The Perfect Brew - Clutha Leader Article
Article from Clutha Leader - December 8, 2011
You won’t find it down at your nearest pub but a locally generated agricultural probiotic friendly bacteria is certainly hitting the spot, as Andre Prassinos, left, watches Clutha District Mayor Bryan Cadogan enjoy his sample.
Clutha brewing up a probiotic storm, writes Laura Roozendaal.
A DIFFERENT kind of probiotic is being brewed in Clutha – and it’s making its mark. BioBrew is an agricultural probiotic that can be used for animal nutrition and it is kept and delivered fresh, making the number of active bacteria high. Probiotics are friendly bacteria needed for good health and vitality and the BioBrew company has been in the business since 2009. It continues to expand and now has production facilities at Paretai and in the Waikato, and a brewery in Prebbleton, outside of Christchurch.
Otago director Andre Prassinos said no-one in New Zealand developed something like their probiotic on a systematic basis for animals. The probiotic can be added to the water that the animals drink. ‘‘The main point of difference is it’s fresh and priced reasonably. It’s $3.95 a litre,’’ Mr Prassinos said.
‘‘Nobody on the planet has taken this approach but there’s no reason this couldn’t have happened 30 years ago.’’ Other probiotics on the market were shelf-stabilised, which compromised the number of microbes that were in it, he said. ‘‘Just like with yoghurt, what’s best is fresh.’’
A trial by Lincoln University showed that BioBrew had five million live lactobacilli per millilitre. Other brands that were tested contained 500 lactobacilli per millilitre. Mr Prassinos said they left it to the farmers to decide how to use it. ‘‘The most common use is for animal nutrition, for young and mature dairy cows, beef, sheep and even deer. ‘‘Everything on a farm is microbial and farmers can use fermentative digestion to optimise all of those different systems.’’ Mr Prassinos said they have the capacity to deliver product anywhere in New Zealand. ‘‘We’re only limited by resources and the speed at which we can grow.’’
The Clutha district had been very supportive. ‘‘The Clutha Agricultural Board had good experience in handling trials and good experience in the district. ‘‘It was a pleasant accident that we ended up here first.’’
For more information on BioBrew fresh, affordable and high-quality microbial tools email info@biobrew.net.nz or call (0508) BIOBREW.