Hamilton dairy biotech company Quantec was recognised for its innovation at the annual Natural Health Products NZ awards held in Hamilton last night (note: 27 March). 

The company took out the Supreme Award, which it also received at the industry’s 2018 awards event.  Quantec was also awarded the Cawthron Institute Innovation Award.

The Natural Health Products NZ awards recognise the success of New Zealand companies developing, manufacturing and exporting natural products, functional foods, complementary medicines, cosmeceuticals, and nutraceuticals.

Quantec chief executive Raewyn McPhillips says she’s proud to see the company recognised with the top award for the second year running.

“Our company has experienced steady growth over the past nine years, with pronounced growth over the past 12 months in particular. This award is a reflection of our team’s hard work over those years and the support of the vision shared by our founders and board.

“Like so many in this industry, we grow and succeed because we are determined to push boundaries and continually improve our science and consumer interactions. This means we don’t always take a well-worn path, and we’ve become used to continually finding solutions and adapting as we go.  Earning the respect of our industry peers in this way assures us we are on the right trajectory,” say McPhillips.

Quantec Innovation Director, Dr Rod Claycomb, said the innovation award was significant as it recognised his team’s efforts in developing one of the most challenging products in the company’s history.

“One of Quantec’s main sources of growth is within the gut health and immune health sector in China. 

“We worked with our key customer in China to identify a product concept that had never been done before: the combination of an omega-3 oil with an aqueous milk protein powder to produce a high-end innovative nutraceutical product.

“A unique aspect of our product development was that we drew on the expertise of seven other New Zealand companies – all also working in the natural products industry – to make our product vision a reality. 

“Six months following our launch in China last year, we’ve started our second manufacturing run,” explains Dr Claycomb.

Last year Quantec appointed its first CEO, Raewyn McPhillips, to guide its next phase of growth, and a new general manager of China operations, Kirin Tsuei, to oversee its sales and distribution in China. The appointments enabled managing director and co-founder Dr Claycomb to focus on R&D growth opportunities to further the company’s expansion into China and Latin America.

Established in 2009, Quantec specialises in extracting high-value bioactives from natural ingredients which are developed into proprietary ingredient formulations for use in human and animal products.

It manufactures a patented dairy product, IDP, which is used by its customers to make products such as dietary health supplements and skincare products. It also manufactures a range of anti-acne products under the Epiology brand which contains IDP and is distributed through New Zealand pharmacies and Mexican dermatologists.

Quantec is also a past finalist in the New Zealand Innovator of the Year Awards and has also won a Kudos Hamilton Science Award.

The company is headquartered at Waikato Innovation Park in Hamilton.