superfuds

We recently interviewed Dugand, Chairman and CEO of Superfüds, a company that is solving distribution for emerging brands in Latin America while helping mom & pop stores to earn more money.

Sebastián explained where Superfüds came from, he talked about their products, the values they hold when choosing products for the store and how they plan to expand with the latest funding received in an investment round. He also offered advice to young entrepreneurs who are starting out in this field and discussed the challenges they faced during the pandemic crisis and how they overcame them. We finished the interview with a look into the future of Superfüds in the next 5 years.

To read the full interview in Spanish, click here.

 

 

 

 

marc coloma

We know that behind every startup there is a mission to accomplish. We would like to know more about what’s behind Heura Foods.

In an interview with Marc Coloma, we began the conversation with where Heura came from and its biggest milestones achieved so far, most of it he attributed to the amazing community they built through social media. We then proceeded to talk about the challenges Heura faced and how they overcame them; the state of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Spain, opportunities that could arise and what has changed in the past years. 

When asked what Agri Food Tech means to him, Coloma defines it as “The industry that solves the challenges that the current food system faces through technology.” 

We closed the interview with his thoughts on the development of the Agri Food Tech sector will impact the food industry in Spain and what fundamental investments will be needed to make it happen. 

Read the full interview in Spanish here: https://www.eatableadventures.com/heura-marc-coloma-entrevista/?lang=es

Webinar by ICEX Spain Trade & Investment, with the global network of Economic & Commercial Offices of Spain

We are excited to invite you to this upcoming event on April 13 2021 by ICEX Spain Trade & Investment, together with the global network of Economic & Commercial Offices of Spain. 

The event consists of a series of 4 webinars on foodtech. This initiative revolves around strengthening the business network of the rising Spanish ecosystem, showing it to the world and to present success stories and interesting projects from other countries to enhance collaboration.

Spain is a leader in the European food industry and is developing a highly unique ecosystem with more than 400 startups working hard on developing and improving ingredient production, transformation efficiency and optimizing the sustainability of people and the planet through innovative technological solutions that impact the entire agri-food value chain. These projects also have the potential to ease the access to better food, reduce food waste and limit the impact of industrial waste.

The first webinar on April 13 will bring together companies, entrepreneurs, and startups that are working in the alternative protein segment around the world, both plant-based and cell-based, highlighting the importance of this category in the future of the food system.

There will be two sessions of the same webinar with different local roundtable participants, the first in Singapore and the next in Los Angeles. Both sessions will be approximately 1h30 long.

We will hear from successful speakers in both sessions, including Santi Aliaga (CEO Zyrcular Foods) who will discuss the full integration of the value chain and a few Spanish pioneers such as Bernat Ananos (Co-founder & CSMO Heüra), Giuseppe Sconti (CEO & Founder Novameat) and Iñigo Charola (CEO Biotech Food).

Our CEO José Luis Cabañero (Eatable Adventures) will also join both sessions welcoming the guests and participating in the international roundtable.

Each session also involves different remarkable speakers shown below in their respective locations.

ICEX Singapore Office session

April 13th at 9am (Madrid, GMT+02:00) ICEX Singapore Office session: Register here.

Guest Speakers at the International Roundtable:

  • Low Teng Yong – Deputy Director Food Regulatory Division, Singapore Food Agency
  • Taly Nechushtan, CEO INNOVOPRO
  • Maarten Bosch, CEO Mosa Meat
  • Yee Kwan Seck, Director Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) Singapore
  • Israel Speaker. TBC

ICEX Los Angeles Office session

April 13 at 6pm (Madrid, GMT+02:00) ICEX Los Angeles Office session: Register here.

Guest Speakers at the International Roundtable:

  • Helen Munday  President Institute of Food Science & Technology
  • José Luis Cabañero, Founder & CEO Eatable Adventures
  • The Good Food Institute, LA Speaker. TBC
  • Juan Aguiriano, Group Head of Sustainability, Technology Ventures, Kerry Taste & Nutrition

You don’t want to miss this event! The webinars will be hosted on WEBEX, after the registration you will receive the link for connecting.

See you there!

We are proud to announce that a new partnership has been signed by Eatable Adventures together with Bridge2Food.

