Novella Innovative Technology, Ltd. and Metaphor Foods Australia announced a strategic partnership to spearhead a new paradigm for natural food preservation.
Novella creates pure compounds from plant cells, but outside of the plant, using novel, precision-controlled environmental technology. The company is a pioneer in precision botanical ingredients, leveraging its proprietary AuraCell plant cell technology.
This platform enables the direct growth of bioactive compounds from plant cells, reducing resource use by 99 percent. The result is a pure, powerful bioactive ingredient with guaranteed consistency and zero waste.
The collaboration will leverage Novella’s AuraCell technology to deliver natural antioxidant and antimicrobial compounds via a waste-free, resource-efficient supply chain. These compositions will be part of Metaphor Foods’ Hela Natvance range of natural food-protection solutions.
Metaphor Foods is the innovation and accelerator arm of Hela APAC, dedicated to bridging gaps in the food industry across the Asia-Pacific.
“This is a long-term strategic commitment in a market with high demand for natural solutions,” said Geoff Gordon, CEO of Metaphor Foods.
“We’re integrating Novella’s solution into our natural food-protection systems to bring it to market quickly, responsibly, and effectively. While the initial focus is on meat and poultry preservation, the strategic potential of this partnership extends across dozens of revenue-generating categories, including seafood, dairy, baked goods, alternative protein products, and pet food.”
With a mature and efficient food processing sector that has a growing demand for natural, clean-label ingredients, the APAC region is currently ripe with opportunity. Metaphor Foods’ deep regional presence and distribution capabilities ideally position the partnership to tap into these markets with speed and precision.
“We’re not just offering an ingredient, we’re reshaping the very definition of natural preservation for food products,” said Itay Dana, CBDO and co-founder of Novella.
“This partnership energises the mutual vision to deliver cleaner, cost-parity solutions to the food and nutraceutical industries. Our technology platform and the diverse range of products currently in development address some of the most pressing challenges the food manufacturing industries face today.”
Through their alliance, Metaphor Foods is supporting Novella in finalising application studies and regulatory pathways while advancing a commercialisation plan. The agreement outlines a long-term supply relationship designed to secure ingredient availability, establish manufacturing readiness, and ensure consistent quality on a large scale.
As consumers pay greater attention to the ingredients in their food and beverages, developers and manufacturers are working diligently to clean up labels. They are increasingly shifting away from synthetic preservatives, turning to natural sources of antioxidants, antimicrobials, and natural preservatives.
Most manufacturers now rely on natural options such as tocopherols (vitamin E) and rosemary extract. These have been crucial in supporting clean-label formulations but come with notable limitations for some formulations, including off-flavours, inconsistent efficacy, low compatibility, cost barriers, and supply chain limitations for these valuable raw materials.
Multiple trials with meat products were conducted at the state-of-the-art Hela-Schwarz application labs.
“Novella successfully replaced natural antioxidants currently in use, reduced the overall cost, and extended shelf life by 30 percent. Compared to synthetic options, which face growing consumer resistance, Novella’s products not only offer clean-label benefits but also promote minimal footprint,” said Gordon.
Dana mentioned that they were in the final stages of scaling up production and validating batch-to-batch consistency.
“These activities are part of our execution plan to guarantee full readiness for the commercial launch of our product by the beginning of 2026.”
The global supply chain for natural ingredients is becoming increasingly unstable, driven by fluctuations in crop quality, climate-related disruptions, limited harvesting windows, and recurring shortages of raw materials.
These factors contribute to unpredictable pricing and unreliable sourcing for manufacturers. Novella offers a consistent and scalable, yet natural alternative.
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