Chance to share in Kiwi sweet success

Hamilton product development company BioVittoria will release a prospectus on Monday for a public float of its shares.

It's believed the company will look to raise $20 million to commercialise a sweetener extracted from fruit.

PureLo, BioVittoria's brand product, is a zero-calorie sweetener made from the melon-like luo han fruit grown only in Southern China.

It is considered a major breakthrough in the search for a natural alternative to sugar.

BioVittoria was founded five years ago by former HortResearch horticulturist Dr Garth Smith and American Stephen LeFebvre, a marketing veteran of the nutraceutical industry.

The pair searched for natural products that were proven bioactives.

Smith got a call from an old associate in China who was working with the natural sweetening properties of luo han. BioVittoria then set up a joint venture with Guilin Bio-GFS in China, which today develops the plant science and farmer network, and runs the factory processing the fruit.

Around 6000 orchardists in the mountainous Guanxi region grow the big-seeded luo han for the company.

BioVittoria's Hamilton base looks after regulation approval, patent licences and handles sales, marketing and branding.

Its initial venture capital backers include science and technology specialists Endeavour Capital and Stephen Tindall's K1W1.