At Eatable Adventures we believe startups are leading the way creating solutions to transform how food is produced, transformed and consumed.

We connect the most disruptive food startups with corporations and investors, developing the right collaborations with a mission: building tomorrow’s food companies. 

Bridge2Food

Having the chance to be part of the Bridge2Food network means sharing the B2F mission of inspiring the food industry and food value chain to collaborate with a focus on plant-based foods and proteins, and create innovative solutions for a healthier life and a sustainable planet. 

Beyond Meat, Unilever, Danone and Nestlè are only some of the partner food brands that will take part in this year’s edition of Bridge2Food.

Leading Pioneering Partnerships

Almost a decade after the launch of Bridge2food we’ll be glad to take part in the 2021 virtual impact calendar with all the exhibitions, summits and conferences.

bridge2food

We’ll be joining forces along 2021 starting with the first Virtual Exhibition Plant-Based Foods & Proteins Value Chain Americas on April 13-14.

Virtual Exhibition Plant-Based Foods Value Chain Americas

It’s a unique and highly specialized virtual exhibition on plant-based foods and proteins dedicated to connecting the key players in the plant-based industry.

The online event will consists of:

  • 100+ Exhibitors
  • 1000+ Participants
  • 1,500 Speed Dating Sessions
  • 2,500 1-on-1 Business Meetings.

During this first exhibition our founder and CEO José Luis Cabañero will be leading a session about new disrupting technologies in the protein sector.

Retailers and Food Service attendees have a special free access discount available here.

Two startups from the Spain Foodtech accelerator program, MOA and Innomy, will also participate as exhibitors during the Plant-Based Foods Value Chain Americas, as well as some of the startups included in our ecosystem such as Heura Foods.

Thanks to this partnership we have some free tickets for foodtech startups, if you are interested send us an email at paula@eatableadventures.com with the reason why you want to participate in the exhibition.

biome makers

We know that behind every startup there is a mission to accomplish. We would like to know more about what’s behind Biome Makers.

We began the conversation with a brief explanation by Ferrero about what Biome Makers is and its milestones. Then we spoke about some of the main challenges the startup faced when being developed and how they overcame them, thanks to an ecosystem that supported them. We also discussed the state of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Spain, the advantages and barriers that currently exist in this ecosystem and what opportunities could arise for its development and growth. 

When asked what Agri Food Tech means to him, Adrián states that although it being a very broad term, he could define it as “innovation through the application of technology and science to all segments of the agri-food value chain. 

We closed the interview with his thoughts on the development of the Agri Food Tech sector will impact the food industry in Spain and what fundamental investments will be needed to make it happen. 

Read the full interview in Spanish here: https://www.eatableadventures.com/adrian-ferrero-biome-makers/?lang=es

Last Friday 29th of January ICEX started their webinar series off with a bang, with their latest virtual offering; “The Spanish foodtech sector – situation and opportunities for its 2021 internationalization” in which we had the pleasure to attend.

The virtual event was organized by ICEX Spain Export and Investments not only to present their annual foodtech report ,the first ever analysis of the country’s food ecosystem and highlighting the current state of the industry as well as new challenges facing it today, but also to look at the different tools that the Spanish agency can offer to companies to power their 2021 internationalization, promoting dialogue between various agri-food tech protagonists, accelerators and foodtech companies with the joint mission to drive innovative force and competitive advantage to position the country as an international reference in the sector.

The agreed consensus during the webinar elevated Spain as an emerging and solid Agrifood-tech powerhouse. As a world leader in agri-food production and boasting a solid gastronomic background the country has managed to combine the works and research of a number of different national food vehicles in order to propel new food innovations over the last few years, in turn enabling new emerging startups and the application of the highest form of cutting-edge technology.

In order to retain worldwide prestige the development and application of new, cutting-edge technologies to provide added efficiency, value and sustainability to the food value chain, and to arouse the interest of investors, is necessary, and not only at national level. Spain´s food system continues to not only embrace innovation and increase resilient food production, but to further the amalgamation of research centres, innovative startups, established companies, universities and of course, investment vehicles, to offer itself a clear cut vision for the future and its realization as the next foodtech nation, worldwide.

