The Lumene Group and University of Oulu started joint projects more than 15 years ago. The collaboration deepened in 2009, when MITY planned and started a project related to the utilisation of lingonberry sidestream material from the berry industry.

University of Oulu is the main university in Northern Finland with 13,800 students and over 3,700 employees. The university has five focus areas in research, two of them being sustainable materials and systems, and changing climate and Northern environment. Unit of Measurement Technology (MITY) belongs to Kajaani University Consortium and is focused on applied research and collaboration with companies from various fields. Our research projects are clustered to two large themes, Cleantech and Health & well-being. In both topics, natural resources have a central role. MITY participates in research projects also including innovative local SMEs. In the projects, MITY develops new products and product ideas utilising berries, other wild plants, or sidestreams of berry and forest industry.

As a result, we developed an innovative method for extracting phenolic fractions from the lingonberry peel material. The Lumene Group got interested in a certain fraction and that interest led to the use of the ingredient in its products, still used in LUMENE Nordic Bloom [LUMO] range. The method and cosmetic use has been patented. Even today, MITY carries out special analytics for the batches of lingonberry extract that are used in LUMENE products, ensuring extract’s high-quality. MITY and LUMENE have a close collaboration that has been continuous, productive and effective from the beginning.