September 1, 2010,
Champlain, Que – The Government of Canada has invested nearly $4.4 million to
help Nutra Canada develop a facility for producing fruit, vegetable and
medicinal plant extracts that will benefit Canadian producers.
September 1, 2010,
Champlain, Que – The Government of Canada has invested nearly $4.4 million to
help Nutra Canada develop a facility for producing fruit, vegetable and
medicinal plant extracts that will benefit Canadian producers.
Nutra Canada Inc.’s new
manufacturing facility uses an innovative process to extract the bioactive
substances from fruits, vegetables and medicinal plants to be sold as
ingredients to manufacturers of nutraceuticals, cosmetics and functional foods.
This project is expected to create significant demand for medicinal plants,
fruits and vegetables, including ginseng, blueberries, strawberries,
cranberries, spinach and broccoli.
The project has other
economic and environmental benefits. It has already created 11 new jobs and is
expected to create 16 in total by 2012. The new process uses plant residues
from food processing facilities to produce the extracts, reducing the amount of
waste going to landfills.
“We truly appreciate the
federal government’s financial, professional and scientific support,” said
Nutra Canada Inc. president André Gosselin, adding that his company is proud to
contribute to adding value to fruits and vegetables grown and processed in
Canada.
Federal funding for
Nutra Canada was provided by several sources:
- nearly $1.7 million to
the project from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), including up to $1.5
million in repayable funding under the Agri-Opportunities Program, and up to
$227,000 under the Developing Innovative Agri-Products Initiative, - $1.9 million from
Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), - $682,500 from Canada
Economic Development for Quebec regions (CED), and - $66,000 from the
National Research Council’s Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP).
NRC-IRAP also provided
technical expertise and helped increase the company’s innovation capabilities
by introducing the company to experts, providing intelligence on technical and
commercial issues and on intellectual property (patents), and offering support
in obtaining additional funding from other partners.
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