A number of important decision makers and industry experts joined the webinar, who all offered their opinions and insights into the keys behind investing in Spanish foodtech worldwide as well as the importance of promoting Spanish foodtech as a whole and its players and developments.

Present was Alberto Sanz, financing and investor relations director from Invest in Spain. As an expert in both national and international investment, he offered his insights into the importance of promoting national programs that help group ecosystems at sectoral level and to facilitate the overall contact that Spanish agents have with international investors. He also touched upon the services the country offers to foreign investors who wish to establish their business in Spain to help champion the reputation of the country as the foodtech nation to invest in. 

Maria Naranjo, director of Food, Wine and Gastronomy also joined us from ICEX itself, ready to introduce us to the new FoodTech portal from Food and Wine Spain asserting that it was a fundamental move in the sector´s international visibility. Also present from ICEX was Jorge Alvar, director of infrastructure, health and ICT who looked at a number of innovation and accompaniment programs to help the sector’s overall international growth.

Want to know more? You can download the exclusive report “Foodtech in Spain: fueling a more sustainable and efficient Food System” here and stay tuned for more important takeaways from ICEX´s webinar soon.

 

 

[button link=”https://www.foodswinesfromspain.com/spanishfoodwine/global/whats-new/news/new-detail/foodtech-in-spain.html” color=”black” newwindow=”yes”] ICEX REPORT[/button]

 

 

This foodtech startup is changing the way protein is produced on their mission to fix the food system

 

As World Agri-Tech Innovation South America Summit marketing partners we had the pleasure of interviewing one of the speakers; Matias Muchnick CEO & Founder of Notco, one of the most disruptive foodtech startups that is currently changing the way protein is produced.

Matias described NotCo as a foodtech company that combines science, technology and the unexplored plant kingdom to recreate products that taste, smell, and look  just like real animal products. “With this combination of machine learning technologies and breakthrough science we could crack one of the most challenging enigmas of humanity: creating amazingly tasty food that can also be good for our bodies, the environment, the animals and that would help us distribute nutrition using exponentially less resources than what we have today.”

 

 

COVID HAS BROUGHT IMPORTANT CHALLENGES

Matías told us that the current pandemic has brought some important challenges, both in the company’s environment and in it’s internal functioning. But he added that as a disruptive young company he feels it is their duty to reinvent their business structure in order to overcome these challenges. As well as to adapt and integrate all the opportunities that come with it. “Today we are facing different incentives, signs, stimuli; and we are learning to incorporate them.”

One important factor he pointed out was that he believes people’s values are changing, and one relevant aspect of this change is the considerable increase in food awareness. 

“The contact we have with food today is completely different, we are reinventing ourselves in every way and it will never be the same as before.”

There’s no doubt that new trends are arising, especially concerning animal-based food; people are seeking increased transparency, sustainability and better nutrition, etc. And this is something they are trying to tackle with the help of AI.

 

 

DELIVERING A MORE SUSTAINABLE FOOD INDUSTRY

Matías confirmed that the plant-based trend is growing and this has helped Notco focus its resources to further its expansion and development.

He explained that part of this growing trend has revealed an important change in the startups behavior, which is to transform many of their activities into more digitalized actions. It has shown them the importance of partnering with companies that share the same direction, “to deliver what people need and ask for today; a complete, affordable and more sustainable food industry.”

 

 

 

WORKING WITH STARTUPS AS A SOLUTION

Matías believes that startups like Notco are bringing disruptive solutions with the application of technology:

“I think we’ve made it clear that a startup today can turn what we thought impossible only a few years ago into a fact.  We’re developing a technology and science that will allow the species to live on (human and non-human).

In their case, the combination of machine learning technologies and breakthrough science could crack one of the most challenging enigmas we now face: creating great tasting food that is also good for our bodies, the environment and the animals as well as help us distribute nutrition using less resources. In fact, they have already overcome one of the biggest challenges: “to be able to imitate the food we really love, but instead of coming from inefficient and environmentally aggressive sources based on animal farming, obtaining it from plants.”

 

 

COLLABORATION AS A KEY FOR GROWTH

He told us about the brands relationship with corporations as he believes collaboration to be important in building special relationships:

“If we want to continue conquering the world with mouth wateringly delicious food, we need to collaborate, we need to change the industry from the inside.”

