The 50 people leading the future of food

Impact Investing / Resilience & Biodiversity / Health, Taste & Wellbeing / Protein 4.0 / Zero
Waste / Data, AI & Robotics / Retail & Food Service / Food Education
 Contents

1 6
Changemakers in the food Fighting food waste with
industry: KM ZERO SQUAD innovation
Pg.9 Pg.79

2 7
Driving transformation with Technology at the service of
impact investing industry: AI, data and robotics
Pg.13 Pg.95

3 8
Resilience and biodiversity: The omnichannel
the keys to tomorrow’s farming transformation of retail and
Pg.25 food service
Pg.115

4
Healthy, sustainable and 9
tasty food Feeding future generations
Pg.41 Pg.131

5 10
The new generation of ftalks Food Summit 2021: A
complementary proteins closer look at what we eat
Pg.59 Pg.149

Printed on 100% recycled paper

 01
LEADING CHANGE
IN THE FOOD
INDUSTRY:
KM ZERO SQUAD
 KM ZERO SQUAD
Changemakers in the food industry

For yet another year, we capture the future of food in these pages. On this
occasion, led by 50 people whose vision, effort and action are transforming it.

Why is it necessary to transform food system? In a scenario in which the

population will increase by more than 2 billion people in the next 30 years,
it is imperative to transform the way we produce, distribute and consume
food. Increased production has a direct impact on the use of arable land,
water, and other increasingly scarce natural resources. A case in point
was the “Overcapacity Day” on July 29 this year when we exhausted all
available natural resources for 2021 according to the World Wildlife Fund
(WWF). The natural capital we had available for a whole year, we used up in
just seven months. “The uncontrolled increase of carbon emissions in the
atmosphere poses a risk to our evolution.” So noted broadcaster, writer, and
naturalist David Attenborough during his speech at the opening ceremony
of COP26 in Glasgow held in November 2021. Our stability could falter if
we do not join forces.

This great responsibility prompted the creation of the KM ZERO Food

Innovation Hub four years ago, with the aim of understanding the major
challenges facing our sector and the desire to support those who have the
solutions. One year after its creation, the opportunity arose to hold a meeting
with the protagonists of the transformation of the food ecosystem. Joseph
Puglisi, the scientist behind the creation of the well-known Beyond Meat;
Sam Kass, Obama’s advisor on food policy and promoter of the strategy
against obesity in the United States; Sara Roversi, founder of the Future
Food Institute; Mario Ubiali, founder of Thimus; Ido Golan, of Infarm, among
many others, came to Valencia to share their vision of the future of the
sector. People who are changing the world with their work. This is how ftalks
Food Summit was born. Since then, we have held two more editions of our
annual meeting, bringing together more than 150 top international speakers,
involving more than 50 industry partners, reaching more than 100,000 people
around the world, and generating more than 11 million impacts on social
networks and media.

As a natural evolution of this forum, the KM ZERO Squad emerged in January

2021 to move from inspiration to action. This global network was born with

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KM ZERO SQUAD 11
the mission of leading the transformation towards a healthier, sustainable, reinvent livestock and agriculture; bringing delicious and beneficial products
resilient and fairer food system, connecting people and projects that are to market for consumers and the planet; developing solutions from waste
working to make a positive impact across the value chain. Our network of revaluation to waste reduction along the entire chain; thinking about new
ambassadors is made up of 50 people who are shaping the future of food models for distribution channels; and thinking about how to raise awareness
from different perspectives: investing in impact solutions; researching how to for future generations. Each year, the Squad will incorporate new figures who
are contributing to this same mission, thus increasing this “family”, generating
synergies and accelerating the pace of the sector’s transformation.

During 2021, week after week we have met with these people to discuss the
major challenges facing the sector relating to the reduction of emissions
and waste; the development of new, more sustainable ingredients; the
promotion of more resilient and safer production systems; the application
of new technologies to improve production, distribution, and consumption
systems; and the rethinking of diets to improve everyone’s quality of life.

The intensity of these meetings showed us the urgency of the challenge,

CLICK while at the same time filling us with inspiration and hope that it is possible
WORLD POPULATION to face it through collaboration and support for good practices and emerging
solutions in every corner of the world. This forum has fostered, over the
The population will increase by more than 2 billion past year, synergies between people with a shared mission to improve our
people in the next 30 years. food system through collaboration, because if we have learned anything
from COVID-19, it is that you cannot place borders on social challenges, and
Scan QR codes like therefore the response and innovation must inevitably be joint.
this one throughout
the report to learn Overcapacity day: On each page you will discover the faces behind the innovations in the
sector. And in the links, you can learn even more about some of these
more about some of “we deplete all available natural
these changemakers. protagonists who have accompanied us in our events and podcasts.
resources by 2021”
Investors, entrepreneurs, researchers and representatives of institutions
that are setting the roadmap for the coming years. Faces that reflect the
passion and the will to revolutionise the sector from knowledge and action.
People with a common denominator: the conviction that only together we
can do this, and the desire to be part of the solution.

We are driven by the well-being of society, and that is why we will continue
to do everything in our power to positively impact the economy, the
environment, and the quality of life of all through exponential changes in
food, paying special attention to the visions of these people, and supporting
INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS & SOCIAL MEDIA PEOPLE solutions and technologies with a positive impact. This forum is just the
SPEAKERS COLLABORATORS IMPACTS REACHED beginning of a great movement based on collaboration and knowledge to
create a better food future, in which you are all invited to participate.

year by year, the squad will

x50 peopl e Enjoy your meal!
incorporate new peopleto
in 2021 increase this "family".

KM ZERO SQUAD 13
 02
DRIVING
TRANSFORMATION
THROUGH IMPACT
INVESTING
Josep Segarra / Andrew D. Ive /
Dan Altschuler / Nadav Berger / Sam Kass
 Josep Segarra
Investment Manager at Quadia

Areas of expertise: impact investing, venture capital, private

equity, sustainable nutrition, circular economy, energy transition.
Favourite food: anything I haven’t tried yet.

What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system?

The food system faces major challenges in overcoming the many dysfunctions along
the value chain that have harmful effects on our environment, our economy and our
health. We urgently need to transform the intensive agriculture model that today
feeds the world by combining the efficiency provided by technology with the urgent
need to implement solutions to preserve our biodiversity and regenerate our soils.
It is not necessarily a matter of producing more, but of producing and distributing
better, with a real responsibility towards social and environmental externalities,
strongly tackling the problem of food waste. To all this, we need to add strong doses
of innovation to accelerate the pace of this transformation and implement large-
scale disruptive solutions in fields such as alternative proteins, bio-stimulants or
new materials for packaging.

How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?

Through Quadia, one of the pioneering funds in impact investing across the sustainable
food value chain in Europe, my mission is to support those entrepreneurs and companies
financially and strategically with the greatest potential for growth and impact. Our
European approach allows us to provide entrepreneurs with a vision and network beyond
their markets, with the objective of leveraging and improving those technologies and
business models that prove to be successful.

What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?

I would highlight two very different but at the same time complementary and necessary
companies and solutions for creating more sustainable food systems, reflecting Quadia’s
investment philosophy based on Regenerative Economics: 1) Ynsect, given its potential to
revolutionise the field of alternative proteins for animal, human and vegetable consumption by
greatly reducing the carbon footprint 2) La Ruche Qui Dit Oui (The Food Assembly), for being
an alternative model in food distribution, promoting the fair remuneration of farmers while
advocating for local and quality food consumption.

The food of the future will be...

Taking Slow Food’s manifesto as a reference, the food of the future will have to be healthy, clean and
fair... yet it will be achieved in a different way than imagined today and will be driven by solutions
and innovations that we must promote without delay.
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Driving transormation through impact investment 17

Andrew D. Ive How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?

Managing General Partner at Big Idea Ventures The mission of Big Idea Ventures is to solve the world’s greatest challenges by supporting
the world’s best entrepreneurs, scientists and engineers. Our first fund, the New
Areas of expertise: Working with entrepreneurs and their teams
Protein Fund, is focused on finding 100 entrepreneurs, scientists and engineers in the
to grow companies in the alternative protein and future of food
alternative protein sector and giving them the funds, mentors, networks and resources
categories.
to allow them to create new protein industries. Specifically, innovators in the plant-
Favourite food: popcorn. based, cell-based and fermentation-enabled meat, seafood and dairy sectors. We have
already invested in more than 65 alternative protein companies who are reimagining
and developing the meat, seafood and dairy industries of the century ahead. Creating
What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system? products, ingredients and technologies which will help us to produce the foods we love
but in a way that is far more sustainable for the planet, more nutritious for us and safer
The alternative protein category is one of the most innovative and forward-thinking for our growing population.
sectors in food. Over the last decade we have seen true innovators partnering with
global corporates and investors to bring new products and technologies to consumers
around the world. Despite the innovation, creativity and funds in alternative protein, the
production capabilities are not currently aligned. There are so many great new products
and approaches that the production partners (the contract manufacturers) have not
kept pace with the volumes demanded by consumers hungry for cleaner labels, more
nutritious plant-based meat, seafood and dairy. The main challenge for the alternative
protein sector is the ability for the small and fast-growing innovators to produce their
products in the quantities demanded to meet local, national and international demand.
A further challenge is the reliance of the alternative protein category, particularly
plant-based alternatives, on a small number of crops. The alternative protein sector is
currently focused on soy, pea and wheat, which puts pressure on pricing and is building
a significant production volume of just a few commodities. This puts undue risk on a
small number of inputs. It would be far safer if we expanded the crops used to include a
wider variety of ingredients and crops.

What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?

The two dramatically impactful technologies and all the companies

within the sectors which will change the entire landscape of
the food industry over the next two decades are cell-based and
fermentation-enabled food development.
Huge progress has already been achieved, but there is far more to be delivered using these
technologies. We increasingly have the capability to replace animal protein, seafood, dairy, plant-
based / animal-based oils and other products and ingredients. Farmsow, for example, is a company
creating tropical oils with the performance of palm and coconut oil without another palm tree
needing to be cut down anywhere in the world. Shiok Meats is Asia’s largest cell-based crustacean
company creating shrimp without the need to harvest another crustacean. And Jellatech is
creating gelatin without the need to harvest or process bones or skin

The food of the future will be...

The ability to create and provide all the foods we have grown up loving in ways that are far
more sustainable for the planet. The future of food will be abundant but without the risks to
our seas, our forests, or animal welfare.
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Driving transormation through impact investment 19

Dan Altschuler Nadav Berger
Managing Partner of Unovis Asset Management & New Crop Capital Founder and Managing Partner of PeakBridge Ventures

Areas of expertise: alternative proteins,

Areas of expertise: investing in foodtech.
international business, strategy, negotiation,
branding, business development. Favourite food: Greek cuisine and my favourite
Favourite food: dish (still) would be a chicken Schnitzel fresh
mole poblano (vegan) with heura. from the fryer.

What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system? What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system?

The complexity of the food system gives rise to many challenges of great magnitude. Our The foodtech scene is growing and there are more and more exciting opportunities all
focus is on eliminating animal protein from global consumption given the positive effect this the time. However, we are still at the early stages of the investment ecosystem and state
change would have on the environment, consumer health, and animal welfare. At the same of maturity of companies in the sector.
time, it will allow us to feed a global population that continues to grow.

How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?

How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?
We are a team of professionals with experience in the food industry and investments. We try
Through our investments in companies that develop alternatives based on plants, fungi to be the bridge that helps entrepreneurs get to the top and we do so through funding and
and cultivated proteins. value-adding activities such as Biz Dev, presentations and strategic thinking and alliances.

What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?
What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?
NOVAMEAT is introducing a new category of plant-based products, creating whole steaks
that can replace beef, pork or chicken fillets. In turn, Anina, an Israeli startup, creates ready to We believe that the winners will be those that apply technological advances from both tech
cook food capsules that are 100% natural, rich in vegetables and nutrients, easy to use and and non-tech industries to food. That’s why we only support tech companies that use data
developed by designers and prepared using “unattractive” products. They prepare food using and artificial intelligence, biotech and new crops. The best ones will be those that truly
a unique technology to create the future of a healthy culinary experience for the consumer. combine more than one.

The food of the future will be... The food of the future will be...

One which is healthier, cheaper, with less or zero impact on the planet and which protects Affordable and nutritious food, which is produced more efficiently, using smart technologies
animals and all living beings. (AI, fermentation, biotechnology) and with much less of an impact on our planet.

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Driving transormation through impact investment 21

Sam Kass How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?

Partner Acre Venture Partners. I am investing and building next generation companies which are transforming the food
Former White House Chef and Senior Policy Advisor for Nutrition. system by solving large scale problems in human and environmental health.

Areas of expertise: impact investment, foodtech,

nutrition, sustainability.
What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?
Favourite food: uni.
Loam Bio, formerly called Soil Carbon Co. This company is dedicated to removing carbon
from the atmosphere and improving the world’s soils. They develop technology to capture
carbon from the atmosphere on a gigatonne scale and return it to the soil. This improves
What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system?
soil health and allows farmers to trade a new commodity: carbon offsets. This breakthrough
technology can create new planetary-scale opportunities for carbon sequestration and
Food is truly at the centre of some of the biggest issues we face around health and climate
improve agricultural productivity.
change. Among the multiple challenges we are facing as an industry and as a society, our
top priority is addressing climate change.
The food of the future will be...
Farming is the number two producer of global
greenhouse gases and agriculture uses 71% of the Carbon-reduced.

world’s fresh water.

We must finish with monoculture, encouraged by our diet which reduces itself to about twelve
crops and five types of animals, which has a negative impact on the soil and on human health.
We should, of course, face other persisting challenges such as global health and the use of
plastic, without losing sight of our biggest threat, which will make all other problems more
severe. Everybody should focus on climate change to get the food system right!

