Spin-out Keracol partners with Marks & Spencer on skincare beauty products made from red wine waste products.
Keracol, a cosmetics spin-out of Leeds University, has partnered with British retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) to produce a natural skincare from the waste products of red grapes.
Keracol’s technology makes it possible to extract resveratrol from the outer skin of red grapes. The researchers perfected the process for several years with the help of another Leeds spin-out, Critical Processes, before using the grape skins from M&S’s Pinot Noir wine production and extracting the molecule on a large scale.
Following the extraction, an M&S eco-factory created skin care formulations for the product range dubbed Pure Super Grape. Keracol and M&S celebrated a first success when it was clinically proven to improve skin radiance, even out skin tone and boost hydration.
Resveratrol is an antioxidant associated with lowering cholesterol and reducing the risk of heart disease and various types of cancer. Understanding of the molecule is still very recent, with researchers from the Scripps Research Institute publishing a study on resveratrol’s functioning in April 2014.
The product range is now on sale in stores and online, ranging in price from £12 ($20.50) to £16 ($27.40). Financial details of Keracol’s and M&S’s deal were not available.
Richard Blackburn, senior lecturer at Leeds University and co-founder of Keracol, said: “Our aim is to help retailers like M&S make use of the great array of chemistry that nature provides. Sustainable extraction from our natural products has real benefits. What is more, the grape is the world’s largest fruit crop, and with the wine production industry providing significant waste with all the skins, seeds and stems, there is considerable scope to build on this approach.”
