Innovation in Logistics: From a Supply Chain to a Demand Chain

Posted on April 3, 2019April 10, 2019 by Chris Sworder

A massive industry rife with inefficiency, short on data and long on GHG emissions, global logistics represents opportunities for innovation to power it toward a more digitized, de-carbonized and resource-efficient future. Last week Cleantech Group, along with Silicon Valley Bank and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, hosted a Power Breakfast to explore key innovations in the logistics industry. Our speakers included: John Urban, Co-Founder and Former President, GT Nexus Kelly Chen, Principal, Data Collective Earnest Sweat, Investment Manager, Prologis Ventures... Read More »

Food News: Motif Ingredients – Microbes to Meat, the Race is on…

Posted on March 1, 2019March 6, 2019 by Chris Sworder

The news about Ginkgo Bioworks spinning out Motif Ingredients signals an acceleration in the race to create an alternative meat. Plant-based meat has opened the door to consumer acceptance. Now the challenges are overcoming production bottlenecks and improving the taste, feel and versatility of the products. With $90 million of fresh capital, an impressive set of investors and a pedigree from Ginkgo Bioworks, the race is on. Spotlight on burgers Plant-based burgers are making the news, with the latest offerings including the UAE-based... Read More »

Meat Alternatives on the Move

Posted on February 7, 2019February 12, 2019 by Chris Sworder

An FAO estimation says we are on track for a 9 billion-person planet by 2050, and along with the people comes a 50% increased appetite for protein. Traditional protein for human consumption comes from animals and fish, with soy increasingly part of the landscape. The non-traditional or alternative proteins market ($4.2 billion in 2016) is around 1% of the traditional protein market, but is expected to grow more than 25% by 2022. The drivers are both perceived health benefits and... Read More »

Food Safety: From Problems to Opportunities

Posted on January 10, 2019January 23, 2019 by Chris Sworder

Anyone growing, selling or eating food in the US could not have missed what seems like a growing number of recent pathogen outbreaks. There have been two outbreaks of E. coli in romaine lettuce. A cyclosporiasis outbreak was linked back to a McDonald’s restaurant. A badly timed salmonella outbreak affected Thanksgiving turkey products while another salmonella outbreak in ground beef led to the largest food recall in US history as over 12 million pounds were recalled before Christmas. However, despite... Read More »

Fixing Food Waste with Packaging Innovation

Posted on November 29, 2018December 19, 2018 by Chris Sworder

Only two-thirds of food grown makes it to the consumer, at which point up to half of what’s left goes to waste. Innovation in food packaging is an effective way to tackle food waste, as extending shelf life of a product reduces waste throughout the supply chain. We spoke to two innovative companies to understand more about the market: Apeel Sciences and Food Freshness Technology. We discovered that there are three significant drivers for innovation in packaging. The first is reducing... Read More »

What’s New at the Big 3? A Look at the Innovation of Bayer-Monsanto, Corteva, and Syngenta-ChemChina

Posted on November 1, 2018November 12, 2018 by Chris Sworder

We have been speaking to innovation teams from the Big 3 players in plant science, Bayer-Monsanto, Corteva (DowDupont's agricultural business), and Syngenta-ChemChina, to gain insight into their approaches to engaging innovation, how this is changing with the mergers, and where else in the ecosystem they scan for agtech inspiration. Bayer-Monsanto Bayer Growth Ventures will incorporate approaches from both organizations' previous efforts to expand into new areas. Bayer previously focused on collaborations and partnerships, exemplified best by Joyn Bioworks, a joint venture between Bayer and Ginkgo Bioworks. Monsanto has a traditional... Read More »

Technological Innovation in Aquaculture

Posted on August 27, 2018August 27, 2018 by Chris Sworder

We need more seafood to meet demand for protein. It took over a generation to industrialize livestock processes, and the environmental and social consequences of that development are being brought into sharp focus. The aquaculture industry is much further back on that curve, with environmental concerns beginning to come to light. Whether it is ecologically damaging aquaculture practices in Southeast Asia or the environmental consequences of large fish escapes or managing problems like sea lice, many factors are driving innovation in... Read More »

Aquaculture: A Regional Look at a Global Industry

Posted on August 14, 2018August 16, 2018 by Chris Sworder

Introduction Globally, about 2% of overall calorie intake and 15% of protein intake comes from seafood both wild-caught and farmed. The most recent available data on global seafood production puts the total annual amount in 2015 at 138 Mt (million metric tons), of which 60% was wild-capture landings (including 20 Mt reduction fisheries) and 40% aquaculture production. Of this 40%, around 75% of the tonnage comes from finfish (as opposed to molluscs, crustaceans, etc.), and finfish account for 62.5% by... Read More »

Meatless sliders at White Castle, Mars bars with added protein – what’s happening in protein innovation?

Posted on May 16, 2018May 16, 2018 by Chris Sworder

Over a year ago, we outlined in this blog how various innovators are tackling the problems that are affecting the protein value chain. The analysis a year ago concentrated on meat alternatives and innovators that were bringing down the resource intensity of certain parts of the protein supply chain by using insects or other methods. The problem, highlighted then, was that “food-related greenhouse gas emissions could account for half of the emissions the world can afford if global warming is... Read More »

Biostimulants – the nexus of biotechnology and fertilizer

Posted on April 19, 2018April 19, 2018 by Chris Sworder

As we look forward to welcoming some of the leading thinkers in bio-based chemical and agricultural innovation at Cleantech Forum Europe in Antwerp on May 14-16, we thought we would take a look at one leading technology that is set to have an impact in the agriculture & food industry - biostimulants. What are Biostimulants? It has taken some time to identify biostimulants as its own market. An article from 2015 highlights the difficulty of defining a biostimulant as opposed to a... Read More »