Greentech Alliance’s Industry Spotlight Series highlights members across all sectors represented in our community, with the aim of bringing great awareness to the sustainability challenges of the current and future generations. This is the fifth blog in the series. View our previous blogs via the links below:
Industry Spotlight #1: Biodiversity and Conservation
Industry Spotlight #2: Plastic Waste Solutions
Industry Spotlight #3: Innovative Solar Solutions
Industry Spotlight #4: Sustainable Fashion
October 16 is World Food Day. Inaugurated by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in 1979, it serves as a continual reminder to combat global hunger while at the same time building sustainable food supply chains. Over the past year, the world has faced myriad challenges – from record-breaking heat waves and natural disasters to supply chain shortages and armed conflict – all of which have directly or indirectly impacted global food security.
In the midst of this global food insecurity, approximately 1.6 billion tons of ‘primary product equivalents’ – or 1.3 billion tons of edible food – are wasted globally each year, while the total volume of water lost or wasted in food production is three times the volume of Lake Geneva! Depending on how emissions are measured, food production can account for 25 to 35 percent of global carbon emissions, with animal-based food producing about double that of plant-based food. While the majority of waste in developing countries occurs at the post-harvest and processing stages, the majority of waste in developed countries occurs at the consumption phase.
These realities present ample opportunities for innovators to develop new solutions to expand food access, develop cheaper and more sustainable protein, and improve the health and local availability of produce. Moreover, as these solutions come onto the market, opportunities to reduce waste – from both material and emissions perspectives – generated in food supply chains likewise become more apparent. Companies working to improve traceability and transparency and suggest less wasteful processes and suppliers are helping translate awareness into action.
Greentech Alliance companies are at the forefront of building more sustainable food products and supply chains. In honor of two food-related international days this month – World Vegetarian Day on October 1 and World Food Day on October 16 – we posed a simple question to our members operating along food supply chains: “When it comes to improving food supply chain sustainability, what makes your solution unique?”
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Company: Eat Small
Co-Founders: Véronique Glorieux & Gema Aparicio
Mission: Insect protein for pets: Healthy dog, healthy planet!
Véronique & Gema on reducing natural resource consumption for pet food: “With insect protein in dry food, wet food, and snacks for dogs, we offer to dog parents a high quality protein source for their pet that has similar nutritional value and digestibility as meat, fish or milk, but with a tiny fraction of the natural resources used for its production.”
Company: ERA Zero Waste
Founder & CEO: Livia Zimermann
Mission: ERA makes global consumer goods supply chains shorter, circular, and transparent through its decentralized grocery platform, consequently reducing all packaging and food waste generated along the way.
Livia on the direct producer-to-consumer model: Just like the old milkman, by buying directly from producers, customers pay less, producers earn more, and we all reduce waste.
Mission: Got Foods is a European foodtech company that has developed dairy alternatives as a means to contribute to a sustainable and healthy future.
Michel & Ivars on maintaining the craveable features of dairy in dairy-free products: “Got Foods innovates in the field of plant-based dairy alternatives with products that are ‘dairy equal’ in the taste, texture, nutrition, and health aspects that people crave, thus leaving the outdated industry of milking cows behind.”
Company: Koralo
Co-Founders: Sina Albanese & Dr. Guido Albanese
Mission: Koralo creates natural, delicious, and nutritious vegan seafood through a patent-pending co-fermentation technology that mimics nature.
Sina & Guido on mimicking nature: “Koralo's technology mimics the best example we know for producing food: nature. In nature, microalgae are eaten by small fish that are then eaten by bigger fish, until they end up on our plates. At Koralo, we have replaced fish with fermentation that feeds on microalgae to create a natural fish alternative. Just as delicious and even more nutritious than the fish you know and love Koralo enriches the choice of seafood we eat and with that the life in our oceans.”
Mission: Plantish is building a future-ready, healthy, safe, and sustainable food system.
Ishu & Sushil on not compromising taste in plant-based eggs: “People are looking for healthy, safe, and sustainable plant-based alternatives that do not compromise on price, taste, nutrition, and convenience. In our plant-based egg, we have achieved even better nutritional value than in a traditional egg. (There are 7.1 grams of protein in our egg compared to 6 grams in a hen egg.) By using a short list of economical, nutrient-dense ingredients and novel processing parameters, our plant-based egg can be cooked in the same time as a hen egg.”
Company: Root Global
Co-Founders: Eric Oancea & Maurice Hensl
Mission: Root Global is building the carbon OS of the food industry to help companies across the food system make more sustainable business decisions and get to zero emissions.
Eric & Maurice on moving beyond the usual carbon accounting game: “We do not play the carbon accounting and ESG reporting game. We help companies get to zero emissions. We go beyond industry average assumptions and onboard all value chain participants to our platform to centralize carbon data and pinpoint concrete reduction opportunities. From there, we help guide, evaluate, and track business decisions across product development, procurement, etc. that sustainably reduce the carbon footprint of our customers - all the way to zero.”
Mission: SPRK.global aims to eliminate food waste in the global supply chain and reduce associated climate damage with the help of an AI-driven trading and distribution platform for surplus food.
Photo Copyright: Annette Riedl
Alex on matching food supply and demand: “Ten percent of greenhouse gases are caused by food waste alone; 2.5 billion tons of food are wasted worldwide every year, approximately 20 million tons of which are in Germany. Our platform enables the exact matching of oversupply and demand and significantly increases the efficiency of the food supply chain, while making the overproduction of food redundant in the long term.”
Mission: Surova - bringing the farm to you.
Valentina on local, compact, smart farming solutions: “We are bringing food production in physical proximity to where it is consumed by making compact smart farming solutions for businesses who supply us with vegetables, greens, and meals.”
Company: Susteyn
Co-Founders: Simon Heuschkel, Emil Sallem, & Hannes Ostwald
Mission: Susteyn empowers teams to be the best that they can be, through greener offices, fresh greens, and unique team events, powered by Susteyn's office farm.
Simon, Emil, & Hannes on active engagement in food production: “We engage employees in the farming process. Everyone can harvest, plant, and see their produce grow. This experience bonds the teams and connects them with the origins of their food.”
Company: wyldr
Co-Founders: Simon Singharaj & Jakob Klassen
Mission: Well-suited for busy conscious consumers who want to cook healthy, sustainable recipes, wyldr is an e-grocery app for highly personalized meal plans & healthy groceries delivered in reusable materials.
Photo Source: Guenther
Simon & Jakob on 100% organic, regional, and circular meal delivery: “Thanks to our smart nutrition and shopping assistant, it only takes a few minutes to plan weekly recipes and groceries tailored to your nutritional needs. The ingredients are delivered fresh directly to your doorstep in reusable materials, which you can return upon your next delivery. So unlike most meal kits, it is 100% organic, regional, and circular. Because at the end of the day, what is good for you is good for the planet.”