Sanford Bioactives was created with one mission in mind: to maximise the benefits from every part of every fish or shellfish we catch or harvest. New Zealand’s sustainable Quota Management System means there is a fixed limit to what we can take out of the ocean. Our job is to make the most of that precious resource, not just to serve up beautiful New Zealand seafood, but also innovative products that meet our nutrition needs or help solve health problems.

Part of this process will be investigating the massive variety of seafood at Sanford - over 100 species - to uncover previously unknown properties and hidden gems in our kai moana. This has already been successful with collagen face masks using our marine collagen becoming popular overseas. These masks, as well as the collagen powder, can make our own skin healthier using the skins of hoki. Or there’s our GreenshellTM mussel powder, which has proven anti-inflammatory and joint health benefits. In other words, we’re making the unsung properties within seafood into the stars of the show.

Surrounded by the vineyard-covered fields of Blenheim, our Bioactives plant has been equipped with new flash dryers, extraction equipment, powder handling systems and a supercritical fluid extraction machine, so we can create our products and research new opportunities all in one place. The plant is in a unique position to receive quality, sustainably sourced seafood from Sanford locations all over the country, as well as continuing our research relationships with Cawthron, Plant & Food, Massey Univeristy and others. So we’ll be able to quadruple the output of our existing innovative products, as well as get to work on the next big thing. Our goal is to put Blenheim on the map, not just as the home of great wine, but of market-leading marine products and extracts too.