VEGETABLE CHEWING GUM?

FROM ALBANY BUSINESS REVIEW

A business moving to New York’s Capital Region wants to give you all the health benefits of fruits and vegetables, without having to actually eat them (finally!).

Fruitura, an Israeli start-up backed by private investors, plans to open U.S. production in East Greenbush.

Fruitura’s business plan calls for extracting the cells of fruit and vegetables that contain nutrients, replicating those cells, rendering them as a dry powder and mixing them into chewing gum, yogurt, cosmetics, or as a healthy “booster shot” in a drink of water or juice.

The company is trying to capitalize in a hyper-competitive space, “fortified” foods and drinks that more and more Americans are consuming. Fruitura contends that it is distinct in the way it is using actual cells from food.

Fruitura plans to hire 50 people in the first three years of operations, likely beginning in 2015. Its buildings will cost between $7 million to $10 million, require 40 people to complete, and measure at least 35,000 square feet in size, according to documents submitted to Empire State Development Corp.

Fruitura has identified a site on Discovery Drive, by the University at Albany’s East Campus. Neighbors would include the drug-maker Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Taconic Farms, which breeds mice and rats for specialized lab testing, as well as cancer and genomics research centers.

Fruitura is seeking $2 million through a regional council that is competing for economic development aid from Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration. The state will announce funding for hundreds of companies in December.