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Driving transormation through impact investment 23

The agritech and foodtech sectors are in the sights of all investors. In the solve challenges arising in relation to their activity, such as sustainability,
first six months of 2021, foodtech startups raised the same capital as in food waste management, new distribution channels, changes in consumer
the whole of 2020: a total of €20 billion. Interest arises along the entire habits or the creation of clean label products. At KM ZERO we promote our
agri-food chain, ranging from solutions in the field for soil regeneration and “Innovation Opportunities Club” in which we periodically present startups that
smart farming, to technologies such as artificial intelligence or robotics are not only developing solutions along the entire chain but also looking for
to improve industrial processes. Moreover, although delivery is usually the synergies, investment, industrial partners and collaborations. From the Club,
subsector that receives the most investment, it is striking to see how in we highlight the success story of the well-known startup Plant on Demand,
2020 those startups that operate closer to the farm and the supply chain which received investment from one of our partners, Dacsa Group.
raised more money than consumer-oriented ones, according to The Tech-
Food Magazine. In this sense, 2020 was a particularly positive year for
Spain, which ranks sixth in the world in agri-foods investment, with over
€611 million invested, according to the specialised fund AgFunder.
The profile of many of the investors operating in this sector is that of impact
investors, who, beyond generating financial returns, seek to support projects
that have a positive social and environmental impact. Likewise, many of
the most prominent entrepreneurs strive to improve the world through the
products and services they offer, even introducing impact measures in their
bylaws. This is why many funds have rethought their value propositions to
take into account not only profitability and risk, but also impact.
More and more consolidated companies along the entire chain require
financial support to be able to industrialise and scale their processes while
backing them up throughout their different growth phases. More and more
investors are committed to having a portfolio of investees that look to benefit
the environment and people’s well-being. This represents a great opportunity
for entrepreneurs in the food sector, given that it is one of the sectors that
has the greatest impact on the well-being of the planet, people, the economy
and humanity.
An important trend is the growth of investment in the Latin American region.
A recent study by Endeavor and PepsiCo reveals that 64% of foodtech
investment in the area occurred during the pandemic, where delivery and
e-commerce have skyrocketed like never before.
According to Forbes, “the three categories with the highest representation
within the sample correspond to logistics and data management companies
(22%), sales (17%) and organic, natural or healthy products (16%); of which,
24% managed to scale and generate 50 or more direct jobs, despite having
less than a decade of operation”. This same study shows how LATAM has
all the potential to become a foodtech hub, with more than 300 startups
and scaleups.
In addition to impact investment, corporate venturing in the agri-food sector
is gradually growing. Companies, usually industrial ones, are increasingly
looking to collaborate with startups and attract talent and innovation to

Driving transormation through impact investment 25

 03
RESILIENCE &
BIODIVERSITY:
KEY ASPECTS OF
TOMORROW’S FARMING
Borja Lafuente / Ido Golan /
Howard-Yana Shapiro / David Caré / Alina
Zolotareva, RDN / Dorothy Shaver
Borja Lafuente What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?
Head of Sustainability Iberia at Danone At Danone, we want to lead the transition to a fair, healthier, sustainable and, above all, inclusive
Areas of expertise: food system. A food system that leaves no one behind, that respects the environment and uses
sustainability & public affairs. resources efficiently. Food education is key to managing strong future prospects. Therefore,
through projects such as “Alimentando el Cambio”, we aspire to turn new generations into
Favourite food: conscious agents of change. We sow this seed because we believe that empowering them with the
thistle mushrooms. necessary tools and information about food habits, style and origin will turn them into responsible
citizens who are aware of the impact of food on the planet.
We are committed to a sustainable and proximity family farm management model, based on long-
What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system? term contracts, generational handover and animal welfare. We establish long-term relationships
with our farmers to provide them with both security and a guarantee to plan and make long-
The construction of a modern food system must involve as many players as possible to join term investments and improvements. In addition, we support young farmers in the process of
forces and achieve common objectives. Considering how demanding the global climate and generational handover and contribute to professionalising their work. This is key to consolidating
social agenda is, we must attain synergies to achieve a sustainable model. the local population. Letting rural Spain die out would have social, demographic, economic and
environmental consequences that must be prevented. Ensuring quality employment and purpose
The food system is intertwined with a myriad of different stakeholders whilst it affects and are the keys to maintaining a sustainable food system.
is affected by industries and players with impacts on each of them, therefore, cooperation is
crucial to advance on the challenges depicted by the future of food. The inter-related nature
of the system means that it can be a benefit and a threat at the same time, both in local
The food of the future will be...
communities and globally.
The food of the future will be - or should be - a reflection of how the world works: through
One challenge is obvious: the world population is expected to an apple we will be able to understand what its environment of origin is like, how the local
grow from 7 to 9 billion inhabitants, which in practice will require communities live, what apples contribute to our health and why we choose apples over
an increase of at least 70% in the food supply by 2050. pears. The food of the future will arrive on our plates responsibly, and will be sustainable,
local and, above all, fair. We must re-learn to eat responsibly because every time we eat and
The challenges that are already being tackled to consolidate this transformation include the drink, we choose the world we want to live in.
use of local products, regenerative agriculture, the protection of ecosystems and the fight
against food waste.

How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?

On a personal note, I was born and raised in Sigüenza, in a rural area, the kind of environment
which encourages a very respectful mindset towards food, on the one hand, because there
are those who have nothing to eat and, on the other hand, because agriculture and livestock
constitute the main livelihoods of many families. My contribution has to do with continuing to
encourage respect for this aspect of the food chain. I have been lucky enough to eat products
such as spelt flour, organic eggs, fresh vegetables, mushrooms, game, nuts, which for many are
considered a luxury, as though they were normal everyday products, but the respect for food
as a livelihood is something we should hand down to our children. It is therefore necessary to
encourage as many social players as possible to participate in this transformation process.
Companies, governments, academia, and citizens all have the responsibility to inspire, raise
awareness and act in a holistic manner

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Resilience & biodiversity 29

Ido Golan What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?
Culinary Product Development Senior Manager at Infarm The solution needs to come from revolutionising the way we do agriculture.
Areas of expertise: explorer and implementer of non-standard crops Bringing to the mainstream two distinct approaches that
into indoor farming environments.
currently sit on the edges of farming practices. Those are
Favourite food:
free-style Shakshuka. regenerative farming and indoor-urban farming.
Those two alternative approaches should be promoted simultaneously because they
hold solutions for both rural and urban populations. While regenerative agriculture such
as permaculture, biodynamics or food forests can support local/rural communities and
What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system? provide nearby cities, it cannot bear the heavy burden of supporting big cities around the
world, where most of the population will soon be found.
I can point out two main challenges:
This is why, at the other end of the spectrum, indoor farming can become a local base of
The establishment of the emerging high-tech alternative branch of agriculture called urban
security of food quality and availability for cities all-year-round.
indoor farming in a productive, efficient and sustainable way that can justify its increasing
share in the industry. Furthermore, strong urban farming systems can reduce the pressure on rural farmers that
have to rely on conventional methods to feed global demand.
Another challenge closer to my work is the incorporation of many more potential types of
crops on our shelves and in our diets. In addition, reintroducing the tasty and nutritional The establishment of urban farming might allow rural farmers to implement more
heirloom varieties that have been left behind, instead of industrial crops designed for intensive sustainable practices and produce seasonal, high-quality crops.
agriculture and global supply chains.
This (re)introduction to the public will require time and effort in educating people about those
new crops and how to include them in their lives and cuisines. I see chefs as excellent and The food of the future will be...
natural ambassadors of new crops implementation in local cuisines and cultures.
Locally grown, healthier, sustainable and diverse.

How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?

Infarm is one of the leading companies who are revolutionising the agricultural world. We
are creating a local/urban alternative that gradually replaces the contaminating, wasteful
global food system. This activity provides cities with locally grown, fresh and diverse food.

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Resilience & biodiversity 31

Howard-Yana Shapiro
Distinguished Senior Fellow, Resilient Landscapes, CIFOR-ICRAF; Senior Fellow, College
What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?

of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, UC Davis; Principal, Double Helix Consulting Machine learning and artificial intelligence, helping to make faster, better, more efficient
decisions that are democratised for everyone.
Areas of expertise: agriculture and landscape performance systems;
plant sciences; plant genetics, plant breeding; nitrogen fixation;
nature-based solutions, conservation, biodiversity and carbon, based The food of the future will be...
on detailed technical, social, environmental analysis, scientific
research and evidence. The global supply chain must initiate true cost accounting for agriculture and landscape
Favourite food: tofu and fermented vegetables production systems. We must ensure that deriving the dividends of production systems
happens without damaging the landscape. We must ensure that food produced is
Vegan dishes: Thai, Mexican, Indian, Francophone African, Vietnamese, Middle Eastern and nutritious, not just calorific, and safe to eat, free of all contaminants.
Italian cuisines. Vegetables, grains, cereals, herbs and fruits from each cuisine.
We must design scalable, scientifically
What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system?
sound, investable projects with high social
Ending chronic hunger and malnutrition, providing nutritious food to all, loss
of natural habitat, land degradation, inequality in supply chains, illegality/ and environmental impacts.
irresponsibility in supply chains, waste, lack of big data accessibility and social Giant steps need to be taken to ensure no one is left behind, because the alternative of
and political acceptability in embracing technology. Followed by the efficient continuing to slide backwards towards a time when our damaged ecosystems can no
use of water and plant nutrients, climatic resilience in production, nitrogen longer support our economies and food systems is totally unacceptable.
fixation, profitability at the farmgate, etc

How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?

“What did they live on” said Alice, who always took a great interest of eating
Through the African Orphan Crops Consortium, the African Plant Breeding Academy, the African and drinking.
Plant Breeding Academy CRISPR; Resilient Landscapes and the Agricultural and Landscapes
Performance System; the Foldit Aflatoxin Puzzle; advances in plant breeding particularly in “They lived on treacle” said the Dormouse, after thinking a minute or two.
climatic resilience, yield, pest and disease resistance, drought tolerance, multiple solutions to “They couldn’t have done that, you know,” Alice gently remarked, “they’d
nitrogen fixation and the efficient use of water and plant nutrients. I have scientific advisory
roles for many ag, agtech and food startups. have been ill.”
“So they were,” said the Dormouse, “VERY ill.”
Alicia en el País de las Maravillas

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Resilience & biodiversity 33

 David Caré
CEO for Southern Europe for the Ecotone Group and Director General of Biogran

Areas of expertise: bio-nutrition, business development,

international market & sales in the FMCG sector.
Favourite food: risotto ai funghi, with Isola
Bio cooking cream.

What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system?

The main challenge of the food system is to achieve a change

of mentality and an evolution in the way we eat, through more
sustainable and organic food that looks after the planet and
its biodiversity.
This challenge will be tackled by diversifying the raw materials of our food while taking
care of the fields in which we grow them. And it necessarily implies a shift from animal
protein consumption to plant-based foods.
For this reason, at Biogran we believe it is essential to encourage, from an early
age, environmentally friendly and sustainable eating habits that allow us to produce
responsible adults who are aware of their environment.

How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?

Our commitment to health and to the planet is anchored to the essence of the
company, and proof of this are the more than 1,000 vegan products that we offer
today. In addition, 90% of our portfolio is organic and we use alternative ingredients
to conventional food. We are pioneers and benchmarks in the sector, starting to trust
these products almost forty years ago, leading the plant-based movement and being
an example, with launches as innovative as Abbot Kinney’s yoghurts and desserts or
the well-known Ecocesta vegetable drinks, (which do not taste like a vegetable drink),
that were awarded the Sabor del Año Innovación 2021 prize a few months ago.

What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?

Our latest launch, the LIKE BURGER, is a good example, since though not the first to launch
a vegan burger, today it is the only one that incorporates pea protein, achieving excellent
flavour and texture, without the use of flavour enhancers or other artificial ingredients.
Moreover, it is also ORGANIC. A disruptive product that implies a turning point in the
plant-based market.

The food of the future will be...

Undoubtedly, ecological, plant-based and local; committed to the planet and its biodiversity.
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Resilience & biodiversity 35

Dorothy Shaver What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?
Global Marketing Sustainability Lead, Knorr at Unilever This year (2021) Knorr led the celebration of the Inaugural World Eat for Good Day when,
Areas of expertise: food system sustainability with a focus on together with celebrity chefs and partners, Knorr asked the world to make swaps to the Future
thought leadership and behaviour change for an equitable, efficient, 50 Foods in everyday meals to change the world by changing what’s on your plate.
and lucrative system that benefits people and the planet.
Join us on 19 February 2022 on World Eat for Good Day to
Favourite food: roasted kale topped with seasoned cashews
and olive oil / mangoes.
inspire the world to change what’s on their plates!

What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system? The food of the future will be...

Knorr, Unilever’s largest food brand, focuses on three big challenges with efforts to I am hopeful that efforts will be galvanised to enable delicious food that is good for
change the direction of the impact of food on human and planetary health. These are people and the planet, and that will be available and desirable to all - unlocking optimal
1) lack of nutrients and biodiversity loss as a result of growing and eating the same human and planetary health. This will require collaborative efforts to swiftly transform
foods repeatedly, 2) impact of food on climate change with >60% coming from animals the who, what, why, when, and how behind food. I will champion the idea of shifting to
and 3) foods grown in ways that are using excessive resources and harming the land. all of us identifying our way of eating as “Varietarian” – enjoying a wide variety of foods
Therefore, Knorr champions more variety, less meat and more plants grown in sustainable, with the power to transform to an efficient, equal, healthy food system that lovingly
restorative and regenerative ways through products, programmes and partnerships. nourishes all people and our precious planet.
Knorr has the ambition to get food that is good for people
and the planet on 7 billion plates by 2025 via the Future
50 Foods. Future 50 Foods, created by Knorr and WWF-
UK, is a thought leadership piece that summarises food
system issues and goes on to identify 50 foods that we
should eat more of to help address those issues. Recently
Knorr announced the roadmap to grow 80% of Knorr’s key
ingredients following Unilever Regenerative Agriculture
Principles by 2026.

How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?

As well as my work for Knorr at Unilever, I am a founding board member for Food for
Climate League and Senior Health and Wellbeing advisor for SYD/iamYiam wellbeing
AI driven application. My interest in and love for food began at a very young age,
being known in our family as the ‘food boss’. This led to my decision to become a
Dietitian and to further study health promotion and education to unlock how to enable
people to take action for better health. For the past 18 years, I have worked across the
industry in marketing, media, PR, research and development, product development,
retail, health care, food service, AI, fitness, and wellness, facilitating the shift to better
food habits and ecosystems. I have a deep understanding of the importance of food
from the emotional and cultural role it plays in personal lives to the impact it has on
human and planetary health.

