The announcement signals Zivo Bioscience’s efforts to build a global supply chain, anticipating increased demand for algae-based feed, food, and beverage ingredients.
President and CEO Andrew A. Dahl told NutraIngredients-USA in an interview in 2016 that it is pursuing licensing strategy, rather than trying to grow its own algae. In his view, pursuing vertical integration is a mistake that has tripped up many algae companies.
“Growing algae is just another kind of farming. People are trying to vertically integrate in algae production, and I think that is like building an entire factory to build 12 cars,” he said.
At the time, the company just changed its name from Health Enhancement Products (or HEPI) and was changing its positioning to focus on protein inherent in the straight, unrefined biomass.
As of September 2017, the company was said to be still finishing up its GRAS submission (the entry is not yet on FDA’s GRAS database). Dahl said that early 2018 is pegged as the earliest date for the target for convening a GRAS panel for the review of a self-affirmed dossier.
On this recent agreement with Norland, chief financial officer Philip M. Rice said, “The agreement in principle with Norland is a great start toward building global production capacity. We’re committed to developing a base of high-quality producers that will help us meet market objectives.”