First shared-use supplement production facility to open in NC
The Natural Products Manufacturing Facility will open its doors on Monday, October 18 as a new division of Blue Ridge Food Ventures located at the Enka campus of Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College.
According to Blue Ridge, the facility complies with federal current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) guidelines, standards that meet Food and Drug Administration requirements for manufacturing, packaging, labeling and holding of dietary supplements.
The facility has cost about $100,000, including the purchase the new equipment and supplies, upgrading the facility, funds to provide technical assistance, training and funding for strategic business planning for companies using the facility.
Chris Reedy, Natural Products Room Coordinator for Blue Ridge Food Ventures, that there had been between 20 and 30 companies expressing interest, and these are mostly East Coast companies.
The facility will enable the production of bottle, seal and label natural products, including medicinal herbs and dietary supplements, in capsules, tinctures, extracts and creams, with equipment at the facility capable of grinding herbs, preparing herbal extracts, macerating herbal products, and bottle, label and seal product bottles and tubes.
Primary funding for the facility comes fromthe North Carolina Biotechnology Center, the Golden LEAF Foundation, a nonprofit grants-making organization, and Blue Ridge Food Ventures, a non-profit business incubator created to provide services to farmers and food entrepreneurs.
A reception and tour of the facility will be held from 3-4 pm on October 18.
