A Look at A Beauty With Native Extracts

Who is NATIVE EXTRACTS?​
New Plant Profiles - New Access to Natural Vitamin C

NATIVE EXTRACTS is an Australian company leading the evolution of the plant extract through multiple scientific methodologies, new technology development and conscious manufacturing in the pursuit to expand knowledge and access to analytic results of natural phyto-compound profiles. As a result of our extraction innovations, back in 2012-13 we publicly launched an unprecedented library of water-soluble profiles on Australian Natives, most of which had not been seen before. We also announced our breakthrough in the ability to harness the natural Vitamin C molecule in an aqueous format and have further expanded our capabilities in holding the highly unstable molecule for over 24 months, as well as new concentration levels in our recently launched EssenXce range, nutrient-dense liquids, where we achieved 15,000-16,000mg/100g natural Vitamin C in the ESS Kakadu Plum EssenXce 5:1. We strive to provide traceable, transparent and 'true to nature' ingredients that go beyond the molecules, but tell bigger stories about biodiversity, unique botanical species, conscious manufacturing practices, building partnerships and science-backed R&D on plant profiling. Due to industry recognition of our continued advances, expertise and quality work we are chosen to do R&D and commercialise high value crops for Cosmetics, Hair Care, Pharmaceutical and Nutraceutical development, Food & Beverage. We are evolving into a biotech company that offers more than ingredients, but engages R&D partnerships (commercial and university driven) for natural solutions to human problems.

"Our vision was simple but complex, like nature - to develop a range that truly delivers the power of nature, and is unique, innovative, creates new points of difference and gives brands access to the natural molecules in their entourage as they exist in the species. We are more than high value natural ingredients, and so are our brand partners. We are conscious manufacturers that focus on energy efficiency, significant water saving practices, recycling and composting waste. We value close collaborations with our partners from brands to manufacturers and growers, with a mission to improve Indigenous enterprise and inclusion throughout our supply chain across direct sourcing and co-ops. I dove into the cosmetic ingredients space knowing that there was so much room to improve the quality of extracts, to create new formats, to research unique species and share the discoveries for other to innovate with, to collaborate with brands to translate research into innovative natural products, and to diversify and strengthen our primary industry. We are now chosen by growers to be their scale and commercialisation partners, creating new market for them, whilst serving as a platform for new access to world-first innovations and discoveries. We are only at the beginning of an explosion of global research and new knowledge of what botanicals can offer as solutions across multiple industry sectors,"says Lisa Carroll, Innovator and Director.

Interview with Native Extracts

Q - Tell us about your company. What inspired you to get into the cosmetic ingredients industry?  

A - “We wanted to do something “true”, “natural” and “circular” that connected brands and consumers to their ingredients – in and out of the NE Labs. Our brands love to visit our labs for video shoots to share how their natural heroes are created form raw biomass into the liquids that deliver what nature creates through their product(s). We wanted to share our research to inspire innovation, grow knowledge and support the growth of inclusive primary industries.” – Lisa Carroll, NATIVE EXTRACTS’ Director & Innovator

Our initial inspiration was simple, yet game changing at the time. Our journey started in 2012. It’s a big story and continues to evolve as we learn and discover more, but these were our key motivators…

• We were determined to create a “True to Nature” extract that delivered the natural water-soluble molecules available in botanicals, both from traditional popular species as well as unique, lesser known species. We wanted to offer highly valuable water-soluble compounds, specifically in their entourage, presented with their concert of other compounds as they exist in the cell, as nature designed. We built a library of water-soluble compounds and their sources that at the time was considered unprecedented.

 

• Driven to break new ground in the botanical extract industry in, we developed a new category called Cellular ExtractionTM, which delivers a species' synergistic water-soluble phyto-compound profile, unachievable through traditional methods. We transfer water-soluble phyto-compounds across the cell membrane and suspend them in a liquid matrix ready for formulation. We've advanced our methodologies and now bring our advances into the nutraceuticals and ingestibles categories with our highly concentrated, liquid Native EssenXce range as well. 

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• We wanted to offer better understandings of water-soluble plant profiles - The industry was used to plant profiles of essential oils and vegetable oils, but was light on understanding species’ water-soluble profiles. Essential oils delivered the volatile plant profiles and vegetable oils delivered the fatty acid profiles of a species, but the water-soluble phyto-compound profiles had not been a major focus in the industry, which is interesting given how a plant operates and the importance of creating and storing these compounds. The market was missing out on this, and often the past processes of maceration/percolation extraction was destructive to the natural molecules, which is partly why synthetic standardisation was heavily relied on. We saw the Botanical Extract ingredient category as the missing compound profile story of a plant, an untapped reservoir of phyto-nutrients for Cosmetics, Hair Care, Pharmaceuticals, Nutraceuticals and Beverages.