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Resilience & biodiversity 37

Alina Zolotareva, RDN
Marketing Director at AeroFarms What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?
Areas of expertise: agtech/indoor vertical farming,
On a mission to grow the best plants possible for the betterment of humanity, AeroFarms
food marketing, nutrition science.
is an award-winning vertical farming company and Certified B Corporation with global
Favourite food: EAeroFarms salad with baby watercress, microgreens, headquarters in Newark, New Jersey. AeroFarms patented, award-winning indoor
local roasted vegetables and a homemade pesto dressing (+ a glass growing technology provides the perfect conditions for healthy plants to thrive, taking
of skin-contact wine). agriculture to a new level of precision, food safety, and productivity while using up to
95% less water, 99% less land, 390x more productivity and no pesticides ever versus
field farming. Through our unique agriculture platform, AeroFarms has multiple major
What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system? strategic partnerships to help solve global supply chain needs. We aren’t just a business;
we want to be a force for good in the world. We place our team, customers, community,
Controlled environment agriculture, particularly indoor vertical farming, has received environment, and investors at the heart of every decision we make. Our business model
more funding, attention and interest than ever in recent years. Moreover, the COVID-19 was strategically built to address 12 of 17 United Nations’ Sustainable Development
pandemic has underscored the need for a major redesign of our food system, and Goals and was honoured to be a recipient of the inaugural Global SDG Awards celebrating
the urgent need for a more distributed food supply chain, particularly when it comes private-sector leadership in the advancement of United Nations 2030 Agenda.
to all-year-round fresh produce production. Our industry is at an important turning
point where we have the opportunity to scale our operations in a significant way to
shift our fresh produce supply chain from a centralized, resource-intensive model to a
distributed, regional one, all over the world. The food of the future will be...

Fresh and local. Developed by smart, sustainable growing technologies like AeroFarms indoor
vertical farming technology.
How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?

With population growth, food production will need to increase by 69%. AeroFarms is up
to 390x as productive as a field farm.

70% of freshwater goes to agriculture and a significant amount

of freshwater contamination comes from agriculture.
AeroFarms uses up to 95% less water than regular field farmers. The world has lost
1/3 of its arable land in the last 40 years. At AeroFarms we grow with up to 99% less
land than field farming. With pesticide residues on 70% of washed produce in the
US, people are concerned with sustainability and chemicals on their food. AeroFarms’
greens are grown using zero pesticides, herbicides and fungicides. Food loss and
waste is a growing issue with $1.2 trillion worth of food lost or wasted each year.
AeroFarms’ greens are locally grown and distributed for fresher food and less waste
along the supply chain.
Our environmentally-controlled indoor farms can grow all year round regardless of
climate and weather events. This means we don’t have to worry about frost or crop
protection and can grow just about any crop by replicating their ideal environment
in our aeroponic vertical farms with a fraction of the land, water, resources and a
fraction of the negative environmental outputs. Food security and climate resilience
are also strongly connected, and by growing indoors, we are able to ensure fresh food
production regardless of climate or weather events and a much more judicious use of
our precious resources, such as water.

Resilience & biodiversity 39

A lack of arable land space, desertification, the inefficient use of limited
resources, the use of fertilizers or pesticides, and an unfair system of benefits At Idai Nature we believe that respect for biodiversity is essential, which is why
for farmers are some of the main challenges affecting farming today. In we were the first company to launch a specific line for biodynamic agriculture,
addition to these challenges, we must take into account imbalances in the inspired and developed from nature, to revive and regenerate soils, naturally
supply chain caused by the rising costs of raw materials, energy and transport, improve plant and crop protection, and promote sustainable, profitable and
as well as the lack of digitalisation of processes in the countryside. high-quality agriculture for both producers and end consumers.
The regeneration of land and its biodiversity arouses interest. Moreover, For us, it means a return to our origins without going backwards, as we apply
products that are rich in microorganisms, coming from soil-friendly agriculture, the most innovative technologies to the traditional way of cultivating soils,
are becoming increasingly popular. coexisting with the present ecosystem and trying to give back to the land
more than what we take away from it.
It is becoming imperative to support producers to improve their quality
of life and remuneration, using technological know-how to facilitate their IDAI NATURE
management and assist the process towards more sustainable and resilient
production. This will give them the opportunity to return to a form of
agriculture that does not require pesticides and chemical fertilizers, whilst In a globalised world, we coexist with multiple models of food production.
ensuring good yields. Maximising the use of the products we generate, in a sustainable way, is and
Data, data, data! It will provide valuable information to improve their modus will continue to be the big challenge. In the design of new foods, from their
operandi. Aiming to obtain higher yields and tasty and highly nutritional conception, lies the key to taking advantage of existing biodiversity and creating
products, we will move towards mixed models between the ancestral products that can be used down to the last gram, as fresh products or as healthy
knowledge of regenerative agriculture, and other current ones such as gene ingredients. New foods will be “alive” and their functional characteristics will be
editing, artificial intelligence or robotics. The digitization of the countryside preserved for longer and in more formats. We share a healthier future from the
could make it less arduous and more attractive to new generations, thus seed. The future is already present.
combating rural depopulation and encouraging production methods that RIJK ZWAAN
are in harmony with ecosystems.

At Bayer, we are committed to digital agriculture and work to ensure that our
digital tools help farmers not only to take decisions but to use resources
such as water, soil, energy, fertilizers and phytosanitary products in a more
efficient manner. With digital tools like FieldView ®, Bayer brings technology
closer to farmers and enables them to track the impact of their decisions
on crop yields from their mobile devices. Thanks to an algorithm, farmers
can both monitor and inform themselves about the state of the field while
obtaining prescriptions of cultivation and fertilization rates. It moreover
looks at each area of the examined field in a customized way to make the
most with the available resources.
BAYER

Resilience & biodiversity 41

 04
HEALTHY,
SUSTAINABLE ,
& TASTY FOOD
Rubén Hidalgo / Jordi Barri / Karl De Smedt
/ Oriol Reull / Mónica Navarro / Guillermo
Milans del Bosch
Rubén Hidalgo How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?

Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at CAPSA FOOD Once both the problem and the purpose that mobilises us are identified, as always, we need
to create new tools that allow us to achieve our objectives. As producers, and in my case,
Areas of expertise: trend studies, exploration
from the area of open innovation, we seek to help consolidate the foundations on a business
project management, impact investment,
project that is based on its financial sustainability, but also incorporating in a decisive way,
strategic communication.
the social and environmental impact. To this end, we incorporate exploration processes that
Favourite food: steamed sea urchins. allow us to collaborate with innovative entrepreneurial projects, which not only search and
identify problems quickly, but are innovative when creating sustainable business models
by applying new knowledge. This working mechanism allows us to act on very specific
problems within the food value chain while incorporating creative solutions in an agile way.
What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system? Both agility in the transfer of knowledge to the problems of the food value chain and the
orientation to social and environmental impact, are some of the greatest strengths reflected
There is no doubt that we, fundamentally in the West, are living through a paradigm in the current time of transformation.
shift. Until now, our train of thought when considering the way we produce, live and
consume has been based on a basic law: more is always better. Now, having seen
the limits of this approach and having advanced our knowledge in these matters,
What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?
we are creating a model with a new basic law: balance is better. We keep facing
the challenge of producing food without deteriorating natural ecosystems, aiming Right now, we are working on several challenges throughout the value chain. At source, we are
to improve the relationship between people and nature, the nutritional balance of working on applying knowledge to help farms minimise their environmental impact and improve
people, the balance between urban space and food sources. It is here that we find their role in the management of natural capital. We do this through the so-called #LaGranja
the challenges of our time. initiative, working on crop rotations, new animal feed formulas and a long list of innovations that
seek to anticipate the neutrality scenario of our sector, and assuming an active role in biodiversity
The biodiversity that surrounds us, as well as our own, needs management. In the transformation area, the role played by the Spanish Microbiome project is
a renewed approach regarding the way we think about our very relevant, given that not only will the intestinal microbiota of Spain be mapped, but it will also
food system. help us understand the role and relationship between our food, the bacteria in our intestine and
the consequences it has on our long-term health.

OUR MISSION IS TO CREATE

THE FARM OF THE FUTURE

1#L AGRANJA
NEUTRAL
2#L AGRANJA
ECO-EFFICIENT
3
#L AGRANJA
MULTIPURPOSE

The food of the future will be...

It will resemble that of our ancestors, so it will have a more basic presentation, it will
recover its essence and nutritional contributions, it will become more accessible to the
entire population worldwide and it will reconnect with cultures and local identities, rescuing
the importance of food not only in our health as individuals, but also in our quest to live in
healthy communities. And, of course, it will be surrounded by extraordinary technological
capabilities that will disrupt current supply structures and our understanding of diet.
CLICK

Healthy, sustainable & tasty food 45

Jordi Barri
CEO of Flax & Kale

Areas of expertise: consulting, management, finance, marketing,

healthy food, plant-based foodtech.
Favourite food: all types of salads,
rice and fish dishes.

What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system?

I would highlight three major challenges in the current food system: first, the development
of a more sustainable model that respects the environment and our relationship with the
animal world; second, food safety and health; and third, innovation and technology as the
drivers of change. It is essential that we build sustainable, safe, healthy and inclusive food
systems, as well as ensure a transition towards models that democratise access to healthy
and nutritious food, rebalance the relationship between humans, the flora and fauna and the
environment, while increasing the intake of plant-based protein.

How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?

Food companies have a considerable social and health responsibility. While society seems
to be ready to change its consumption habits, the sector must respond with quality, tasty, What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?
healthy and sustainable proposals, in addition to disseminating the benefits of the plant-
based diet for both human health and the environment. We are facing a trend change in food consumption. Consumers are increasingly demanding
Flax & Kale was born with the purpose of contributing to a healthier, happier and more healthy products that are easily prepared, and not only in restaurants. At the same time,
sustainable world through healthy eating. This mission has been maintained throughout they are much more informed and aware of health, animal welfare and waste management,
the more than 40 years of the group’s history. Our contribution involves promoting a lifestyle among other issues.
in which respect for health, the environment and people predominates, and making healthy Health continues to be the main motivation for consumption among flexitarians, therefore
options available to consumers that are also delicious. If this duality is unbalanced by one positioning ourselves beyond our restaurants means advocating for our vision and mission
of the two sides, that type of diet becomes meaningless. We firmly believe that companies to be the driving force for change through healthy eating: EAT BETTER > BE HAPPIER >
like ours can lead the transition to a new, much more committed food model. LIVE LONGER. We are committed to plant-based products that maximise the absorption of
At Flax & Kale we are committed to a flexitarian diet, a food trend where 80% of the nutrients that a person needs to function properly and that, in addition to being sustainable
products are of vegetable origin and the remaining 20% of animal origin, as long as they are and healthy, are as tasty as the rest of the products on the market. Proof of this is our latest
environmentally friendly and of the highest quality. From 2019 to 2021, the sum of vegans, launch of the largest range of plant-based meats and cheeses manufactured in Spain: 14
vegetarians and flexitarians has grown in Spain thanks mainly to the flexitarian section, products in meats and 31 in cheeses created by an R+D+i team, and tested for flavour,
which has increased from 8% to 11% of the Spanish population. This is a more inclusive texture and experience over the last 3 years in the group’s restaurants.
type of diet that represents a natural transition between omnivore and vegetarian or vegan
for people who are concerned about their health and the environment and want to start
The food of the future will be...
reducing their intake of animal products, without facing a restrictive diet.
In addition, for more than 40 years our proposal has been committed to the following Plant-based! The future of food must be driven by health and sustainability, where R&D
characteristics: tasty, because we put all our experience and creativity into creating will play a fundamental role. This involves the development and consolidation of plant-
recipes that achieve organoleptic pleasure and are deliciously balanced; healthy, because based proposals as an alternative to animal protein.
we pamper the choice of food with criteria of proximity and sustainability and carefully This is why we are investing in our R&D department, aiming to achieve differentiating
look after all the cooking processes; and sustainable, because our origins and traditions projects that will help us to develop healthy plant-based products that are
begin in the countryside and, just as our grandparents did, we are committed to reducing, increasingly similar to their analogous products and might even improve their taste
reusing and recycling as much of the value chain as possible. and nutritional content.

Healthy, sustainable & tasty food 47

 How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?
Karl De Smedt
The Sourdough Librarian at Puratos I’m promoting sourdough bread everywhere I can and, thanks to the sourdough library,
I’m in a unique position to do so. Together with my colleagues and peers, we are in touch
Areas of expertise: Bakery. with all the biggest players in the bakery business, as well as artisans and influencers, and
Favourite food: I love all kinds of food, have been able to convince early adopters to add it to their recipes. Puratos is very much
as long as it’s prepared with love. committed to the Health and Wellbeing of food. In practical terms, this includes helping
customers add more grains & seeds into their baked goods; reducing salt, sugar and fat;
increasing fruit content; making labels clean(er); and encouraging responsible sourcing and
local production. We recently started a project to bake the first bread on Mars! This mission
imagines future settlers on Mars having access to healthy and nutritious bakery products.
What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system? The cutting-edge research programme and foodtech centre, PuraDome, were inspired by
the harsh conditions on planet Mars. But more importantly, we want to apply the results
There is no doubt that commercial yeast, discovered 150 years ago, has reduced the of the research here on Earth. Why wait if we can already contribute to a more sustainable
time it takes to make bread considerably. And yet, while it has enabled bakers to make “vertical” agriculture now by using less water, less nitrogen and fertilizers, and impacting air
more bread, more quickly, it’s also meant that the skills required to prepare sourdough and water, for example?
bread, the original method of bread preparation, have been lost. With sourdough now
rising in popularity — science continues to reveal its health benefits — bakeries will We are convinced that by looking into the type of sourdough,
have to adapt their way of working and their recipes to bake this better bread. Now ingredients and recipe that will work best on Mars, we can improve
bakers already have their hands full controlling the fermentation of yeast, but when
you add sourdough to this, with all its complexity, you have a serious cocktail of our food system here on Earth in the coming decades.
challenges! Added to this is the constant need for more skilled labour. This shortage
is a story I hear from bakers everywhere. No wonder there is such high demand for
“masterclasses” and that online courses are so popular. What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?

One company will not be able to do the job. It must be a joint effort done at all levels in
every corner of the planet. I’m convinced education will play a role in this. If you have
the right education and information, you can make the right decisions. The media can
play an important role too.

The food of the future will be...

Bright. With consumers increasingly conscious about the quality of their food, we
have to take this into account when doing new product development or research.
The pandemic has only confirmed how important healthy and nutritious food is. And
if you ask me, this is not going to disappear. Let’s learn from the past and build on
what has been done before by previous generations to make things better, cleaner
and more sustainable.

Healthy, sustainable & tasty food 49

Oriol Reull
Co-founder of ROOTS Mindfoodness

Areas of expertise:
finance, strategy, operations.
Favourite food:
eggs benedict.

What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system?

