Extracta eyes off food waste as raw material

Green manufacturer Extracta is set to utilise agricultural waste such as sugarcane husks, grape marc (skins and seeds) and orange peel to produce high-quality ingredients for the nutraceutical, food and cosmetic industries.

Extracta CEO Rod Lewis said that sister company MediKane already uses sugarcane fibre, grape by-products and pectin from orange peel to produce plant-based complementary medicine products.

“(We are) 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.”

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 and berries.

There are also potential export opportunities for Extracta products, with the company 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.”

The company’s first plant to process sugarcane fibre will be located in Brisbane, and the second in Orange, NSW to process grape marc.

The production facilities will be relocatable and can move with seasonality, so they are not limited to one product or season.

“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.”

Extracta is 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.

Picture: Extracta