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• We wanted to meet the need for traceability and transparency – “I recognised the importance of the growers’ role in providing quality raw materials and the brands’ need to connect their products back to the botanicals’ source. In terms of the Australian Natives, we wanted to connect with Indigenous growers, which was very difficult in the earlier days. It took me 9 months to finally find an Indigenous Enterprise to supply us with Kakadu Plum,” says Lisa Carroll. 
• Positive impact on people and planet – We saw our opportunity to create an inclusive company that promoted new primary industries, had more conscious manufacturing practices (such as dramatically reducing the amount of plant matter used in extraction, which prevents over harvesting, and shortening extraction time for improved energy efficiency). We wanted to offer concentrates to reduce emissions and the footprint of freight. We also created methodologies where the only “waste” is composted biomass, and our rain-harvested (and treated) water used in extractions saves the local public supply at approx. 1000L/day. Next is solar panels!

 
The Background
Back in 2012, we discovered that the botanical extract market didn’t offer a great depth of data/analysis on the botanical extracts to help formulators and brands learn more on why they would use a plant extract. The market appeared to be light on plant profiling, and more anecdotal.
 
Generally, we found that most of the extracts we investigated were either lacking in information on what was in the extract, often had very little botanical matter in the breakdown and often presented clear (water white) which surprised us. There was a great deal of synthetically standardised options. At the time there was very little reference to delivering the natural molecules of the botanical species, and as a result it also correlated with the industry not recognising the phyto-compound value of a botanical extract and often added them into the end of a formulation for a label/packaging claim.
 
We also discovered that very little data was available on Australian Native botanicals, both direct analysis and analysis of water-soluble phyto-compound profiles. We began extracting and analysing plant profiles of species that had never been profiled before or had very little data on them. Many were considered only for the “bushfood industry” and we shared our findings with the world on what Australian species cold offer. We began our journey to build a library of one of the world’s largest megadiversities and inspire others to discover what is has to share.
 
Fast forward to 2021, we see the global industry recognising Cellular Extraction™, and flattered by competitors inspired to mimic our story and practices. There is so much work to be done, and we have been at the forefront of this change. It is nature that does the hard work, and we are interested in exploring the plants that have efficiently evolved unique phyto-compound profiles to survive Australia’s harsh environments.
 
To be honest we were surprised, as this was a new sector for us to enter, and we quickly identified there was a big gap in the Cosmetic and Hair Care market for more information on botanical extracts and what compounds they delivered. The market clearly wanted more natural, traceable sources of ingredients and was moving away from synthetic formats. We continue to build our business based on brands’ and formulators’ demand for more transparent ingredients. On the back of the food safety and traceability movement, consumers are questioning their ingredients more than ever, and we help brands provide natural, plant-based sources.
 

Q -What makes your ingredients unique?  Tell us more about Australian ingredients? 
A - Our ingredients uniqueness is two-fold: the culmination of our innovative extraction processes that draws on existing technologies with new methodologies, and inhouse built technology, plus our selection, research and discovery of unique species, and processes that reduce our impact on the planet.

• Experience combined with innovation : Our team’s expertise across multiple extraction disciplines spans beyond our own process, and leverages new methodologies to existing equipment to achieve new ingredient benchmarks. Over half the technical team has extensive experience at Southern Cross University Plant Science Analytical Services Laboratories, and our senior Biochemist and Biotechnologists have had multiple scientific papers published and reviewed.

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• Strict quality assurance : In addition to our own range of inhouse physical testing (including Total Count microbes, Vit C, Peroxide values and more), our 3rd party plant profile testing and compliance means trust in your ingredients – ISO9001:2015 and Food Grade compliances, along with Organic Certification.

 

• "Full traceability chain of custody from extract batch to grower"

 

• A new frontier to the water-soluble story a species can offer : Our Hydrophilic Cellular Extract is unlike any other hydrophilic extraction process, harnessing a multitude and diversity of compounds and derivatives from a species. Not only is our methodology unique, but we've chosen specific species, both traditional botanicals and Australian natives, that offer distinct benefits, such as Kakadu Plum. Our Kakadu Plum Cellular Extract and now our Kakadu Plum Native EssenXce, have set new benchmarks for activity and concentration of natural vitamin C at 16,000mg/100g (stable for over 24 months). This range suspends what the species has created at the time of harvest. Applying our processes and understanding of solubilities and compounds of interest, we build new profiles of some of the most popular extracts used. Now, brands have stronger “natural” stories, translating botanicals’ natural molecules, in their water-soluble plant profile (entourage).

 

• Oil-soluble botanical infusions : We have created new Australian oil-soluble heroes for new points of difference in “waterless” applications, leveraging our high speed infusion process we developed to reduce oxidation.