How we will feed the world’s growing population. That to me is the main food challenge.
If we analyse it, we could argue that the food system has two driving forces that are
progressing extremely quickly to solve this problem, but they are neither following the same
direction, nor moving in parallel. These driving forces are technology and sustainability.
For me, the main challenge is to make these two levers of change work together while
growing at the same speed, and in the same direction.
3D printing and local consumption. Artificial intelligence and big data to make decisions
to reduce environmental impact.

How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?

I contribute to transforming the food system through education and by inspiring the
new generations, the youngest ones, to understand the new food reality from their
earliest years. What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?
Sowing a seed in children’s first years of life while at the same time encouraging mothers
At ROOTS Mindfoodness we committed ourselves to translate all the adult innovation that we have
and fathers who will influence food decisions in future years. Advocating food, which
seen in the last decade, to the child population. We have tried to unite three pillars that do not
is real, sustainable and adapted to nutritional needs, and at the same time made with
usually go hand in hand: technology, nutrition and healthy eating.
quality ingredients, is in my opinion the greatest contribution to changing the way people
interact with food. I believe that, given the main challenge we face is to feed the
I contribute to changing the food system by supporting young entrepreneurs with population, starting from the roots and creating good foundations
disruptive projects by consulting, advising and investing.
is key to sowing a seed that will transform the relationship between
people and food. Forever.

The food of the future will be...

The food of the future will be disruptive, innovative, and futuristic (pun-intended). Likewise,
it will be close, fair and sustainable in all its dimensions.
The coming years will see the consolidation of many trends that are here to stay, and we will
use technology more than ever to improve efficiency, surprise the end consumer and solve
complex and massive challenges.
Vegetable proteins, local consumption and extreme food customisation are for me the three
pillars of the food of the future.

Healthy, sustainable & tasty food 51

Mónica Navarro
CEO & Co-Founder of Delicious & Sons

Areas of expertise: food strategy, food sustainability,

mediterranean diet, vegan, plant-based food.
Favourite food: Cualquier proteína vegetal con nuestra
Salsa Putanesca Vegana.

What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system?

The main challenge of the food system today is the same one in every sector: how do we achieve
a sustainable system without causing more damage to our planet? There is no system that
is more dependent on the health of the planet than the food system, and that is because raw
materials come directly from the land. We must be able to produce, not only avoiding harming
but also aiming to improve the current state of the planet. Two further major challenges also
arise: on the one hand, how to feed future generations while dealing with population growth,
and, on the other hand, the fact that we have to change the nutritional content of the food we
consume. We must work in a direction that entails better and healthier food.

How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?

We actively contribute to tackling several of the challenges mentioned above, starting

with sustainability. We are 100% dedicated to organic farming, therefore we only use
organically grown raw materials.
As well as using only organic ingredients, we strive to be as sustainable as possible
at every step of our value chain. For example, more than 70% of our manufacturing is
made with renewable energy, we have eliminated single-use plastic, all our packaging
is made from recycled paper, our food containers are made from recycled glass, and What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?
our labels are made from FSC-certified paper. In addition, to achieve our commitment
to zero emissions, we offset our CO2 emissions through a reforestation program. One of the projects we run that I would highlight is the launch of a legume pasta
Moreover, we passionately believe that “we are what we eat”, and that we should eat product made from only 1 ingredient, and integrating all our certificates: organic, vegan,
better and healthier. Our products are natural, we only use fresh vegetables, we don’t vegetarian, gluten-free, GMO-free, sugar-free, only Chickpea, Lentil and Pea.
add sugars, we use extra-virgin olive oil, and obviously,
everything is plant-based.
We work on 10 of the 17 UN SDGs, which I believe is also a very
Nevertheless, I would like to add that organic farming
useful tool to create an honest and powerful value chain.
goes far beyond a simple stamp, therefore, after over Regarding innovative solutions from others, I think that although the NGO 1% for the
15 years in this sector, we believe in the genuine Planet does not directly impact the food domain, it certainly helps the sector. The
need to shift our current consumption to an organic formatting of both its NGO and donation system is far from what we are used to and it
one, to stop using what is not certified, to ensure the even allows you to include in your donations those projects that need help in the sector
well-being of society and the planet. All these new of your choice.
proteins that appear in the market should look into
how sustainable they are given that the vast majority
are not organic, thus not only encouraging serious The food of the future will be...
problems to sustainability and health, but confusion
to the consumer. Basically plant-based, healthy, organic and within everyone’s reach.

Healthy, sustainable & tasty food 53

Guillermo Milans del Bosch
Co-CEO of Baïa Food

Areas of expertise: nutritious, tasty and sustainable food.

Favourite food: any form of rice: paella, arroz
meloso (creamy/sticky rice), arroz caldoso
(rice broth).

What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system?

In my opinion, the main challenge facing the food system is the depletion of resources
and soil. There are more and more of us, and to feed so many mouths, we need to find
alternatives that ensure the sustainable use of resources to curb climate change.
Improving on productivity is not the solution, as it is directly affecting the depletion of the soil,
which is progressively becoming more deteriorated and infertile. Soil erosion is considerably
dangerous; it destroys surrounding biodiversity and directly affects the nutrients in the food
we eat. Moreover, quantity should not be more important than quality, because we must not
forget that to live healthily, we need to eat correctly.
How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?
While it is true that technology and industrialisation in the food sector has allowed us to
have affordable access to food at any time of the year, it has done so by sacrificing and
directly affecting the nutritional content of that food. We could therefore say that food no
To this end, it is necessary to promote sustainable and organic
longer nourishes us as it used to. Supermarket shelves are full of ultra-processed products, crops in a “multicropping” model, rather than using an intensive
full of empty calories that do not nourish us. monoculture model. In this way, we not only ensure soil biodiversity
The challenges are therefore to reverse this situation, to guarantee proper access to food but make sure that the food we consume is more nutritious.
without impacting the environment and to ensure better nutritional content.
This is the model we promote in Baia, backtracking directly to the origin of the food, and
working side by side with the farmer in small, local and organic farms.

What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?

Returning to the previous subject, technology and industry, apart from making things much
easier, have allowed us to improve the taste of food, making it more appetising. For example,
it has enabled us to synthesise sugar from either sugar cane or sugar beet, and incorporate it
into processed foods to make them sweeter.
The problem is that our genetics have barely advanced, plus the functioning of our organism
does not differ much from that of our Paleolithic ancestors. In the case of sugar and/or artificial
sweeteners, this causes a serious detriment to our health, not only affecting our microbiota,
but causing metabolic alterations that can have serious consequences.
At Baïa, we are working to provide a healthy and sustainable alternative through miraculin, a
plant-based protein that transforms sour flavours into sweet ones, allowing you to enjoy the
result without having to ingest the calories of sugar or resort to artificial sweeteners.

The food of the future will be...

Sweet, rich in miraculin and low in added sugars.

Healthy, sustainable & tasty food 55

How can we promote a diet that improves our quality of life? This question from childhood, considering all groups, and to provide understandable
is multifaceted, meaning that challenges such as the increase in diet- information on food for the consumer, starting with labelling.
related diseases like diabetes and obesity are becoming complex social It is essential to give science a voice and make it understandable to everyone,
problems to address. as well as to make healthy eating extremely easy to prepare, accessible and
Spanish scientist Daniel Ramón Vidal has been studying the connection delicious. This also involves education and more established culinary habits
between the gut and the brain for decades, providing pioneering knowledge in society, as well as “fast-healthy-food” concepts in restaurants, retail
on the health of the human microbiome. In his words: “Almost 2,500 and food service, so that the healthy option is always the most attractive.
years ago Hippocrates said that food was our best medicine. Since then, Likewise, the marketing and labelling of products must be ethical.
research has advanced significantly and today we have a large arsenal
of therapies and drugs that have allowed the average life expectancy of
the human population to exceed 72 years. Even considering these data,
the opinion of the experts is that an adequate diet, together with a healthy
lifestyle, continues to be the best medical insurance for our future. What is
more, over the last twenty years and thanks to the advent of genomics, we
have learned that there is an interaction between our genes and our diet and Whoever wants to work in healthy food must generate scientific knowledge,
that our body, and in particular our digestive tract, is full of microorganisms but also understand that the health properties of what we eat begin with the
that are modulated by our diet and have a noticeable effect on our health. health of the fields where our fruit and vegetables grow, continue with the
It is therefore becoming more and more common to talk about the boundary health of our farms and take into account the circular economy to recycle and
between food and health. We talk about functional foods containing damage the health of the planet as little as possible. This concept of “One
ingredients that favour the health of the consumer, about diets based on genetic health”, originally defined by the WHO, must be present in the development
passports, so-called personalised nutrition, or probiotic microorganisms that of any new healthy food for the health of consumers.
we ingest in our diet and modulate our microbiome. This food is of great ADM
interest to both the agri-food industry and the pharmaceutical industry. The
former sees in them the possibility of developing more sophisticated products
with higher margins, while the latter sees the option of increasing sales by
targeting customers other than the sick, thus expanding its commercial offer
to healthy people who want to prevent or delay the onset of disease. What is
important is that in both cases they are obliged to use science as the basis
for their developments”.
Factors such as the lack of nutritional education from an early age,
misinformation, misleading advertising, professional intrusion or the lack
of commitment at governmental and legislative level, make this one of the
most controversial issues.
Consumers are nourished by knowledge and are increasingly demanding
more effort and transparency from the sector to make wiser decisions
when filling their shopping cart.
The KM ZERO Squad proposes the generation of guidelines and new
policies aimed at healthier eating, from the standardisation of legislation
to make it clearer, to the introduction of dietitians/nutritionists in public
health to educate new generations from reputable bodies/institutions/
organisations. Another challenge is to promote quality nutritional education

Healthy, sustainable & tasty food 57

We know that the future of food will be marked by sustainability, by the return
of local products and naturalness. This poses great challenges in terms
of reformulation and research in food ingredients as well as in sourcing
and logistics. Consumers and industry are not only interested in knowing
the history of the ingredients we eat, where they come from, but also, for
example, where their packaging goes, to understand the full life cycle of the
product. We want to know more about its aroma, its nutritional properties,
its benefits. An undoubtedly interesting future for curious minds eager to
research and discover new creative solutions that will ensure a greener,
healthier and, above all, more delicious future.
CEYLAN

Producing healthier food in a more sustainable way is needed to improve

the health of people and the planet. At Kerry, we understand the importance
of healthy food, and our vision is to be our customers’ most valued partner,
creating a world of sustainable nutrition. To us, sustainable nutrition is the
ability to provide positive and balanced nutrition solutions that help maintain
good health, while protecting people and the planet.

We are embedding sustainability into everything we do at Kerry. We co-

create innovative solutions with our customers, designed with sustainability
at the core, that meet evolving consumer demands. And through our Kerry
Health and Nutrition Institute, we make the science of healthier food more
accessible to everyone. With our ambition to reach over two billion people
with sustainable nutrition solutions by 2030, we are helping our customers to
create healthier food in a more sustainable way.
KERRY

Healthy, sustainable & tasty food 59

 05
THE NEW
GENERATION OF
COMPLEMENTARY
PROTEINS
Andrés Montefeltro / Giuseppe Scionti / Liron
Nimrodi / Miguel Calatayud / Iñigo Charola /
Priyanka Srinivas / Marc Coloma / Didier Toubia
Andrés Montefeltro What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?
CEO & CO-founder of Cubiq Foods Both genetic engineering and the development of new seed varieties will allow a prompt
Areas of expertise: Development of alternative vegetable adaptation of crops to climate change. GMO consumption will soon be the norm. Up to now, it
fats as well as cultured animal fats and protein used as has faced barriers to moving forward due to political reasons and other interests, which have
ingredients for food products. nothing to do with health.
Favourite food: grilled meat (like a good The development of plant-based products, such as Beyond Meat, has created an opportunity
Argentinian). to consume less meat. It has become a milestone in the food industry, and we must promote
more products like these. Still, the quality of what is being currently delivered is far below this
standard, therefore we must help to improve these products with new ingredients.
What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system? The development of cultured animal proteins and fats, at an industrial level and with enough
food (not pharmaceutical) quality, will allow us to produce peptides and fatty acids that can
Due to climate change, rainfall and temperature patterns will shift, forcing a closer review only be found in the animal kingdom. These will complement plant-based nutrition and enable
of cropping areas and crop types to maintain or even improve current food production the development of complex flavours that are exclusively obtained by natural fermentation.
levels. This is reflected in the increase in commodity prices in recent years.
The demand for protein, in human (and therefore animal) food, will continue to increase,
therefore sustainable alternatives must be implemented to avoid the collapse of traditional The food of the future will be...
methods. Current systems cannot keep up with the demand for protein without having
an impact on the development of monoculture plantations (soy) and intensive livestock Pure beef will soon be like caviar; super-premium and for exclusive events, at 100 €/kilo.
farming (which leads to animal abuse and a lower quality of both meat and fat). At most, we will consume chicken at a high price of €20/kilo, pork will reach €40/kilo and
Portion sizes and food packaging. We are currently generating huge amounts of plastic meat as we conceive it will only cover 50% of demand.
waste considering the small number of vegetables we eat. Smaller portions will not only These will mostly be products based on high quality ingredients. Optimised for
reduce waste but encourage a balanced diet. consumer segments; by taste, nutritional profile, texture, flavours and depending on
the time of consumption.
Much more varied. We might see dozens of different sausages with complex flavours or meatballs
How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system? in fruity sauces for new palates. I wouldn’t be surprised to see different options according
to mood or weather (sunny, cloudy). Food, as part of an experience that must be integrated
I have focused on developing in-demand ingredients that will help into the environment and with the person himself or herself. The ceremony of preparation and
the meat production value chain evolve. tasting will be replaced by thematic consumption, in a context and in a convenient unit of time.
Meat products, and now meat substitutes, call for quality fats and other value-added Ready to eat. Food will come pre-cooked, and dishes will be ready to eat just by heating them
ingredients to develop new products. At Cubiq Foods, our aim is to incorporate more up. The preparation of products with complex ingredients requires a lot of time and care, and
sustainable ingredients into the value chain while reducing the consumption of will therefore be very difficult. Cooking will be relegated to grandmothers and a few purists.
traditional meat.

CLICK

The new generation of complementary proteins 63

 Giuseppe Scionti
Founder & CEO of Novameat

Areas of expertise:
bio-engineering, foodtech.
Favourite food:
pizza.

What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system?

