We see this approach as the key to sustainability and adding value to New Zealand’s precious seafood.
“Blenheim is now world renowned as the center of fine New Zealand wine. We believe it can and should become famous as a hotbed of marine products and extracts that can take the world by storm.
The Sanford Bioactive Centers are creating new jobs for scientists and technicians in Marlborough. It will eventually employ up to 48 people.
Mr. Reidie says, “What we already know is very exciting – more jobs, better value for our seafood – but what we don’t yet know is just as exciting. What are the products of the future that will come out of this factory? It can be anything from new beauty products to compounds with medical benefits. There is so much potential in seafood like our Greenshell mussels, which are unique to New Zealand, and we can’t wait to see what our Bioactives team does in the future.
