The search for effective, sustainable ingredients remains constant in a rapidly evolving cosmetics industry. Startup Gaia Tech uses food by-products to create high-performance ingredients that meet the industry's need to respond to growing consumer and regulatory pressure for sustainability.
Peels, pulp, pomace, pits, shells, hulls, skins, seeds and other food by-products are often a burden for producers and must be disposed of at some cost. Gaia Tech founder Claudio Reinhard has seen first-hand how large quantities of olive oil production residues create environmental problems in Spain.
Back at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, he developed a process for extracting high-quality antioxidants from olive pomace.
The innovative treatment begins by separating the solid and liquid components of the olive pomace. The liquid part then passes through a material specially designed to absorb the antioxidants. The absorber is made from a fully biodegradable material and can be used several times before being applied as an agricultural fertilizer at the end of its life cycle. In the final stage, the antioxidant extract is purified for incorporation into industrial products.
The demand for natural antioxidants is strong in industry. The startup's first product, an antioxidant olive extract, is currently being tested by leading industrial partners for a variety of applications, from anti-aging cosmetics to natural food preservation. One cosmetics industry researcher claims that Gaia Tech has "the best antioxidant technology they've tested to date". Analytical trials have been launched in the cosmetics sector, and a dossier has been submitted to Efsa (European Food Safety Authority) for use in food.
Following a successful spin-off from ETH Zurich, Gaia Tech has closed a first round of financing and secured support from the Migros Pioneer Fund, Innosuisse, the Berne Economic Development Agency and the University of Agricultural, Forestry and Food Sciences (HAFL). The company aims to expand its product range and apply its technology to other types of agri-food by-products, to help the industry fully replace synthetic and fossil ingredients.
