Naturex wants to give a boost to the pace of its innovations, with the aim to shape the future of the ingredient industry and to generate 10% sales through new product developments by 2020. The French headquartered supplier of speciality plant-based natural ingredients wants to go beyond traditional partnerships with academic and scientific authorities or simple licensing agreements.

“In a climate of constant change, collaboration and open-mindedness are essential,” explains Naturex.

As part of this open innovation initiative, Naturex intends to partner with new start-up companies whose promising business ideas and technologies may be valuable to the company’s development. Partnerships will include extensive advice and mentoring on various levels, (regulatory, legal, logistics, marketing etc.) and Naturex will also make its facilities - for example the analytical or application labs- available to the chosen candidates. Naturex is also planning to establish a Technology Advisory Group (TAG), which will include highly respected technology business actors and/or key academic opinion leaders.

Privileged research areas shall include biotechnologies, new extraction and cultivation processes, identification of new botanicals or digital marketing technologies.

Doug Klaiber, CEO of Naturex-DBS division, has been asked to set up this Open Innovation Initiative. “Doug’s background as an entrepreneur in innovative ingredients at Decas Botanical Synergies (DBS), a company acquired by Naturex in 2012, make him the ideal candidate for this mission,” explains the company.

Naturex and Mazza Innovation partner for the production cranberry extracts

Canadian company Mazza Innovation will use its patented pressurized low-polarity water (PLPW) extraction technology to produce cranberry extracts exclusively for Naturex.

The PhytoClean Method is an earth-friendly way to extract bioactives from plants using only water and produces clean, non-solvent-derived ingredients. The green technology efficiently extracts bioactive compounds, including polyphenols, alkaloids, glycosides and specialty carbohydrates that can be used as ingredients for functional foods, dietary supplements and beauty products.

“This open innovation partnership with Mazza Ltd is a great opportunity to bring the global market new natural clean-label ingredients using environmental friendly technologies. As one of the foremost companies in the field of natural healthcare solutions, Naturex is fully aware of the importance of supporting innovative ideas and processes from various sources. The collaboration with Mazza Ltd is one of the first steps in our recently-launched global open innovation program,” said Olivier Rigaud, CEO of Naturex.