The food system faces the challenge of being the main cause of biodiversity degradation.
Livestock contributes to 41% of all deforestation in the planet’s tropical zones. By the same
token, the people working to innovate the food system are fortunate to be the ones who can
contribute the most to saving the planet.

How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?

The most direct ways to reverse the collapse of biodiversity are

fourfold: switch to renewable energy, stop deforestation, stop
overfishing and switch to a healthy plant-based diet.
Three of the four strategies can be addressed by offering consumers plant-based
alternatives to meat and fish. Around 80% of retail meat sales in the West come
from whole cuts of meat, such as beef steaks, pork tenderloins and chicken fillets.
Novameat focuses on producing the world’s most realistic and advanced alternatives
to whole cuts.

What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?

In my opinion, the projects that contribute the most to the ongoing urgent food challenges are
projects working on alternative protein products, food education for youth and food waste.

The food of the future will be...

Art, not just science.

I think the rise of foodtech is getting a lot of talented innovators interested in the sector,
coming from other fields of technology. This allows an accelerated path to the future of
food. The food of the future will be a mix of tradition and novelty, and there will even be
hybrid meat containing ingredients from all kingdoms of living things: algae, fungi, bacteria,
animal cells and plants. What is certain is that it must be sustainable.

CLICK

The new generation of complementary proteins 65

Liron Nimrodi
CEO & Co-founder of Zero Egg

Areas of expertise:
egg alternatives.
Favourite food:
red curry vegetables and tofu.

What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system? What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?

From meeting consumers, I see that people want to eat more plant-based foods, but the All the alternatives to animal-based companies are taking us forward to a better world. I
challenge is that it’s not accessible or easy to find and often demands compromises on see Zero Egg collaborating with other brands like plant-based butter cheese and meat in
taste and experience. Animal-based food is much easier to eat daily when you are in work, order to bring consumers the most complete solution. In the US we have just launched
on the go and at home. a plant-based egg patty for a breakfast sandwich, which has 10 grams of protein and
Zero Egg is here to tackle it and empower the era of sustainable food, we are empowering a clean label. Our egg is perfect in a breakfast sandwich together with a plant-based
restaurants chefs, caterings, and food service operators to offer their consumers more sausage and melted plant-based cheese. Creating enough solutions for consumers will
plant-based options starting from breakfast to lunch, dinner and deserts. change our food system.

Our next phase will be offering Zero Egg to consumers in retail.

The food of the future will be...

How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system? Completely plant-based.

If you think about it eggs are the basics of our food, they are in almost in every dish
that we eat. Zero Egg is a versatile product that replaces ordinary eggs and can create
a wide variety of dishes, from scrambled eggs, omelettes and frittata to baked dishes
and sauces.

We are here to revolutionise the egg industry which is

unsustainable and cruel. When you use Zero Egg instead of a
regular egg you reduce the use of water & energy by 93%, the
use of land by 92% and greenhouse gas emissions by 60%.
There are 6 billion laying hens in the world with the sole purpose of laying eggs. 1 trillion
eggs are produced each year. Think about the environmental impact Zero Egg can have if
we just switch 10% of eggs to Zero Egg.

The new generation of complementary proteins 67

 Miguel Calatayud
CEO of -iwi-

Areas of expertise: food innovation, agriculture, productive

processes, branding & communication, always planet and
consumer centred.
Favourite food: traditional food with new ingredients
that come from non-conventional sources.

What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system?

The main challenge we face is to be able to create products that outperform all aspects
(organoleptic, nutritional, price, convenience...) of conventional products, but to produce
them in a sustainable way (in all aspects of sustainability, including economic), at scale,
and as close as possible to the consumer. One essential element that many of the new
technologies tend to forget is the nutritional and health aspect. Our challenge is to do all
of the above and do it in a healthy manner.

“Together we create sustainable food solutions for everyone

and our planet.”

How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?

At iwi we grow what I consider to be the most effective plant on the planet, called
Nannochloropsis. We do it in open ponds, using non-arable land, salt water, the sun as our
main source of energy and consuming thousands of tons of CO2 per year (while producing
oxygen). The products we market are impacting hundreds of thousands of families by helping
them maintain healthy cholesterol levels (we have clinical studies and hundreds of customer
testimonials to prove it), improving mobility due to the anti-inflammatory effects of our
exclusive EPA, improving concentration levels and encouraging them to enjoy life positively.

What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?

We will soon be commercialising a protein that comes from the same algae, that is
not only superior to any other animal or vegetable protein but will transform the way
we look at all aspects of nutrition by significantly improving the nutrition and quality
of life of millions of people by allowing us to develop solutions that were technically
unthinkable until now.

The food of the future will be...

Fun, tasty, varied, surprising, innovative, changing, exciting, thrilling, nutritious, healthy... It
will have global ingredients but adapted to local dishes, palates and traditions.

I believe we have an opportunity and an obligation to preserve the

flavours and culinary traditions of each region while being able to do
so using more sustainable, healthier and scalable ingredients.
CLICK

The new generation of complementary proteins 69

Iñigo Charola
CEO of BioTech Foods

Areas of expertise: business administration and

analysis, planning and execution of projects
oriented to new markets.
Favourite food: food produced in a healthy way and
in line with responsible consumption.

What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system?

We are facing a crucial challenge: to attain a more sustainable and efficient global food
system. As scientific reports show, the numbers don’t add up.

Population growth demands urgent solutions to meet food demand,

and technological innovation has much to contribute.

How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?

At BioTech Foods we have been working on the cultivation of animal cells to produce healthy
meat since 2017, in a more efficient way and avoiding animal slaughter. Innovation has
been a constant in the food industry, so I believe that, thanks to the various technologies
we are working on today, the future of this sector is going to translate into a wide variety of
sustainable, healthy and safe products. In short, I believe we are in the midst of a revolution
that is both unprecedented and necessary for global food viability.

What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?

The revolution that alternative proteins represent and the AgroTech ecosystem in which
we work. Being able to contribute to food demand by using innovation and observing
sustainability criteria whilst upholding respect for the environment and animals is in my
opinion an important milestone. And it is thrilling to be part of something whose objective
is to offer an alternative to the problems faced by the current food system. As I often say,
work towards something because it is good, not just because it can be successful.

The food of the future will be...

More respectful with not only natural resources but the environment that surrounds us, thanks to
the incorporation of alternative proteins into our menus.

Achieving a balance between the eating habits we are used to, and
the new solutions offered by science, through constant research,
becomes the only recipe for reducing the worrying environmental
impact that is caused by our current food system.
CLICK

The new generation of complementary proteins 71

Priyanka Srinivas What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?
Founder & CEO of The Live Green Co Pachama is an organisation that’s leveraging data, AI, and automation to project ecosystems,
restore forests, and improve carbon markets.
Areas of expertise: Food technology, sustainability, retail.
Favourite food: I’ll go with mango! I love this fruit.
Anything with it is yummy… raw mango dal, pickle, The food of the future will be...
shake or ice-cream…
The future of food will be one where planetary health and human health are prioritised
above all else.
We cannot afford to continue eating the same diet that’s contributing so heavily to
What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system? carbon emissions and environmental degradation.

The main challenges being faced in the food industry right now are multiple but generally run I see a future where we use modern technologies to help us return
along two lines: health and sustainability. to ancestral ingredients that allow us to get the nutrients we need
Today’s Western diet consists of ultra-processed and additive- and look after our planet.
filled foods which are contributing to countless diseases, including
heart disease, diabetes and depression.
More than half of the calories consumed in the US and UK consist of ultra-processed food,
and we’re missing out on many important nutrients that are vital for healthy bodies and minds.
On the other hand, our eating habits are contributing to the ongoing climate crisis and mass
environmental damage. Animal agriculture increases greenhouse grass emissions, and
our rainforests and oceans are being destroyed to cater for the high demand for animal
products. The impact of this is not limited to the “natural world” – humans are already being
displaced due to extreme weather and food security is at risk if we don’t drastically reduce
our carbon emissions.
Combating these challenges will require a complex, multipronged and united approach
on a global scale, with the responsibility lying with all of us, as well as governments and
big business.

How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?

At The Live Green Co, we’re blending ancestral wisdom of plant nutrition with biotech
and machine learning to take a data-centric approach to uncover healthy alternatives to
harmful animal-based, synthetic & ultra-processed food additives. As a result, we’ve been
able to create all-natural, nutrient-dense, and sustainable plant-only products.
Our products contain clean and functional ingredients, with ingredients provided by local
SMBs and farmers. Our packaging is made from vegetable plastic and is biodegradable
and home compostable. In doing this, we hope to address three of the UN’s sustainable
development goals: good health & wellness, decent work & economic growth, and
responsible production & consumption.
Ultimately, we aim to disrupt the way the world consumes by providing 360° green solutions
that are available for everyone.

CLICK

The new generation of complementary proteins 73

Marc Coloma
CEO & Co-founder of Heura

Areas of expertise: food technology, environmental and animal

rights activism, sustainability.
Favourite food: any Mediterranean vegetable
protein dish.

What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system?

Our food system is obsolete and can only be transformed by removing animal protein
from the equation.

The main challenge is the dependence on animal protein that

produces 14.5% of global greenhouse gases and contributes
to the creation of dead zones in our oceans.
In a context where animal protein consumption has more than doubled in the last 50 years,
we have to feed a growing population, almost 9 billion people by 2050, while reducing the
environmental impact of our system.

How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?

Our contribution is always oriented towards providing solutions. One of the big
motivations that led us to create Heura is that people had no alternative options
to animal protein when they went to the supermarket. Heura, together with other
companies in the plant-based sector, are democratising and facilitating access to
proteins that are healthier and more sustainable than animal proteins. We are working
to constantly improve sustainability, not only in terms of the impact of our production
but also to make the most of the essential ingredients of our Mediterranean diet.

What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?

One of our most outstanding contributions is the animal fat substitute. The great minds
of our R&D team have succeeded in using solidified olive oil to emulate animal fat in our
products. Our great achievement has been to reduce saturated fats in our products by
an average of 85%.

The food of the future will be...

It will be plant-based, safer, more sustainable and more nutritious than animal-based food.

CLICK

The new generation of complementary proteins 75

Didier Toubia How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?

Co-Founder & CEO of Aleph Farms

Aleph Farms aims to create resilient food systems and to be part of an inclusive solution for
achieving local and global food security. To accomplish this vision, we have a comprehensive
Areas of expertise: food technology, approach to sustainability.
biology, sustainability, social impact,
innovation management. - Environmental – develop sustainable manufacturing facilities that incorporate
Favourite food: carrots. practices that allow us to use all resources in an efficient and circular manner. Prioritise
the conservation, protection and enhancement of natural resources
- Economic - produce affordable products in a sustainable way, strengthening local and
global food security. Work alongside the existing meat and food industry through an
What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system? inclusive business model with local partners
One of the big challenges of cultivated meat is the ability to produce large quantities - Social – create inclusive business models and collaborations that empower
efficiently at a cost that is in line with the meat industry. Aleph Farms has developed five local communities. Introduce cultivated meat as part of and in collaboration with
different technologies which are put into a proprietary large-scale production process and livestock agriculture.
patented by the company. This technology platform provides us with a clear path to price- - Health & Nutrition -- take part in the Sustainable Diet movement, provide nutritional
parity within five years from our initial launch in 2022. The cost reduction process is faster accessibility and address issues of both under-and-over nutrition throughout the world
than the new generation of plant-based alternatives to meat.
Our strong commitment to net zero carbon and partnerships with the world’s leading food
Building trust with consumers is also capital to our strategy. From Aleph Farms Community and meat companies empower our inclusive model that utilizes the infrastructure and
Center to extensive market surveys around the world, we listen to consumers and provide expertise of global meat companies to help rapidly drive and scale the cultivated process.
transparency into our business practices and production methodology. Through research In turn, this will lead to a broader positive impact and will help us fulfil our vision for an
we’re currently conducting, we’re gaining insights regarding our future customers that will inclusive food systems transition toward a more sustainable, equitable, and secure world.
further inform our marketing strategy.

What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?

The key to mitigating climate change is methane emission reduction, and livestock (cattle)
are the largest methane emitters in the western world. Methane has 80 times more warming
power than carbon dioxide. Thus, one base point of methane reduction is equivalent to 80
base points in CO2 emission. In addition, because it does not stay for long in the atmosphere,
reducing methane emission leads to decreasing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere - which
is not the case with CO2.

We therefore need to invest in both methane emission reduction

with conventional cattle farming (incremental innovation) and
in new production methods for meat, such as cultivated meat
(transformational innovation), which are neutral in terms of
climate impact.
At Aleph Farms, we believe that in order to transition to a more sustainable and resilient
food ecosystem, we must combine sustainable methods of agriculture (supported by
incremental innovation which aims to make our existing practices better) with complementary
transformational innovation, supported at all times by local regulation and policies.

The food of the future will be...

Inclusive, in harmony with nature and delicious!

CLICK

The new generation of complementary proteins 77

The range of complementary products to traditional protein is opening up more
and more: with proteins of plant origin; the use of artificial intelligence to improve The future of the food industry is to produce increasingly natural and healthy
flavour; the use of fermentation techniques or 3D printing to improve texture; food. We all know that our health is affected by what we eat, so there is an
advances in the field of laboratory meat and fish substitutes; experimentation increasing tendency to take care of what we eat.
with insect meals; as well as the rise of hybrid products.
Therefore, our responsibility is to meet this demand with foods that take care
Is society ready for these new foods? New proteins are entering the industry of people’s health and have a positive impact on it. But also, food that is
and with them new challenges, such as factories that need new investment in more natural, which inevitably involves innovation in plant-based products
infrastructure, adapting or waiting for new regulations, managing to simulate or and improving agricultural productivity in a sustainable way.
approach the taste and texture to which the consumer is accustomed, in order
to adapt to the market Consumers of plant-based products are increasingly demanding. They
consume these products out of conviction because they are aware of and
committed to their health and to the planet.
Price and legislation will initially be limiting factors for this This is a sector that is constantly growing in terms of demand, but also in
type of product. Hybrids will bring to the market acceptable terms of supply. However, consumers demand quality and versatile products
(if not good) products at an affordable quality. with nutritional value that make their lives healthier and improve the planet.