Their first big partner was Papa John’s and last year they started working on a partnership for the launch of their new Vegan Royale pizza. Then came Burger King’s alliance for their Rebel Burger. He added that it’s important to work with companies that are also willing to take these big steps together, to accomplish the most important turnover of our feeding system that the planet so desperately needs.

 

AGRI-FOOD SECTOR BEGGING FOR CHANGE

Matías believes that “it is no surprise that the food system has become the major environmental ill known to humankind..all starts and ends with raising and breeding livestock for meat.”

The industrial production of animals is the single most aggressive form of creating nutrition for a growing population. If we could go back and ask science what is the best and most efficient way to feed the 7 billion people that inhabit our planet, the answer certainly wouldn’t be animals. 

He explained that the biggest theory Notco is trying to prove is:  “could we make our milk, cheese, eggs and meat just from plants and take the animal out of the equation? Cut down the middle man?”  the founder certainly believes this would mean a healthier and more sustainable food system, but the challenge remains the taste… and now we’ve proven that it is possible in over 4 countries, next? The world.

 

 

Partners at World Agri-Tech South Summit America

 

 

As World Agri-Tech South America partners, we had the pleasure of interviewing Innovation representatives from Raízen and Adama, two companies that are currently disrupting the agri-food system and developing solutions by partnering with startups across the Agritech space.

Raízen is an energy company that operates in all stages of the process, from the cultivation of cane, production of sugar, ethanol and bioenergy, to the commercialization, logistics and distribution of goods. They invest in solutions based on only the best innovation and sustainability practices, acting as a reference in the production of renewable energy.

Adama is a company dedicated to the production of agrochemicals, but they also offer AgTech and crop protection solutions in their services portfolio. They work with a purpose: to listen, learn and deliver integrated solutions for farmers to increase their productivity with sustainability.

We had the opportunity to talk to Jose Massad, Director of Information Technology at Raízen, and Roberson Marczak, Innovation Manager at ADAMA Latam

 

 

Covid-19 induced challenges 

Jose explained that the main challenge that people have felt during this time has been the unexpected changes thrown at them by the crisis. There was no time to prepare for the challenges ahead and Raizen, for example, quickly established actions to directly combat covid induced impacts, through partners and full team collaboration. From a technology perspective, it was a major challenge when the whole team had to self-isolate and work from home.

Roberson told us that him and his team also had to adapt to the new reality of teleworking and social distancing. He also raised an interesting question: How can we keep in touch with our customers, when we are faced with social restrictions?  In fact, ADAMA digital services have proved to be very resourceful tools for farmers during this time, in order to maintain communication with their technical consultants and sales reps, despite contact and visit restrictions within farms. For Roberson, digitalisation of this kind is here to stay, as farmers adapt increasingly more with ease to these technologies

 

Transforming the agrifood market with technology

Jose said that in Raizen, they currently have an ongoing digital agriculture transformation that includes the use of disruptive technology such as on-board computers, precision agriculture, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), drones for application of inputs, artificial intelligence for prediction and optimization of production, among others. 

In ADAMA? Roberson explained that AgTech services are part of ADAMA´s core business and portfolio strategy. For him; “The integration between farming and digital technologies is the key to taking agriculture to a new level of productivity”. The adoption of AgTech tools will have a similar effect on traditional farms, like the effect of digital technologies on entertainment, banking and travel, for example. It offers many benefits, including:

  • Supporting agronomic decisions with quantifiable data.
  • Reduction of operating costs and uncertainty while increasing peace of mind for farmers.
  • Minimizing potential negative environmental impact and agronomic risks.
  • Increase efficiency of products, by applying it the right spraying.

 

 

Working with startups to accelerate the agriculture industry

Jose asserted that innovation is one of Raizens main foundations and in 2017 they launched Pulse, one of the biggest hubs in Brazil that promotes open innovation, and which has helped to generate a strong agribusiness ecosystem across the country.
“Initiatives like Pulse will be increasingly used as key partners in solutions for the agricultural sector.”
The hub currently collaborates with more than 28 startups, and over 50 projects have already been tried and tested, 6 of which have signed a contract to be incorporated in Raizens technological environment and to start working as solution providers.

