Media Release by Extracta
Extracta, an Australian manufacturer, will shortly start utilising agricultural waste like sugarcane husks, grape marc (skins and seeds) and orange peel (after juicing) to produce high-quality ingredients for the nutraceutical, food and cosmetic industries.
Rod Lewis, Extracta’s CEO says that his company is turning agriculture waste into raw materials for complementary medicines like those made by sister company MediKane that uses sugarcane fibre, grape by-products and pectin from orange peel to produce plant-based complementary medicine products.
“Called Extracta because the company is extracting value from agricultural surplus, we’re pioneers in this sector. This saves agricultural producers money because they won’t have to send waste to landfill and benefits the environment by diverting agricultural waste from landfill. Plus, we’re re-establishing the manufacturing of several ingredients like pectin in Australia,” said Lewis.
“There are other companies who use agricultural waste like grape marc, but unlike most others, we will be utilising 100 per cent of waste rather than just one element,” he added.
Extracta sees many other opportunities beyond extracting ingredients from the waste of sugar cane, citrus and wine production including the waste from mangoes, avocadoes, stone fruits, watermelons, soy, berries, and more. There are also potential export opportunities for many more Extracta products. The company’s executives are attending a US trade show in October to identify distributors.
“We have already secured $2.5 million with two government grants through the Fight Food Waste Cooperative Research Centre. One of these will allow us to set up a production facility in Queensland in partnership with Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and the other to develop high-value medical products in conjunction with Macquarie University,” said Rod Lewis.
The first plant to process sugarcane fibre will be located in Brisbane, and the second in Orange to process grape marc. The production facilities built by Extracta in rural and urban locations will create local jobs and return processing to regional locations. The production facility will also be relocatable and can move with seasonality, not limited to one product or season – grapes, sugarcane, apples, citrus and many more.
“We are also working closely with key players in the wine industry including Tamburlaine Wines in Orange. The partnership with Tamburlaine will result in a joint production facility in Orange to process wine marc for pectin, tartaric acid and tannins,” added Lewis.
The company is engaging with interested investors in the Australian agricultural sector, and speaking with US investors who are keen to establish an Extracta business in that market.
Extracta is currently seeking capital for marketing and sales activities ahead of its first product launch in Australia in three months to be followed by a US market launch in 2023 where it already has active sales networks.
Australian food waste costs the country US$20 billion per annum, which is more than seven million tonnes of food each year.
