RDRL develops and commercializes original process equipment for the optimal conversion of valuable plants into quality botanical extracts. The growing markets that RDRL is focused on include: essences for fragrances (30B), flavors for beverages (600-1300B), high-purity phytotherapeutics (10B+), rejuvenating skincare (150B). Each of these industries utilize archaic or obsolete manufacturing practices that present unique opportunities for RDRL's innovative process technologies to become a critical step in the supply chain and significantly disrupt massive markets.

Agricultural Situations

Aromatic flowers are delicate. The renowned Rose de Mai of Grasse is gently harvested by hand and steam distilled near the farm. Specialty farmers are occupied with agriculture and are either strained by operating a rudimentary still or risk transporting their harvest to an intensive facility where they miss out on additional value. Cultivating powerful varieties of Jasminum sambac is a central economic activity for countless communities across the Indian subcontinent and Indonesia, yet there isn't adequate local capability to distill into precious absolute. Transporting bulky, wilting flowers is avoided by mobilizing extraction equipment to the farm. Perfumers, supplement and hygiene brands tend to be limited to formulation and packaging. RDRL provides turnkey manufacturing services that bridge the gap between specialty agriculture and natural ingredients markets.

Industrial Complications

Essential oils are historically made using hot steam which drastically degrades reactive scent molecules. Our sense of smell can easily contrast the nuanced bouquet of Lavender in bloom to its steam distilled essential oil and hydrosol, which have been oxidized and hydrolyzed. The cones of Hops are mechanically separated from the vine, slowly air dried and packed for longevity. Drying evaporates off volatile aromas and steeping loses less water-soluble flavors that remain trapped in the soggy solid waste. Traditional approaches of steam distillation and steeping, both fail to preserve and capture the original scent and full flavor. Organic solvents are dangerous, difficult to recover, and can leave unhealthy residues in products. Herbal remedies are typically extracted by soaking in Ethanol then boiling with heat, resulting in dilute potency and a less selective spectrum of constituents. RDRL designs safe, efficient, and scalable apparatuses and novel methods that yield higher fidelity, more consistent and effective extracts.

Integrated Solution

There are three overall steps for processing any medicinal or aromatic plant into a quality extract. Extraction pulls a wide spectrum of liquid constituents out from the solid fibers of freshly harvested plants. Refining separates inert fractions such as waxes while concentrating the desired bioactive components. Purification isolates pure compounds with fewer potential trace contaminants such as irritants and pesticides. RDRL offers integrated and modular systems to optimally process a wide variety of valuable botanicals.

Operating Structure

Our engineering department is partnered closely with reliable fabrication contractors and equipment manufacturers to assemble our proprietary systems. Mobilized extraction systems visit farms in strategic regions, providing trouble-free services consolidating harvests into consignment crude extract. Centralized laboratories refine and purify each batch of crude extract and carefully preserve it for bulk distribution. An outside sales network provides samples and demonstrations to prove why clientele should transition outdated processes and products to our cutting-edge ones. A creative media team produces the invaluable visual storytelling for an immersive web catalog to interface with our customers such as perfumers. RDRL is pursuing a cooperative keiretsu operating model which fairly benefits each link in the value generation chain.

Successful Impacts

Natural ingredients are profitable steadily-growing markets and their manufacture is ripe for technological disruption. A consignment toll services model attracts crucial farmers to participate in higher margins while paying for our capital equipment. The essential oil and herbal supplement marketplaces are notoriously opaque, largely avoiding a scientific-basis for comparing quality. We intend to help enlighten market perceptions through analytical product valuations. Our innovative process technologies improve the efficacy and consistency of extracts that make healthier consumer goods. RDRL is advancing the growing paradigm shift toward plant-derived ingredients and medicines.

Pioneering Principal

James Thomas Yeary is a practicing chemical engineer and inventive entrepreneur who is intensely driven to innovate and obsessed with optimizing designs and viable process economics. He established RDRL in Berkeley, California in 2014 as a process engineering and mechanical design consultancy initially focused on Ethanol and Carbon Dioxide extractions, dewaxing centrifugation, and vacuum distillation.