Out of the waste stream and into a novel ovine protein:

How one group of visionaries is using the whole sheep skin to develop protein-packed, nutrient-rich supplements for women.

What do ovine skin, novel proteins, waste stream recycling, and perimenopause support have to do with each other? Quite a lot, as the team at Tertiary Extracts Ōtautahi Ltd (TEO) have discovered over the last three years of research and development.

In October 2024, the team released its Everee Women™ (www.evereewomen.com), protein- and nutrient-packed supplements designed to support women at every stage of life.

The most unique selling point: what the group is calling the “world’s most complete collagen”—Ovitage®.

This ovine collagen boasts an amino acid balance substantially higher in cystine, tyrosine, and glutamic acid, making it unique from bovine- or seafood-based collagens.

“Most collagen available now is from either bovine or marine sources. Uniquely, sheepskins have a lot of wool which contributes a very different protein profile to the collagen we are making” explains co-CEO Paul Sapsford. “By extracting collagen from whole sheep skin, we were able to isolate a greater range of amino acids.”

These amino acids have plenty of benefits: Cystine helps firm up skin and strengthen gut lining; tyrosine boosts dopamine production for mood modulation; and glutamic acid can keep brain fog away.

With benefits like these, the team believed this product would be ideal for women in perimenopause.

 To make it even more effective, they began testing the collagen with a kiwifruit extract – known for its effectiveness in boosting gut health.

“We knew there was some bioactivity that appeared to be novel when we combined the collagen with kiwifruit,” says Paul. “So, we approached AGMARDT to help fund the critical trials and our market research to confirm there would be a global export commercialisation pathway.

The success in the trials allowed us to apply for the patent application for the formulation of Ovitage + kiwifruit extract.”

The end product is Evereewomen™ #3, which the team released in small batches on 15 October in honour of World Menopause Day.

“I’ve been working in biotech for the last decade and I’m always struck by how few products are designed specifically for women. We have different nutritional needs at different ages and in different life stages. It can’t be a one-size-fits-all approach. Inventing Ovitage and harnessing the unique amino acid profile means that what we can achieve is really a game changer for building needs-based products with demonstrable benefits to women,” says TEO co-CEO Kimberley Bray.

Setting their sights on large-scale production & waste stream recycling

While the focus on collagen extraction is new for the TEO team, they are no strangers to the international nutraceuticals market, having developed market-leading branded protein ingredients for sale in markets around the world.

Building on the years of research and development into Ovitage, the team are now working on large-scale work with ovine skins.

TEO recently purchased a collagen factory in Christchurch and are working with Silver Fern Farms Ltd (one of the largest red meat processors in New Zealand) to process more than 500,000 skins per annum. The launch of Everee Women™ comes only a couple of months after production began in earnest.

 The next stage of R&D for TEO is improving the production process for Ovitage. “There are inefficiencies in the process currently and we see a lot of opportunity to reduce processing time and increase productivity. At the same time, we are dealing with a natural product so that means significant variations on raw material presentation over the course of a year. Big challenges and a big project,” says Paul Sapsford.

AGMARDT funding is help move this research along – acknowledging the potential for the industry.

In fact, the potential positive environmental impact is huge. Each year, up to 30,000 tonnes of ovine skins are being sent to landfills from the New Zealand primary production sector.

“This does not conform to any producer’s ESG guidelines and does not provide a return to the farmer. And, it deprives consumers of a valuable source of highly nutritional proteins.”

The visionaries at TE0 want to flip that on its head – providing value to farmers for their skins, cleaning up the waste streams, and developing the new protein complex to meet growing international demand (the global collagen market is US$9.18 billion and growing).

“We believe New Zealand producers have a great story to tell. If we can create the products, we can pair that story with them, meeting consumer demand for natural proteins with demonstrated health outcomes and a compelling provenance story.”