The demand for protein-rich products and foods is increasing, but studies warn
that the production of meat protein as we know it today is not sustainable to
It is vital to educate consumers so that they know which new foods are
meet this demand. For this reason, the future lies in offering animal protein
going to be introduced into their diet and which production method they
substitute products made from natural ingredients.
have gone through because, thanks to these technological advances, it is
possible to achieve ecological and sustainable production with high product In this sense, investment in innovation is key to offering alternatives, basically
quality, good taste and benefits for the health of the planet and people. proteins made from plant-based ingredients. Solutions with high protein
value but environmentally friendly and a healthier alternative for consumers.
Demanding consumers that call for quality solutions without sacrificing taste
and texture. The future of proteins lies in providing the food industry with
solutions with innovative clean label and allergen-free ingredients to meet
the most demanding consumer expectations.
DACSA GROUP

The new generation of complementary proteins 79

 06 FIGHTING
FOOD WASTE
WITH INNOVATION

Solveiga Pakštaitė / Santi Mier /

Daphna Nissenbaum / David Kat /
Michael Haase / Rodrigo García
Solveiga Pakštaitė How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?

Founder & Director of Mimica

We’ve created a simple tag, called Mimica Touch, that feels bumpy when a food should
no longer be consumed - determined by the actual temperature scenarios experienced
Areas of expertise: user centred design, foodtech,
in the ‘journey’ of the product from the supermarket, into the fridge at home and until it
food waste.
is eaten. Mimica Touch also provides reassurance that the food you’re about to eat has
Favourite food: Lithuanian stuffed cabbage rolls have been stored correctly and is safe to eat. As the tag is temperature sensitive, you will be
to be up there for me - we call them ‘little pigeons’. rewarded for better storage as the label will show that the food is fresher for longer. The
tag contains a gel that mimics the condition of the food and drink spoilage profiles, and
we calibrate the gel to match the temperature sensitivity of various foods, such as juice,
beef and milk.
What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system?
In the vast majority of cases, we should be able to increase
Globally, a third of food produced is wasted (FAO, 2015), with up to 83% of food wasted
in Europe being still safe for consumption (FUSIONS, 2016). When we waste food, we the shelf life of perishable foods such as meat and dairy by a
also waste land, water, energy and other scarce resources used to produce, transport minimum of 2 days, reducing waste in the home of the most
and refrigerate food. Alongside the methane we know cattle produce; rotting, avoidable
food waste generates even more preventable methane, a greenhouse gas 23 times more perishable items by 63%.
potent than CO2. If food waste were a country, it would be the third-largest contributor
Mimica will work with food manufacturers to decide new, longer expiry dates, which better
to climate change, behind the USA and China (FAO, 2013).
reflect expected shelf life with the added safety net of Mimica Touch turning bumpy in
A major food waste contributor is confusing and over-cautious expiry dates, which case of worst-case scenarios of food being too warm for too long.
are set at worst case scenarios to help protect consumers but leads to perfectly good
food being thrown away. Despite more people becoming aware of the issues of food
waste, there is still mass confusion with the current printed date system. We need What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?
a new standard of food freshness information that empowers consumers through
scientifically accurate indicators. I love to use the Olio app which allows me to share any surplus food I have with my
neighbours, and also collect their delicious leftovers, vegetables, cakes. It’s such a
simple idea that creates a sharing economy of food. Mimica also shares an office in
London with their wonderful team!

The food of the future will be...

Conscious.

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Fighting food waste with innovation 83

Santi Mier How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?

Founder of Ocean52, former CMO of Danone

We created Ocean52, the first beverage company to devote 52% of its profits to protecting
the ocean 52 weeks a year. Our first range of beverages consists of NoPlasticWater, a natural
Areas of expertise: healthy food, sustainability, mineral water packaged in infinitely recyclable aluminium, and OceanRecovery, an isotonic
circularity and impact. drink with ocean minerals and magnesium that helps reduce fatigue.
Favourite food: discover native/local food
with people I enjoy being with.
FROM THE OCEAN
FOR THE OCEAN

What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?

I would highlight the methodology developed under the supervision of the UNESCO Chair
What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system? in life cycle and climate change by which the “real recyclability” of packaging is measured,
considering not only the materials but also the design, the interaction of the former in the
The main challenges that the food system is currently facing are, in my opinion, related to three
recycling process and the facilities that allow proper recycling. It is the fairest and most
key factors: 1) The first one is clearly driven by scale and homogenisation. The constant growth of
transparent measurement available and the one that shows the path we must follow in order
the population, following consumption patterns that are increasingly occidentalised, international
to promote true circularity of packaging.
and moving away from traditional and local diets is causing great tensions in both the supply
chains and the primary sector. A large part of the population will add new food to its diet in a short
period of time, generating an excess demand that the supply chain may not be able to handle, and
The food of the future will be...
could even become counterproductive. Are we prepared to double our avocado consumption per
household in the next 5 years? Surely yes, but are we prepared for such an increase to occur in 1 Nutritionally and environmentally efficient or it won’t exist.
year, not only in my household but in all Europe and the United States simultaneously? And what
if what increases is the consumption of bluefin tuna which is in continuous overexploitation? We
cannot believe that a model based on uniformity is the best way to respond to our food needs.
2) The second factor encompasses the price-health relationship. The industrialisation of the food
chain has enabled the so-called democratisation of food. Although eating is not usually expensive
in most countries, eating healthy and nutritious food is. However, affordable, industrialised food
often uses ingredients that are neither the best quality nor nutritionally balanced. It is precisely
what we are not paying today with our money that we will pay tomorrow with our health and, at
worst, what we cannot pay today with our money is already translating into increasing obesity and
diabetes rates.
3) The third factor is all about “nutritional-environmental efficiency”. This is clearly linked to the
use of natural resources. We are increasingly aware of the relationship between our consumption
habits and the limited resources of the planet.

The way people consume is killing the planet! Waste reduction,

regenerative agriculture, hydroponic crops, protein and energy
transition, water management and food autonomy are just some
of the ways in which we are trying to respond to this challenge.

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Fighting food waste with innovation 85

Daphna Nissenbaum
CEO of TIPA ®

Areas of expertise: compostable packaging.

Favourite food: salad.

What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system?

The demand for packaging for food items has never been higher, however, conventional
plastic packaging is becoming less and less legitimate as a solution because of its harmful
end-of-life. One of the major challenges that the food industry faces is that it relies on
packaging to keep food fresh, include important product information, and to transport
food globally, but it cannot continue to package the way it has. Since TIPA ® started out,
there has only been an increase in demand for sustainable flexible packaging solutions The food of the future will be...
that can meet the standards of the dry and fresh food segments. TIPA’s compostable
solutions are printable, machinable, transparent, and certified as compostable. This The food industry, as well as its packaging, will adapt more and more biomimicking technologies
technology has enabled dozens of brands to shift to truly sustainable—but also fully to meet the needs of our growing population. Foodtech is shifting towards innovation that can
functional—packaging that runs on their machinery, keeps their food fresh, is printed provide holistic solutions inspired by processes we find in nature. Compostable packaging will
with product information, and returns to the soil as a resource. integrate with the food industry and our natural ecology because it was inspired by nature.

How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?

TIPA® continues to develop compostable solutions that can meet more and more technical
specifications for the food industry. Our R&D team leads the field in new compostable
packaging solutions and works together with every player in the packaging supply
chain to bring our clients compostable solutions that can meet the most sophisticated
requirements on the market.

What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?

Compostable packaging provides more than a solution for

food packaging. It also supports healthy waste practices and
encourages consumers to separate their food waste.
With compostable packaging, you can dispose of the packaging with the food, and
together they will decompose with other organic waste, creating nourishing compost
that supports healthy soil and agriculture.

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Fighting food waste with innovation 87

David Kat What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?
Business Development at Wasteless Drawdown, the meta study that prioritises solutions that reduce our carbon footprint.
The combination of preventing food waste and eating more green proteins, has the
Areas of expertise: potential of saving 150GT over the next 30 years. That would even out the emissions
innovation, scaling, impact. of the US. Clearly, the solution is in changing the way we consume food, three daily
Favourite food: Ottolenghi’s cauliflower and meals at the time.
tahini, on my roof terrace with friends.

The food of the future will be...

What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system? Smart.
Full of data, to make sure that we consume what we produce. And that what we produce
Let’s go straight to the point. We need to half food waste by 2030. is healthy for both people and the planet, as well as in everyone’s financial interests.
This means we’ll have to show reductions of 10% and more, year-
on-year, very soon. This requires impact that can scale. And it must
turn a healthy profit. We can only do that by preventing the waste
from happening in the first place – and not push the problem around
in the food chain, creating waterbed-problems.
Supermarkets are well positioned to achieve this at scale, but they require time. Once they’re
going full speed, they will be the driving force behind behavioural change at home.
Which is why supermarkets must start acting on preventing food waste, trying different
approaches and being clear about what works to prevent waste. So that we can all
waste less.

How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?

Repairing the broken food system, that wastes 40% of its production, depends heavily
on food waste prevention. Wasteless creates a business case for inserting data into the
supply chain. Optimising discounts achieves the sale of perfectly fresh food, with shorter
shelf lives, at their best price point and at the best time. The insights that Wasteless
enables, powers a more demand driven production. For the first time, supermarkets
engage consumers with a narrative on conscious consumption. Actionable awareness,
to also prevent waste at home.

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Fighting food waste with innovation 89

Michael Haase
CEO of Plant Jammer

Areas of expertise:
fighting food waste at home.
Favourite food:
Baba Ghanoush.

What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system?

In the fight against food waste, we tend to be missing the point: 44% of food waste
happens in the home, and when we push food close to expiry away from retailers or
restaurants into people’s homes, we’re not necessarily solving the problem.

How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?

At Plant Jammer, our vision is to fight climate change, stopping food waste and enable
people to cook more vegetable-based foods. How? Through artificial intelligence and What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?
machine learning, giving free rein to people’s creativity in the kitchen. With Plant
Jammer technology, people learn to love cooking and discover combinations of foods Concepts like Oddbox and Eatgrim that engage and empower citizens to act, creating
that they never imagined existed. awareness via actions.
We are a team of data and food scientists, and we strive to be world leaders in
the combination of data and food science. The existing food chain is inefficient,
The food of the future will be...
unsustainable and too focused on “convenience at any price”.
A personalized food that empowers the home kitchens. I don’t believe convenience will
The construction of a new sustainable food chain focused on the take over, and that people will only be eating ready-to-eat snacks and powders. The
reduction of food waste, the increase in plant-based cooking and future puts flavour and ‘real food’ at the centre, and makes that easy.
self-empowerment are the driving forces behind our work.
At Plant Jammer we empower home kitchens to become more flexible, with solutions
such as our dynamic recipes. We publish this on hundreds of websites to distribute the
technology for free to as many as possible.

Fighting food waste with innovation 91

 Rodrigo García
Co-CEO of Notpla

Areas of expertise:
design.
Favourite food:
fried eggs.

What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system?

There are several challenges, and the one we focus on is looking for regenerative
packaging alternatives. Currently as a society, we use linear systems of consumption,
and we rely on plastic packaging to deliver food to citizens. Despite it providing certain
benefits, it nevertheless entails very high costs regarding the use of natural resources,
energy, global warming, micro-plastics…

How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?

We design and produce sustainable packaging ready to disappear in a natural way, using
algae as the main raw material. We focus on providing solutions where the shelf life of
the product and the shelf life of the packaging do not match. An example of this is the
difference between how fast a bottle of water is consumed vs. the centuries that the
plastic bottle will last. We like to think that we design membranes for products in the
same way that nature creates skins for fruits.

What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?

I would highlight those solutions that as a society we used in the past, based on
local and natural systems and materials. For example, filling the earthenware jug or
wineskin, a system that worked well in the past and that we can revisit and give la role
again in society.

The food of the future will be...

Natural!

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Fighting food waste with innovation 93

 In recent years, sustainability has become an important factor in the habits and
The biggest challenge facing food waste lies in the lack of urgency and
purchasing decisions of consumers. At Incarlopsa we understand sustainability
knowledge about the current situation on the planet. Innovation within this
as a global concept that groups together both the company’s environmental
sector can be seen in actions such as new packaging, waste revaluation
commitment to reduce the impact that its activity can cause on the environment,
or different methods to extend shelf life.
as well as other aspects linked to our sector such as animal welfare or the
The power of data and artificial intelligence in this field helps to control reduction of food waste.
the effectiveness and efficiency of the entire process, from the field to
the user. The focus is on understanding in real time how food is produced, Incarlopsa’s R&D, Quality and Environment department develops and applies the
distributed and consumed, and at what stages of the chain avoidable most innovative solutions to reinforce our commitment to sustainability, which
waste is generated. translate into concrete results. For example, in terms of animal welfare, months
ago we installed a video surveillance system
The Valencian company Dacsa has been committed to sustainability
in our slaughterhouse to have total control of
and zero waste for years. To this end, it is integrating innovations into
the animal while it is alive, anticipating future
its production systems to ensure that they are environmentally friendly
regulations to be applied in Spain. And in terms
at all levels. This directly affects the packaging and preservation of our
of food waste, the initiatives implemented have
products. They point out that the industry’s main challenge with zero
allowed us to reduce the total accumulated by
waste and sustainability is to create practical and applicable solutions.
240 tons during the first eight months of 2021.
Solutions based on innovation that are environmentally friendly, but also
The challenge is ambitious but achievable:
economically sustainable.
zero waste.
INCARLOPSA

Law 7/2021 on Climate Change and Energy Transition provides that in the bid
specifications for public contracts for services that require the purchase of food,
special bid conditions may be established that prioritise fresh or seasonal food
with a short distribution cycle. This is a voluntary inclusion, and it will be up to
Educating, developing and sharing good practices are the each contracting body to decide whether or not to include these provisions in the
keys to fighting food waste. To achieve this goal, one of specifications.
the methods could be to create a process that mimics Its inclusion in a regulatory text is the first step towards promoting a generalised and
how nature works and apply it to humans’ production and homogeneous application of parameters that guarantee food safety in Spain in the
face of the risks arising from climate change, and therefore the promotion
consumption processes; centralise the entire food chain
of the procurement and distribution of healthier food.
through data to unite all agents so that they can feed each BROSETA
other through the results they generate.

Fighting food waste with innovation 95

 07
TECHNOLOGY AT
THE SERVICE OF THE
INDUSTRY: AI, DATA
AND ROBOTICS
Cristian Ull / Mario Ubiali / Alon Chen /
Lynette Kucsma / Guillermo Blázquez /
Henrik Stamm / Sebastián Pillado
Cristian Ull
Head of Innovation at Logifruit

Areas of expertise: open innovation, corporate venturing,

technology, innovation methodology.
Favourite food: La Viña cheesecake.

What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system? What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?