For Roberson, “startups are a powerful way to speed things up for AgTech”. The key is to select startups that are working on farmers pain points and that always put them first through their technologies. To work with startups is to inject agility into your company, but beware, a lot of the time they also require extra direction in terms of solutions development. Such a large company like ADAMA can act as this guide during the development process to increase their chances of success.
ADAMA boasts several partnerships with startups in Brazil, but mainly in Israel; their country of origin. After working with various startups, they have learnt that the most important factor is trying not to change the way a startup works. “We let the startups come up with the idea and we refine together the agronomic and financial aspects.”

 

 

Changes in the agriculture sector

For Jose, the increased use of technologies is generating major changes in the sector, with an impact on the entire production process. It’s these kinds of synergies that allow a once traditional sector  to optimize processes and contribute directly to the discovery of new solutions.

For Roberson, there is something missing in the agriculture space, and that’s the ability to move to the next technological level and experience a new revolution; data integration. “The challenge is how to bring data from rural areas to communication networks, to be processed and transformed into useful information”, allowing farmers to make future decisions and not only passively contemplate what has already happened in their farms that can no longer be modified.

Do not miss the chance to listen to them at World Agri-Tech South America July 29th and 30th!!

 

 

Last Thursday, July 2nd we added another edition to our series of international webinars as we delved into the power of agtech investment to building a more resilient food system amid the covid crisis. In our latest offering Investing in Agri-Food Tech: Building Resilient Food Systems we were joined by some of the agtech industry´s biggest experts including Anne Greven, Global Head of F&A Startup Innovation at Rabobank, John Friedman, Director of AgFunder Asia & our very own José Luis Cabañero, CEO of Eatable Adventures, who offered their insights into the keys behind investing in agtech, the main drivers of change and which companies are currently leading this new agricultural revolution.

 

As the covid crisis affects every part of the food industry, investor and entrepreneur mindsets are changing and the pandemic has uncovered a fragile and overly traditional food supply chain that begs for change. Agtech offers new power and possibilities to leverage disruptive solutions. In 2019 startups raised approximately 20 billion worth of investment as they develop new solutions towards redesigning a more active supply system across the industry including in blockchain, automation and robotics.

 

Here are the key takeaways from the webinar in case you missed it:

 

What are the main drivers for agtech investment?

For John Friedman there has been a significant increase over the years, specifically compared to the year 2015 when agrifood made up only 5% of VC funding, which is miniscule if you consider the industry employs 40% of the world’s population. John stated that “we all rely on food and sustainability” and the lack of awareness and attention the sector has garnered is what motivated AgFunders founders to launch the initiative. He added that we are currently facing massive challenges as a food supply chain, including in population growth, climate change and changing consumption patterns.

This is something Eatable Adventures Jose Luis agrees on, adding that these factors were definitely the kickstarters to realising the need for quick actions towards producing a kinder way to make food for our planet. We´ve also seen a spike in agtech players enter the market. For example, when plant-based pioneers Beyond Meat announced they were going public people realised that agtech investment was accelerating and a space definitely worth investing in.

Another driver for investment has also been the outbreak of the covid crisis, as it uncovered a stressed-out supply chain begging for change. Anne Greven added that just now we are truly beginning to see more investors and entrepreneurs interested in the space, including governments and universities who are also recognising the need for change.

Singapore is a small country which relies on 90% of food imports to feed its population. With covid restricting everything from transportation to social distancing, importers were left with tonnes of food waste after supply and demand issues, which is another reason for creating a more nimble food system, and John Friedman believes agtech has the power to do so.

“Perhaps one of the silver linings from this experience is a sort of awaking around the fragilities of how we as a society live our lives and how we have taken so much for granted” – John Friedman.

 

How is agritech innovation adding value to the more traditional farming and agricultural practices?

 

“More and more is moving faster than we realise–more tech is being implemented” – Anne Greven.

The agtech space is definitely considered one of the more traditional spaces in the food industry. For Anne Greven one of the benefits of agritech innovation has been “creating greater efficiencies in the farms”. Technology offers more margins for farmers and those are the innovations poised to take off to help create a more sustainable food system.

