www.foodtechnology.co.nz 39
flavours and experiences, and I want to bring
the exciting new experiences from the restaurant
and café back into our home’, and ‘I am
just looking to eat real food. Oats really fits this
brief. We are over all the fads and rules – so
confusing - and I am looking to simplify things’.
In terms of the ‘baby boomer’ segment, we
are aware this group is growing, typically has
high disposable income and is very interested
in their health. They wish to optimise their
longevity, and want to correct some of their lifestyle
‘excesses’/’vices’ of the past, improving
their present quality of life. Within this ‘health
concern’ area, we know that New Zealanders
have some of the highest average cholesterol
levels in the world, and it is estimated 90%
of Kiwi adults could benefit by lowering their
blood cholesterol. High blood cholesterol can
cause cardiovascular disease, the leading cause
of death in New Zealand including heart, stroke
and blood vessel disease. Every 90 minutes a
New Zealander dies from heart disease - many
of these deaths are premature and preventable.
Harraways has used many of these insights
to create and launch four new. Oat Singles
product launches over the past 18 months. The
first two launches accompanied Harraways’
150th birthday celebrations in 2017 with two
new birthday Oat Singles products available in
supermarkets nationally. The two flavours were
the ‘Birthday Berry Bonanza’ (a multipack) and
the ‘Chia, Coconut and Cranberry Celebration’
(single flavour) options. At the core of these
new products were a number of the drivers
identified for ‘active mums’. I am pleased to
say we have achieved some real success with
these two new products, with both variants
well established within Foodstuffs nationally
and steadily growing. Initial six- month IRI
data to December 2017 has shown dollar sales
growth of more than 120% for both variants
over the initial six-month sell period. Based on
the ‘boomer’ and ‘health and wellness’ data,
we have just launched a hot cereal ‘first’ in oats
- the launch of our Oat-activ range. Harraways
Oat-activ is a new fortified, single-serve oats
mix, delivering a ‘double action’ in reducing
blood cholesterol levels via the addition of natural
plant sterols, combined with beta glucan (a
soluble fibre, naturally occurring in oats). Both
plant sterols and beta glucan are scientifically
proven to reduce cholesterol absorption, based
on daily intake of 3g of beta glucan or 2g of
plant sterols. We have already achieved some
high quality accolades for Oat-activ, and initial
sell-in is going well with strong support from
supermarket store managers throughout New
Zealand. These stores clearly see the potential
for this new fortified single serve oats mix.
The KiwiNet emerging
innovator programme,
open to early career
researchers based at
universities and Crown
Research Institutes
across New Zealand,
is designed to enable
researchers to partner
with a business and
refine their project
for market. It also
boosts research with a
commercial application
at a critical time. It was
established in 2015 by
the Kiwi Innovation
Network to take
scientists with a clever
idea and a willingness
to work closely with
industry to develop and
prototype. Programme
recipients receive
expert legal advice
from KiwiNet corporate
partner Minter Ellison
Rudd Watts and IP
advice from Baldwins,
as well as $25,000
in cash towards the
project from donations
from the Norman F.
B. Barry Foundation,
which owns the Quality
Hotel Parnell. KiwiNet
partners are Plant
& Food Research,
Callaghan Innovation,
AgResearch, Otago
Innovation, Landcare
Research, Lincoln
University, University
of Canterbury, Viclink,
WaikatoLink, AUT
Enterprises Ltd,
Cawthron Institute,
Environmental Science
& Research, NIWA,
Scion, GNS Science
and Malaghan Institute.
Principal support
is also provided
by the Ministry of
Business, Innovation &
Employment.
FUNDING BOOST
A ‘green’ chemistry project creating specialised lipids
for use in nutraceutical and functional food manufacture
has received a $25,000 funding boost from KiwiNet’s
emerging innovator programme.
Nelson research scientist
Dr Ivan Kurtovic,
an enzymologist in
the marine industrial
biotechnology
team at Plant & Food Research,
is working on enzyme technology
that transforms lipids to have
higher levels of desirable fatty
acids for nutritive and therapeutic
applications. “The demand for
sustainable green chemistry in industrial
processes is increasing,”
he says. “Lipid transformation is
often carried out using solvents
or other techniques that are not
environmentally-friendly. I’m
exploring methods for enzymatic
interesterification that can be
used as an alternative to achieve
lipid transformations and produce
highly bioavailable lipids enriched
with Omega-3 fatty acids.” The
funding has allowed Kurtovic to
purchase several custom-built immobilised
enzyme (lipase) reactors
for transfer of the technology from
the laboratory to prototype pilot
scale. This has helped achieve
the proof of principle needed to
validate the new technology and
attract further investment. “This
is the first time I’ve been able to
scale up my enzyme research and
to test improvements in a more
industry-relevant way,” Kurtovic
says. “I’m continuing to test different
enzyme systems and optimise
the scale up process to improve
conversion and enrichment of the
final product.” Kurtovic, who completed
his PhD at McGill University
in Canada in 2011 while on sabbatical
from Plant & Food Research,
says his biggest takeaway from the
emerging innovator programme is
being able to appreciate the transition
from pure research to scale
up, and then to commercialisation.
“It’s been invaluable learning how
to simplify and present my story,
how to engage with IP experts,
to understand how research can
be commercialised and what the
steps are. I now have the confidence
to attempt further scale ups
and further applications of my research.”
KiwiNet chief executive
Dr James Hutchinson says one
of New Zealand’s fastest-growing
food export categories is nutraceuticals.
“Consumers are increasingly
interested in sustainable, natural
and environmentally friendly products.
Ivan and his team at Plant
& Food Research are developing
valuable enzymatic methods for
creating lipids for the therapeutic
market. This research represents
a great commercial opportunity
for industry, in New Zealand and
farther afield, to develop IP that can
be used in their processes.” Plant
& Food Research intellectual property
and business manager Sue
Muggleston says the entity is keen
to further develop the commercial
potential of technology such as
Kurtovic’s, and make the most of
opportunities in the nutraceuticals
market.
KIWINET
ACTION
/www.foodtechnology.co.nz
