Botanical expansion: Sensient Technologies acquires Mazza Innovation

13 Jul 2018 --- Sensient Technologies Corporation, a global supplier of colors, flavors and fragrances, has acquired Canadian botanical extraction company Mazza Innovation. Effective immediately, the acquisition comes just one week after Mazza Innovation announced an exclusive, long-term supply agreement with BASF, under which the Canadian company will use its PhytoClean Method to provide BASF with specific plant extracts to develop new solutions for cosmetic applications. Mazza Innovation CEO Benjamin Lightburn tells NutritionInsight that the terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed, adding that the company will continue to support all of its existing customers, including BASF and this partnership.

Employment at the company‘s expanding Delta BC facility will reportedly be unaffected and expansion plans will remain in place. 

“We’re very pleased to join Sensient Technologies, a world leader in the production of colors, flavors and fragrances,” Lightburn says. “The acquisition by Sensient provides Mazza with a large new customer base, and a wide variety of new opportunities for our environmentally friendly extraction technology. It also provides a strong financial base for our rapid growth plans while also enabling our founders to benefit from their many years spent working to develop and commercialize this world-leading technology.”

“This acquisition is extremely significant for Sensient and our customers. The combination of our color and flavor expertise and Mazza’s revolutionary technology will allow us to conduct extraction from natural plant sources using environmentally friendly extraction methods – including water only extractions – instead of traditional chemical solvents. This technology will enable us to work with leading food, cosmetics, and nutraceutical brands to create cost-effective, clean label products that deliver on consumer expectations for taste, color, and functionality,” says Paul Manning, Chairman, President and CEO of Sensient Technologies.

Support from a number of Canadian government programs and non-profit innovation associations was fundamental to proving out Mazza’s technology and the company’s subsequent rapid growth, the company reports in a press release. 
 
“We also want to thank the many government and innovation support programs that enabled us to develop and accelerate our commercialization over the last few years,” adds Lightburn. “Programs and groups such as the Governments of Canada and British Columbia, Agriculture Canada, NRC-IRAP, WD WINN and Natural Products Canada were invaluable to our company and other small emerging firms. We’re also happy to report that all of these were either repaid in full or at a profit. They are valuable programs.” 
 
The PhytoClean Method is a water-based extraction process that concentrates bioactives by pressurizing water at moderate temperatures, greatly increasing the water’s ability to solubilize bioactive compounds from botanical sources. In effect, this extraction process provides as good as or better yields and purities than industrial chemical solvents. 

This environmentally friendly, clean process can be applied to extract a wide range of compounds for use in nutraceuticals, cosmetics, flavorings, colorings, pharmaceuticals, functional foods and beverages. 

By Lucy Gunn