It was agreed between our panelists that the main factor we are seeing, and that is securing the most support and funding, is low tech but high impact development and there are many corporations looking to help their farmers implement such technologies. John offered community farmer apps as a prime example, which help in a small way by
“putting the power back in the farmers hands..and cutting out the middleman”.

 

How do they compare in terms of profitability, complexity and availability of quality deal flow to other areas in foodtech?

“It’s a complex space that requires some solid engineering” – John Friedman.

The agrifood space is implementing increasingly more technology making a bigger market year on year. Jose Luis believes that even more doors of opportunity are being opened and that the “return is similar if not better, we think, than other areas”. He assures that the technology implemented doesn’t need to be that strong; “you can make big things with very simple solutions”.

In Rabobank the volume of applications are growing each year, and many agtech startups are able to secure financing when other spaces haven’t. In fact, this years 300 alumni alone bagged 120 million in funding. People are recognising this is a growing area worth investing in, and the greater implementation of tech, the greater return for the investor. John adds that although AgFunder has always been typically focused on the upstream, he has started to recognise the commercial opportunity of downstream areas like CPG, alternative proteins and foodtech over the past few years and admits the investment landscape has shifted across the food system.

 

What are the most relevant and promising areas worth investing in?

For Anne, one of the most exciting emerging areas is that of carbon trading soil; “the farming and agritech impact (to) reduce carbon emissions..there will be a lot of people looking to invest there”. But she adds that anything offering greater efficiency for the farmer as a general goal will be an area worthy of investment. Since margins are razor thin for farmers across the world, there is a huge need to manage this and give back dollars to the people actually producing our food.

Predictive analytics was also an area of interest, since despite being present in the industry for some years now, data sources are always getting bigger and with more predictive measures now available there are more efficient ways to help farmers than ever before. This goes for artificial intelligence, too. Jose Luis states he’s seen a few companies already giving back to farmers, even a solution as simple as through a phone app where they can download real time data on crop performance and weather patterns. The CEO of Eatable Adventures also believes that products offering higher nutritional values are one to watch.

“We also believe that this industrialization approach is going to be a great area getting production closer to consumers”.

 

 

 

 

Missed this webinar? Check out the video 

 

 

Investing in Agri-Food Tech: Building Resilient Food Systems

As the world begins to pick back up the pieces after Covid-19, investor mindsets are changing & the global business landscape is accelerating digital transformation and unlocking opportunities for innovators offering solutions to new challenges we now face in the food supply chain. One bright spot has been the increase in agri-tech investment due to the opportunities and power it offers to a now fragile food supply chain as we search for ways to adapt through recovery and growth.

Andy Ziolkowski, Managing Director of Cultivian Sandbox, which invests in innovative food and agriculture technology says that; “Given the disruptions in food supply due to the pandemic, we have been looking at areas including indoor farming, logistics, food safety and traceability. Software businesses in both  agtech  and  foodtech  are more attractive. In general, it seems these businesses are less disrupted by social distancing and changes in their business operations.” 

Without the effects of covid, farmtech has seen an uptick in investment; according to Agfunders 2020 Farm Tech Investment Report agtech funding is up 370% in the last 6 years but as COVID19 uncovers a fragile supply chain with food shortages, production halts and transport restrictions at the forefront new trends have been emerging to gain investor interest. Agtech startups are developing disruptive new solutions to redesign a more resilient food supply system for our future across the industry, including in robotics, blockchain and automation

 

 

Challenges & solutions in post-covid agtech

With agriculture renowned as being a more traditional sector, what challenges are startups currently facing in breaking into the industry? 

 

 

 

 

 

From agriculture to agtech: farmers first

Although for many robotics and automation may seem like a futuristic concept, farmers have been powering technology for years. Even traditional farmers are used to working with machines. However, as technology becomes faster and more complex, the farmer must always be at the forefront of its implementation. Is it easy to understand & adopt? Does it really solve the problem at hand? Its for this reason that many larger companies are seeking collaborations with more agile-minded startups that always start with the farmer. VC Spero was impressed with agtech startup Tortuga, as they focus solely on working hand-in-hand with farmers and adapting to their feedback.