The food system is undergoing a global redefinition, as major challenges are stretching One of these projects is undoubtedly my company, Logifruit, which for 25 years has
the model even at what may appear to be opposing points at first glance. been exploiting the circular economy, even before the term or methodology became
popular. Redesigning the processes that make it possible for us to have food in our
Is it possible to produce competitively, efficiently and in an daily lives in a sustainable and safe way is a lever for transforming and boosting
industrialised fashion while using traditional, ecological and other initiatives.
organic approaches?
Can the end consumer have his or her purchases and/or products home in 20 minutes The food of the future will be...
in a sustainable way?
Food in the future will be daring and respectful, it will be experience and it will be
Is it possible for convenience, sustainability and competitiveness to form part of the preventive medicine, it will be health and it will be sustainable, it will be convenience
same product? and it will be a way of expressing our personality. Throughout history, food has been a
These reflections are generating niches in which to innovate, gaps where companies are reflection of societies, so I am sure that in the coming years food will mirror the general
transferring their approaches in order to give an answer to the challenges of the food system. transformation of our way of understanding the world, towards a more sustainable,
respectful and humane model.
Organisations, startups, technological institutes and universities are working together on
topics such as sustainable production, digitisation of the primary sector, traceability from
the source, circular economy of packaging, connected supply networks, sustainable last
mile... many topics that will undoubtedly define the food system in the coming years.

How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?

At a personal level, I am defined by the restlessness to be guided by my curiosity. This curiosity

makes me hungry to promote initiatives and projects that transform or define society.
My contribution to this transformation is based on:
- Generating knowledge about the future of the food system by connecting trends shared by
different players,
- Translating these trends into specific initiatives and projects that can be promoted through
pilots or investments to catalyse their growth,
- Sharing and spreading my experience and learning in this area in order to add to the cause
others who support with their action a positive transformation of the food system.

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Technology at the service of the industry 99

Mario Ubiali What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?
Founder & CEO of Thimus Of course, I would feel compelled to answer: applied neuroscience!

Areas of expertise: neuroscience-based I do respect the fact that people might want to hear a different angle on this. So, I
solutions for the future of food. will say that besides neuroscience, the other very interesting solution that I feel is
underdeveloped is education.
Favourite food: my wife’s homemade pasta
with smoked tomato sauce and burrata. In an age of technological domination, we should put more effort and thinking into
stimulating debate, forming cultures, facilitating ideation and activism. So, I am also
starting to do my little bit on supporting educational efforts: I teach part-time in some
academic institutions, and I’m involved in promoting hackathons and other initiatives
What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system? in high schools. It’s very refreshing and it makes me feel like I really care about the
future. I’m almost 50, so I’m most certainly NOT the future of Earth! I want to lend a
Integrating neuroscience-based solutions into actual food design practices for real hand to new generations.
companies is a challenge. The dominant cultural and organisational traits in the food
space are quite resistive to structural changes, but one could argue this is true for
every human endeavour. However, I think the underlying big challenge is that the way The food of the future will be...
we create, distribute and consume food has become completely unsustainable and is
absolutely NOT human centric. That is where neuroscience can help a lot: challenging Intimate.
the whole notion of food as disconnected from humanity. Sustainability is not just
I think there must be a revival of the deeper, inner, almost spiritual meaning of sourcing,
environmental: it is also human. This is my area of expertise: food humanism.
cooking and consuming food. Indeed, it is a social practice. But it can only be such
if we start again from our own, very personal relationship with food. So ultimately,
I think the future of food must be that of taking a personal, deeply transformative
How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?
approach to food.
I wish I could say we are doing as much as we would want to. However, we do feel that what we
are doing all we can to influence decision makers in the domain of present and future food.

By allowing companies and individuals to look deeper into

what food experiences mean for humans (emotionally,
cognitively and culturally), we strive to heighten their sense
of responsibility towards their role in food systems. If real
influencers considered how deeply food can shape who we
are, I believe they would for sure start changing things.
This is where we are contributing: we use neuroscience and other tools to show people
this dynamic and deep picture of how food transforms emotions and cognitive processes.
As an entrepreneur, I take this mission very personally. It’s a huge challenge in today’s
startup scene to navigate the temptations and misleading messaging and keep your hand
steady on the helm. It is my learning curve, into which I put a lot of my own energy.

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Technology at the service of the industry 101

 Alon Chen
CEO of Tastewise

Areas of expertise:
AI, data, marketing, marketplaces.
Favourite food:
Israeli salad with tahini.

What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system?

The main challenge the food industry faces is that consumers have evolved and
demand more from every purchase.

Consumers no longer exist in one space, and so the way we

measure the market and make decisions that are better for
the consumer, the planet, and the business must change.

How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?

By building Tastewise, the food intelligence platform that takes a consumer-centric

approach to decision making in the food and beverage industry. Companies like Pepsi,
Campbell’s, Kraft Heinz and many more use Tastewise to make data-driven decisions on
the sustainable, healthy, and delicious products they take to market.

What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?

The entire “New Food” movement that is creating a better future for all of us. Companies
like Redefine meat, Aleph Farms, Just Egg, Tastewise and many more are paving the way
to a sustainable, healthy, and delicious future.

The food of the future will be...

Sustainable, healthy and delicious. And the way to get there is to infuse data into every
part of the supply chain. This is a rare moment in the food and beverage industry where
the right thing to do for the planet, the consumer, and business are all the same thing,
which is to use data to feed the world.

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Lynette Kucsma The food of the future will be...

Co-Founder & CMO at Natural Machines Normal food that is fresh, nutritious, customised for the individual, and has a much lower
negative impact on the planet. We do NOT believe that most food will be in a powder
Areas of expertise: innovative kitchen and personal care or a pill, or unrecognisable compared to the freshly prepared foods of today. As people
solutions, using 3D printing. become increasingly demanding in wanting to know what exactly is in their food, where
Favourite food: it comes from, and the environmental that its production has, more people will get back
any whole-food, plant-based dish. to eating freshly prepared foods with an abundance of products and kitchen appliances
that make it easier to do so.

What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system?

Applying 3D printing solutions for food and personal care may seem crazy. But it’s not
really! For example, if you eat any food from a food manufacturer, you’re practically
already eating 3D printed food – they just don’t call it that. 3D printing applied to food
and personal care is responsible and sustainable and has a low negative environmental
impact. The current challenge is to educate people on this type of solution that is
relatively new.

How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?

We at Natural Machines create innovative kitchen and personal care solutions. Our solutions
make products at or near the point of consumption, customised for each individual. A factory
is large, makes products in a centralised location, and makes mass market products. Our
solutions fit on a countertop, produces products locally, and products can be customised for
each person. We further the advancement of the United Nations Sustainable Development
Goals, specifically #12: Responsible Consumption and Production.

What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?

In general, all of us have the power in helping to solve our

greatest food challenges by the choices we make in the food
we eat and the products we buy.
That said, there are many companies that are contributing to making better choices easier.
Such as companies providing apps that enable people to buy food that is considered
“ugly” and/or close to expiry (yet still perfectly fine and nutritious to eat!) at a big
discount resulting in lowering food waste, to the number of alt-proteins for better planet
sustainability, to companies that are making it easier for people to prepare their own fresh
food (like with our 3D food printer, Foodini).

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Technology at the service of the industry 105

Guillermo Blázquez What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?
General Manager of Bühler in Spain and Portugal In addition to all our projects and solutions for traditional foods, we are constantly innovating
Areas of expertise: in other disruptive ones.
value chain, processes, innovation, By way of example, we are transforming the world of proteins, which is key to the future
sustainability, digitalisation. of humanity and the planet, innovating both in traditional proteins (cereals, soy, animal
Favourite food: the fascinating variety feed, legumes, etc.), as well as in super novel ones (extrusion of texturized proteins as an
of the Mediterranean diet. alternative to meat, vegetable drinks, insects, algae, cultured meat, etc.).

What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system? The food of the future will be...

The food system brings together many of the major global trends and challenges that TASTY! Even more, it will be increasingly varied, nutritious, customised, sustainable and transparent.
will define the future of our planet and humanity, making it a privileged and exciting
area in which to play a leading role in building a better world.

These major global trends and challenges are sustainability,

digitalisation, nutrition, personalisation and convenience...
all these changes will have to be made compatible, of course,
with a premium taste and experience.
To achieve this transformation we will use new crops and ingredients, develop new
products, valorise by-products, avoid food losses and waste throughout the value
chain and optimise it (crops / industry / logistics / storage / distribution / catering /
households), etc., but all this will be redesigned based on the product demanded by
the customer, and not the other way around as in the past (not “from farm to fork”, but
“from fork to farm”).

How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?

At Bühler we are global leaders in process technologies and solutions for the food
industry, assembling complete turnkey factories for countless food products.
This is possible thanks to also being leaders in innovation during the more than 160
years of life of the company and having integrated in this innovation in recent years
numerous customers, collaborators, ecosystems, startups, technology centres, etc.
Because our solutions cover the entire food chain (from the collection of raw materials,
including all intermediate transformations, to the final product processed in the
factory), our ambition is to continue to lead its optimisation until we reach the target
of a 50% reduction in losses and waste, water and energy consumption.
To make this a reality, we want to integrate all the players involved in this chain, applying
our innovation and our solutions regarding the digitisation of the entire value chain.

Technology at the service of the industry 107

Henrik Stamm What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?
Founder & CEO of Blendhub, PPB and Chemometric Brain In India, we have launched an instant beverage project based on a local product, Ragi,
in collaboration with local producers and brands. Together with a local organisation
Areas of expertise: food industry, technology,
that promotes innovation in agriculture, we are contributing to the valorisation of
digitisation, foodtech, platforms.
the entire supply chain of the product, and in parallel, we have launched a project to
Favourite food: distribute these highly nutritious drinks to schools in disadvantaged parts of India. It’s a
spicy Asian vegetable stir-fry. project that sums up what Blendhub is all about: localisation of production, local value
creation and collaboration between different partners to launch nutritious, inexpensive
products that are accessible to more people. And all this using a model that ensures
total transparency in global supply chains.
What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system?

Centralised production is inefficient: static factories require large investments and The food of the future will be...
are not flexible enough to meet consumer demand. In addition, ingredients that could
be sourced locally often have to travel long distances to reach manufacturing centres Individualised and fundamentally plant-based, with many new products developed
and then end consumers. All this translates into higher costs and, consequently, more that will be based on novel sciences. On the one hand, plant-based alternatives
expensive products, higher gas emissions and a greater impact on the environment. to meat and animal-based foods will enable more sustainable food production, as
On the other hand, although large conglomerates dominate the industry, they account they have a much lower impact on the environment. On the other hand, as for the
for less than 20% of global food production. In contrast, SMEs produce and distribute individualisation of the diet, technology will allow us to better understand consumers
80% of available food and receive little or no support in R&D and technology. every day and to recognise their needs whilst developing the most suitable recipes
for each one.
The challenge, therefore, is twofold: to decentralise food
production, bringing it closer to raw materials and end
consumers; and to digitise processes to make them more
efficient, facilitating access to technology for small and
medium-sized enterprises.

How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?

At Blendhub, we were ground breakers when shifting traditional food production from
static factories to a multi-location network of portable factories. By decentralising
production and bringing it closer to raw materials and the end consumer, we get to
optimise supply chains: production costs decrease, and transportation is reduced,
translating into less environmental impact. Moreover, we are creating local value in the
countries where we deploy our production hubs.
Moreover, we are working to promote the digitisation of quality and supply chains to
ensure food safety and fraud prevention through Chemometric Brain, our cloud-based
software that democratises the application of NIR technology for faster, simpler and
cheaper quality control.

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Technology at the service of the industry 109

Sebastián Pillado
Director ProChile España

Areas of expertise:
internationalisation consulting for companies
exporting goods and services.
Favourite food:
fish and shellfish.

What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system? What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?

Take a leading role in reducing the footprint that the industry generates, transforming It is difficult to choose only one project or product, given that today in Chile there are a number
it to make it more sustainable every day, thus contributing to the elimination of waste of remarkable products, technological solutions and companies that, thanks to the innovative
pollution, the proper use of resources such as water and energy, and probably most character of their food, technological and sustainability solutions, have managed to achieve
important of all, reducing our current high rate of food waste. We must ensure an agri- large global investments that support their international growth; so it is impossible not to
food sector that knows how to adapt to international quality, traceability and safety mention NotCo, Protera or The Live Green Co, who have innovated using, for example, Artificial
policies while acknowledging both innovation and R&D as allies in the search for Intelligence to create the food of the future. Other examples are Polynatural, which contributes
solutions and answers. to eliminating food waste by increasing the shelf life of fruit, or Algramo, with a disruptive
collaborative business model hand in hand with the food industry, in order to drastically reduce
single-use plastic. Not to mention many others.
How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?

Chile´s government prioritises sustainability and quality as institutional commitments; we The food of the future will be...
support entrepreneurs and exporters with different tools in order to be more sustainable while
responding to the trends and requirements of our target markets. Healthier, traceable, clean, diverse, safe, sustainable and from alternative sources.

The Chilean agri-food sector is one of the most dynamic sectors

of the national economy, depicting a strong export vocation
– as an example, today Chile is the leading exporter of fresh fruits in the southern
hemisphere, the fourth largest exporter of wines by volume and the second largest exporter
of salmon in the world - therefore, at ProChile we support the qualities of sustainability,
quality and innovation to continue creating food for the world. We are experiencing a
huge display of solutions with high added value, innovation and sustainability in every
sector, forecasting an enormous potential for global application. From ProChile we
actively collaborate with these companies to gain visibility and detect opportunities
in the different global ecosystems to offer their healthy, functional, free-from, vegan
products and technological solutions.

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Technology at the service of the industry 111

Covid-19 has accelerated the digital transformation of the agri-food We are living in a time of great acceleration of changes in the food sector.
sector, radically transforming the forms of production, distribution and The pressures generated by paradigm shifts in issues such as environmental
consumption, causing, for example, according to ASEDAS data, 27% of sustainability and climate change, the transition to a healthier diet, logistical
consumers to start buying online. tensions that have become more acute with the pandemic, among others,
have a major impact on current trends in research and innovation in all links
Innovation in the field of the application of technologies such as artificial
of the agri-food chain. Faced with this situation, the importance of applied
intelligence, robotics, and predictive data, have a very significant potential
technologies to face these challenges has become evident. During ftalks’21
to address many of the persistent challenges in the food sector.
we have talked about precision agriculture, the search for alternative proteins
Customisation, data optimisation, traceability, and connectivity can either through the incorporation of new plant varieties or fermentation
be the key to help create safe food in industry, logistics centres, retail processes, the application of Artificial Intelligence and robotics, the
and restaurants. This technology, with its various applications, can help unstoppable growth of digital logistics platforms, nanotechnologies and new
address weaknesses in parts of the food process such as food safety, waste and more efficient systems to ensure food safety. As the slogan chosen by
management, labour, product knowledge and transparency of ingredients FAO for this World Food Day says, “Our actions are our future”. The outcome
and properties. will depend on us.
All this indicates that it is of utmost importance to inform the players BIOINICIA
involved of the benefits of a good application of the technologies, and
to make them aware of the value that these new changes can bring
to their daily work, facilitating their work, improving their productive
effectiveness, synchronising processes and obtaining a final analysis of
results throughout production.

