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 Bioriginal: A History of Innovation
Since our beginning in 1993, we have grown in both size and stature to become a world leading supplier of innovative EFA solutions. - 1993:
- Bioriginal Food & Science Corp. is formed through an amalgamation of Vitality Health and Science Corp. and PGE Canada Ltd. We establish our head office in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Rick Kulow is Bioriginal's founding President and CEO.
- 1995:
- After starting out in a small office space at the POS Pilot Plant, we move to larger facilities at Innovation Place to accommodate a growing number of employees.
- 1996:
- Bioriginal makes its first share offering to employees, who are quick to show their confidence in the company by purchasing over 55,000 shares.
- 1997:
- As part of our drive for vertical integration, we acquire a property in Asquith where we subsequently design and construct our oil processing plant. In 2001, we modify the facility to enable processing of CLA. Further expansion occurs in 2002.
- In response to the tripling of our staff over the past four years, we establish a Human Resources Department and define our corporate values and guidelines.
- 1998:
- We become the first oil processing facility in Canada to be certified as meeting Health Canada's pharmaceutical level GMP standards, and become a certified organic flax processor.
- CEO Rick Kulow receives the Ernst and Young Canadian National Entrepreneur of the Year Award for the Prairie Region, Agriculture and Food Category
- Continued growth necessitates a move to our current head office location.
- 1999:
- New CFO Joe Vidal joins Bioriginal, bringing a wealth of international business experience.
- Significant new investment capital is raised through new investors.
- We establish a Marketing Department to provide greater support to our customers.
- We implement a company-wide Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) computer system to move the company to a new level of sophistication and efficiency in every area (improved customer service and sales, control of operations, teamwork and communications, individual planning and action, and cost savings). A key benefit of this undertaking is product traceability throughout the manufacturing process, from source through to finished product.
- 2000:
- We open our offices in the Netherlands and China.
- We finalize a joint venture with an oilseed processing facility in Northern China, enabling us to utilize their crushing and extraction facilities to process seed oil crops from that region.
- We purchase and renovate a grain elevator to accommodate our expanding seed storage and sorting requirements.
- 2001:
- Bioriginal helps the Canadian government's new Office of Natural Health Products develop monographs for flax and borage.
- 2002:
- We receive an ABEX Award for New Saskatchewan Product for helping Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada develop a new patented process for manufacturing CLA.
- 2003:
- Joe Vidal is promoted to COO.
- We celebrate our tenth anniversary with record sales and recognition from both the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce, as Saskatchewan's ABEX Award winner in the Business of the Year and Export categories, and the National Research Council, for being a Canadian Innovation Leader.
- We conform to new US Bioterrorism legislation and successfully register with the US FDA.
- 2004:
- Expansion continues at our European head office, and Dr. Johan Kamphuis comes aboard as VP of European Operations.
- Our flax oil produced becomes the first product in Canada to be granted a Natural Product Number (NPN) under the new regulations governing natural health products in Canada.
- We are among the first Canadian companies to receive a site license from the Natural Health Products Directorate, certifying that our products are manufactured in accordance with the new GMPs set by the government for natural health products.
- Construction is completed on our Consolidation Project, which merges the Asquith plant and an expanded head office facility at the current Saskatoon location. The new process area is 16,000 square feet and the office area increased to 9,000 square feet.
- Under the direction of Dr. Johan Kamphuis, Executive VP, Global Marketing & Sales/Managing Director, Europe, our European Office takes on the name Bioriginal Europe/Asia and the facility is moved to a larger location.
- 2005:
- Bioriginal becomes the world's first company to receive GRAS status for its borage oil BioAsteri™
- 2006:
- Bioriginal and Acatris form joint venture to offer EFA & Lignan combination products.
- 2007:
- Sherif Assran joins Bioriginal as Vice President of Operations.
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