“The tech industry has not had much to offer farmers, frankly. Farmers are really good at what they are doing and it’s only recently that tech has gotten to the point that we can do very fancy machine vision stuff to help, whether it’s identifying disease via drones or finding perfectly ripe strawberries and picking them.” – Marc Tarpenning, co-founder of the renowned electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla & part of the board at Tortuga. 

 

 

Localized supply chains

Globalization will be challenged and this is pivoting thinking (and funding!) to a more localized supply and distribution system. The main trends supporting this shift are supply chain assurance, food security, and geopolitical reliance. 

The Agricultural Outlook report 2018-2027 published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations states that of the total land area of the MENA region only one-third is agricultural land (cropland and pastures), and only 5% is arable (cropland). The rest is either urban or dry desert. This means a strong dependency on import.Singapore is the second most populated country in the world yet relies almost solely on importation to feed its population. Southeast Asia food tech accelerator GROW recently announced the launch of a new program focused on food security. Branded Singapore Food Bowl, the program invites startups working to build a more decentralized agrifood ecosystem.

 

 

The digital revolution

With clients and farmers further away from each other than ever, there is an increasing need for more digital solutions across the industry. Startup Farmobile sells hardware to aggregate data coming from farm equipment and stores it for farmers to share with advisors or even sell it to third parties through its data store. In recent months the startup has seen a spike in demand and CEO Jason Tatge believes this is directly tied to Covid19, with farmers wanting to follow a digital strategy better positioned to deal with the long-term effects of the pandemic. 

“In times of social distancing, there are some aspects of technology that will be more suitable than others. For instance, our technology is very low-touch and built for virtual data collection and sharing between farmers and trusted advisors. It removes the need for an agronomist to go out in-person to get a jump drive,”  Tatge told AFN.

 

Fortifying a fragile food system

With food supply being stretched across the world, now is the time for agtech to have its moment. The need to do more with less has never been greater. With many restaurants and foodservice establishments closing amid covid, many farmers who relied on this supply chain were left in limbo, with tons of produce going to waste.

Startup Clean Crop technologies that aims to prevent crop loss and extend produce shelf life recently secured $2.75 million in seed funding. Their sustainable powered solution zaps the air around food after harvest with electricity to create ionized gases and after processing, the gases revert back to the air without leaving any harmful residues on produce.

The company is part of a collective of emerging startups raising funds in an effort to reduce food waste. Tropic Biosciences recently raised 10 mil to use its gene-editing technology including CRISPR to optimize coffee and banana crops.

 

 

Corporate input

It isn’t just startups making a B-line for agtech, increasingly more corporates are seeking to give back to the land with more sustainable practices as consumers care more about the environment than ever. The good news for agtech startups is that their target end-users provide an essential function: growing food. There will always be demand for food and now larger brands want to work with these startups to offer the added benefit of sustainability to their consumers. 

Multinational food manufacturer General Mills recently partnered with farmers and suppliers in an attempt to implement more sustainable practices on 1 million acres of soil, including for oats, dairy and wheat by 2030.  

“It’s a big deal for food companies because we make food that relies on agriculture. So when we think about what we need to be doing, and the fact that so much of the landscape is actually being degraded right now, it’s an opportunity to do it differently,”Shauna Sadowski, head of sustainability for natural and organics at General Mills.  And General Mills isn’t the only company promising to carry out more sustainable operations, a handful of big industry players such as Hormel Foods and Danone North America are promising their clients to focus more on practices that are nicer to our planet by investing more in regenerative agriculture. 

Danone recently partnered with food tech startup Brightseed for example to research the health potentials of some of its key plant-based ingredients, starting with soy. Brightseed is a biosciences and precision nutrition startup that’s looking into plant nutrients for human health using AI.

 

In our next webinar we will be delving into all things agtech, including the keys of investing in the space & the companies leading this change. We’ll be joined by industry experts Anne Greven, Global Head of F&A Innovation Startup Rabobank, John Friedman, Director of AgFunder Asia & our very own Jose Luis Cabañero CEO of Eatable Adventures. Secure your place this 2nd of July at 15.00 (CEST) 

SIGN UP HERE!!

 

 

 

 

 

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