Australian-made organic collagen is a first for the beef industry

Australian cattle waste products are being transformed into premium collagen products, as a Sunshine Coast company readies for a bigger US market.

Bovine collagen capsules is making waves in the United States in a world-first for the cattle industry.

Cattle hides, blood, bones and offal are being made into premium products targeted at holistic audiences nationally and globally.

A Sunshine Coast-based company partnered with Meat and Livestock Australia in a project discovering the use of freeze-drying technology to convert low-value products to premium products.

Cattle waste products are being used to target US markets in a premium collagen product range. Picture: Zoe Phillips

The company, Organic Collagen Australia, has been available nationally since 2022 with about 200 retailers to date, but recently developed a market in the US. From March next year, the organic collagen products will be available in 462 more stores, on top of its current 116.

OCA co-founder and chief executive Fiona Dobbrick said the high population drove the push to market in the US, alongside wanting to compete globally. She said the US chain, Sprouts, aimed to have 1200 stores by 2030.

But current US tariffs proved a financial challenge, and OCA had moved to ship bulk collagen overseas to be manufactured in New York for the US-based sales.

“Sending bulk product versus finished goods, the reduction in cost is huge,” Ms Dobbrick said.

“It wouldn’t make it palatable for the marketplace; we want to make our pure collagen accessible to as many people as possible.”

She said the company sourced its raw inputs through Australian Organic Meats, with a high number of producers in Queensland. She believed it was the first product of its kind available.

“For farmers to get organic certification, they cannot clear their land for farming and it cannot be cleared previously,” she said. “There’s that tie in to environmental protection and forest protection as well.”

MLA’s food innovation program manager John Marten said it showed a new type of high-value consumer goods to benefit the “entire” red meat supply chain.

“Completing the cycle from research to commercialisation is a huge achievement,” he said.

“It proves that scale is possible, and that there’s real demand for Australian collagen products overseas.”