Regarded as one of North America’s leading innovators in the manufacture of plant-based ingredients for the nutritional supplement industry, KeyLeaf continues to push the boundaries of research, leveraging proprietary extraction technologies, isolating key compounds and molecules, and developing and commercializing new products and applications for the burgeoning natural dietary supplements sector.  

“With more than four decades experience as a contract processor for plant-derived bioactive compounds, KeyLeaf has been a longtime and dependable resource for supplement makers throughout the world,” said Justin White, KeyLeaf’s Vice President of Global Sales & Business Development.

“Our experience working with many thousands of plant compounds, our ability to use aqueous extraction for clean label processing, and our ability to properly scale from product concept to any batch size enables KeyLeaf to meet or exceed customer needs and specifications, giving them a competitive edge in the increasingly crowded natural supplements market.

KeyLeaf was one of the first major processing facilities in North America to solve the challenges involved in extracting and fractionating fish oil and algal oil for use by the dietary supplement industry. “Acquired from our many years of working with canola and soy, our expertise in oil extraction and downstream processing was not only applied to the processing of marine oils but also to the processing of fat-soluble vitamins and the extraction of high-value, highly concentrated ingredients for herbal supplement makers,” said White.

Some of the many innovative bioactive compounds that KeyLeaf has produced for clients and partners include:

· Marine oils; fish and algal – Removal of fatty acids with no nutritional value, concentration of omega-3 fatty acids, adjustments of concentration and ratio of DHA and EPA, filtering of POPs(persistent organic pollutants). KeyLeaf is an expert in omega-3 processing and well known for its ability to provide scalability and the lowest cost solutions for production.    

· Fat soluble vitamins - Fractionation, concentration, and purification of vitamin E & vitamin D

· MCTs (coconut oil/palm oil) -Purification and concentration of medium chain triglycerides (fatty acids) for use in sports nutrition products.

· Herbs - Aqueous extraction and purification of Saw Palmetto, St. John’s Wort, Sea Buckthorn, Red Dogwood, Echinacea, Evening primrose, Moringa Leaf, Noni seeds, Yerba Monte, Borage, Willowherb, and many others.

· Specialty bioactives – including spirulina, and bee propolis processing.

KeyLeaf’s Canadian facility in Saskatchewan is Natural Health Product (NHP) Licensed, and the plant in Batavia, Illinois complies with Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) in Food Processing per 21 CFR Part110/117.

“We invite start-ups and dietary supplement makers large and small to reach out to us for a feasibility consultation to explore options for their projects,” said White.