Author: Chris Sworder

Meat Alternatives on the Move

Chris Sworder
Posted on 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

Chris Sworder
Posted on 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

Chris Sworder
Posted on 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

Chris Sworder
Posted on 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

Chris Sworder
Posted on 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

Chris Sworder
Posted on 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?

Chris Sworder
Posted on 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

Chris Sworder
Posted on 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 »

Gene editing in agriculture & food: Accelerating the second green revolution

Chris Sworder
Posted on by Chris Sworder
Why are we talking about this? Pressure on global resources to support our food system is growing, and even outpacing ability to meet demand. Genetic engineering is a useful tool to maximize yield in an increasingly resource-stressed world. “CRISPR-Cas9 is a step change for agritech, it allows plant breeders to implement the vast wealth of knowledge accumulated in the last hundred years into a wider range of crop plants. It has and will continue to accelerate crop science research into... Read More »

A Feeding Frenzy in Agriculture – Cannibalism and M&A Prey

Chris Sworder
Posted on by Chris Sworder
It’s always difficult to get a big picture of the agriculture industry. It’s huge. However, two big things are important: mega-mergers and bountiful exits. Big companies In recent years, we have seen a number of mergers that would see large percentages of market share across the Agriculture & Food sector concentrated in an even smaller number of companies. Just as one small example, with this set of mergers shown on the right, 70% of the world’s pesticide market and 83%... Read More »