The application of technology is essential when innovating to achieve maximum

efficiency in cleaning and disinfection strategies and protocols in the food industry.
At Solulim we work with the awareness that the non-negotiable step prior to food
safety is food hygiene, the invisible link in the food chain. In our case we help
companies to be more competitive and flexible in their production with sustainability
as a flag, maintaining product quality and ensuring food safety. One of the main
challenges of the food industry is to achieve sustainable hygiene and at Solulim
we are at the forefront. As a specialised company in the sector, we adapt to the
needs of each food industry, and we do not remain oblivious to the needs of today’s
society, which must fight against climate change. We offer a sustainability audit of
the hygiene process, which has made us a national role model.
SOLULIM

Technology at the service of the industry 113

 A lack of knowledge, fear of change and the myths surrounding the application
of new technologies, not only in the food industry sector, but in general, produce
a certain scepticism among businesspeople when they hear about this topic.
Digitalisation is no longer the future of the food industry, but the unconditional The result is that many organisations continue with obsolete and unprofitable
present. In a globalised value chain, technology plays a decisive role at work processes. Therefore, at a time when the first contacts of government and
every stage of the process. Thus, it is no longer just a means to increase business are taking place regarding digital transformation and the insertion of new
sales, quality or efficiency targets, but an exclusive criterion in which its technologies, the first great challenge from the institutions, rather than promising
absence at any stage of the process increasingly means the breakdown of lines of aid and subsidies, although they are necessary with proper planning, is
the entire value chain of the product. to provide information, advice and training in technology to companies. What is
VICKY FOODS the use of investing in technology if you do not know how to use it?
CONSELLERIA DE INNOVACIÓN, UNIVERSIDADES, CIENCIA Y SOCIEDAD DIGITAL

Technology at the service of the industry 115

 08
THE OMNICHANNEL
TRANSFORMATION
OF RETAIL &
FOOD SERVICE
Irina Jaramillo / Víctor Martín / Paul
Newnham / Beatriz Romanos / Carolina
Pérez / Alejandro Arranz
Irina Jaramillo How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?
Co-founder of ASTRA, Ex CEO of Carulla Supermarkets (Colombia)
Sustaining is necessary, yet not sufficient. It refers to creating the
Areas of expertise: retail, supply chain, fashion, present without destroying the future, but the current “code red” makes
nutrition, leadership, strategy.
it necessary for us to rebuild the future by leaving a positive footprint, as
Favourite food: Food from the soil. Without animal
abuse and using clean ingredients which our
Daniel Wahl states in his book “Designing Regenerative Cultures”.
grandmothers can pronounce. I believe in the responsibility we have as individuals to take charge of the transformation and
use our jobs to catalyse it. I have worked for over 12 years in the retail industry in Colombia
and in positions such as National Manager of Carulla, one of the leading supermarket chains,
What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system? were I used my voice to move from words to actions. In 2020 we launched the first carbon
neutral supermarket in the country, with practices such as solar panels that supply about 18%
We inhabit a planet abundant in resources, yet of a limited nature and in which our food industry of the energy, replacement of refrigerant gases by natural ones, reducing CO2 emissions by
is intensive. This implies a radical transformation, and the greatest challenge is for institutions 30%, direct purchase from farmers of more than 80% of fruits and vegetables and planting
and individuals to accelerate it collectively towards a healthier and more regenerative one, trees, among others. In 2021 I founded ASTRA, a company whose purpose is to accelerate the
responding to challenges that I would put into 3 categories: democratisation of wellness through food by connecting suppliers with go-to-market in retail.
We are consulting and designing strategies, products and environments that make it easier
-Over population: In 2050 there will be 9.6 million people (according to the UN) and food
for the consumer to adopt better habits.
production will have to grow by 70%. This implies changes beyond exploiting other limited
sources such as the sea.
-Environment: The food system generates 50% of CO2 emissions, uses 33% of global What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?
energy and occupies 40% of the surface. In 2030 the temperature could be 1.5 ºC higher
than in the pre-industrial era, generating unprecedented natural disasters (according The industry is full of innovations, and I am optimistic that today more than ever we are willing
to a recent IPCC report). It is also a plastic-intensive industry in which waste that is to put aside privileges and comforts to prioritise solutions, but this requires educating the
equivalent to 1200 times the weight of the Eiffel Tower (according to the European entire population, which is a costly and titanic task, so I want to highlight the role of apps
Commission) reaches the sea every year. like Yuka that by acting independently provide objective tools to assess whether a product is
-Hunger, overeating and waste: 10% of people go to bed hungry every day. In contrast, healthy or not. This in turn requires the industry not only to be increasingly transparent but also
33% are overweight and 1/3 of food is thrown away using resources pointlessly and to aim to facilitate the path towards changing habits with practices based on the premise “So
increasing global warming. If waste was a country, it would be the third largest emitter easy, that it’s almost accidental for consumers” by means of behavioural economic actions,
of CO2 (according to FAO). for example, highlighting the exhibition of fruits and vegetables or local products, avoiding
promotions on products with high levels of sugar, among others.

The food of the future will be...

A fascinating contrast between the cuisine of our grandmothers: traditional, from the earth,
with real ingredients that we can all pronounce and the cuisine of astronauts: personalised,
produced in a laboratory with technological innovations that allow us to simulate taste and
functionality without the intensive use of natural resources. I would highlight:
Plant-based food: For reasons such as the environment, health and respect for animals
and with emphasis on substitutes of current protein by microalgae crops, from insects to
lab-grown meat and with the use of neuro aromas and nano encapsulation systems.
3D food printing: Allows customisation by elaborating food adapted to specific genes,
diseases or needs and developing balanced dishes with acceptable textures and flavours
in countries whose demographics tend to limit food to a few products such as nutrient-
deficient rice.
Artificial intelligence: Streamlines the development of tests and costs to arrive to the
desired product.
Transparency: Technologies such as blockchain that provide the customer with 100%
traceability in the supply chain.
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The omnichannnel transformation of retail & food service 119

Víctor Martín How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?

CEO of Macco Robotics

Developing technology to promote responsible consumption, or in other words, technology
that allows us to consume exactly the nutrients we need at all times, thus not only
Areas of expertise: taking care of our health but also proceeding to a responsible preparation that ensures
robotics, big data, machine learning. lower production needs and completely reduces food waste. In this manner, robotising
Favourite food: the processes of preparation and elaboration of the dishes allows greater control of
mushroom risotto. consumption and food needs. The future of the point of sale is “ultra-personalisation”,
radically changing the food industry.
Why should two people ordering a hamburger in the same place at the same time
What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system? consume the same calories, carbohydrates or proteins if the needs of each are totally
different? This is Ultra Personalisation.
The scarcity of natural resources, the increase in demand due to population growth,
as well as reducing the negative climate impact derived from production techniques
that can have an impact on soil, water, biodiversity and greenhouse gases. What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?
We are facing the possibility of depleting natural resources due to the growth of the
Undoubtedly, the greatest revolution we are currently experiencing is artificial or cultured meat.
population and therefore of demand, so it is necessary, now more than ever, to look
for food alternatives, such as meat alternatives, so that producing in laboratories is On the one hand, it will allow us to eliminate the negative effect of livestock farming on the
a real alternative. environment: reduction of water consumption, gas emissions, animal suffering, etc., while
at the same time allowing us to feed a larger population at lower cost. At the same time,
To take advantage of this inertia by searching for healthy food it will enable easier nutritional control.
by completely modifying the way in which we currently consume,
opting for “Ultra-Personalisation”, so that each person can The food of the future will be...
consume exactly the nutrients they need, thus avoiding so-called The food of the future will be prepared on the spot, totally personalised according to the
“over-production”. person’s nutritional needs and tastes.
Laboratory foods will allow the development of these types of techniques, which are
becoming more and more meaningful.

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The omnichannnel transformation of retail & food service 121

Paul Newnham How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?

Director at SDG2 Advocacy Hub

By convening players across the private sector, UN agencies and civil society to improve
coordination, connection, and communication around efforts to accelerate transformation,
Areas of expertise: food security, disruptive voices, food we help increase our overall impact and reduce siloes across food security, ag and nutrition.
systems, mobilisation, education, convening, catalysing
I work to align the actions of chefs with Sustainable Development Goals through learning
and connecting, international sustainable development.
and advocacy, to accelerate the transformation of food systems. I also develop and coach
Favourite food: mushrooms. food system champions to assist in their effectiveness and engagement, through the
SDG2 advocacy Hub and Chefs’ Manifesto.

What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system?
What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?
I see the main challenge for Sustainable Development Goal 2, is how to accelerate the
There is no one solution but a selection of connected solutions. One example with multiple
transformation of food systems to feed 10 billion people healthy and sustainable diets by
benefits would be greater diversification of diets benefiting both people and planet. One
2050. It is also a challenge to learn to develop our food systems in ways that are nuanced and
way we support this is by working very closely with chefs through the Chefs’ Manifesto. The
acknowledge inequalities and differences globally. A one size response is not going to work.
Chefs’ Manifesto is a chef-led network bringing together 1000+ chefs from 90 countries to
The areas I work closely in include food security, nutrition, smallholder farmers, sustainable
help deliver a sustainable food system. Chefs sit between farm and fork, in a unique position
agriculture, biodiversity and more. These areas, despite being closely linked, and all constituting
and with a unique connection to many other food system players, including smallholder
important parts of our food systems, are often siloed and treated in competition with each
farmers and consumers. The Chefs’ Manifesto helps them explore how they can help deliver
other, rather than in conjunction and in support of each other.
a sustainable food system through using their voice and driving action in their restaurants,
For food systems to become more resilient, equitable and good kitchens, communities, and other platforms.

for people and planet, and to get all players in the systems
to work together instead of being in competition, we need to The food of the future will be...
embrace these complexities and connect the dots between Good for people and planet – good food for all!
what and how farmers grow in their fields and the food that
ends up on our plates.

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The omnichannnel transformation of retail & food service 123

Beatriz Romanos How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?

Food tech innovation coach. TechFood Magazine founder My aim is to nourish a happier world, and my mission is to help both people and organisations
Areas of expertise: foodtech, food innovation, that want to make an impact by developing innovative and solvent initiatives. I personally
innovation methodologies (ExO & Launchpad, like to collaborate with such startups or companies to either identify challenges and threats
among others), startup mentoring, branding and turn them into innovation opportunities that contribute to the success of their current
and positioning. business, or generate new business models adapted to the future. To do this, I rely on very
Favourite food: cannelloni. innovative methodologies and frameworks such as ExO Sprint or Purpose Launchpad, which
are inspired by the trajectory of some of the most disruptive and successful companies
in the world. In addition to facilitating a very useful structured way of innovating, they
have a strong purpose orientation, which helps companies to incorporate initiatives in line
What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system? with the SDGs and measurable ESG criteria into their innovation plans. A vision that I find
especially useful in my work as a mentor for accelerators such as Culinary Action! of the
The main challenges are directly related to the health of both people and the planet itself, Basque Culinary Centre or Porcinnova.
and the accessibility and affordability of nutritious, healthy and appetising food for all
people, today and in the next 50 years. If we apply this idea in the different segments of In my opinion, another very important area of activity is the informative work that I carry
the food industry value chain, we find several challenges. In terms of the countryside, out through the specialised publication TechFood Magazine, through which I have been
for example, the Green Revolution of the last century made it possible to increase crop highlighting the growing entrepreneurial and innovative activity of our country since 2014,
productivity. Now, however, we must face the challenge of finding ways of obtaining while bringing stories from other markets that can serve as examples and inspiration.
sufficient food while protecting the source from which it emanates, the soil itself, which Moreover, I am a regular speaker on topics such as innovation, trends, and exponentiality
is under enormous pressure and which we cannot continue to increase at the expense of and impact in the food sector. I also coach on strategic issues such as Branding, Positioning,
our forests. Relying on regenerative practices and modern technologies are some of the Value Proposition, etc. especially focused on food startups.
interesting lines of work proposed in this field.
Understanding the role of the microbiome in the way we process food and, therefore, in What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?
our health, is the DNA of the 21st century. And, as happened with genetic sequencing,
it will open the door to all kinds of innovations and opportunities in the development of Smileat is an organic baby food startup that I have been following for years. I like it not
personalised foods. only because of the quality of its products, but because of the effectiveness of its strategy
and how they have been implementing it over time. They genuinely have a team with great
Ringing new forms of food production, whether plant protein- professional and human qualities.
based or cell-cultured, up to parity so that they can deliver on their Biome Makers is another startup that I have been following for years, and that has always
promises of sustainability and food security. interested me for proposing a very different product, for its way of bringing biomedical
knowledge to the field of agriculture, and its vision of transforming a solution into a scalable
platform with a real potential impact on improving the health and productivity of our soils.
In general, I am very interested in companies that are using big data and Artificial Intelligence
to optimise processes in the development of proteins or fermentation (such as Protera,
Notco or Moa), or to understand the consumer and anticipate trends (such as Delectatech
or Tastewise.

The food of the future will be...

I like to visualise the future as a more collaborative system that ensures that food is
accessible, affordable, nutritious... and delicious, for everyone. And that the people who
contribute to it can turn it into a dignified and enriching way of life in every way.
In a “funkier” vision, the food of the future will probably also be “augmented”. We will
be able to enrich it with complementary experiences from augmented reality techniques.
Or we may even be able to enjoy it in multisensory virtual universes. For example, let’s
imagine a dark kitchen in our city, capable of cooking and delivering at home some of the
most emblematic dishes from well-known restaurants around the world. Together with
the delivery, we will receive a virtual kit that will allow us to reproduce in our home the
decoration, the ambience, and even the aromas of these gastronomic temples. No harm
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The omnichannnel transformation of retail & food service 125

 Carolina Pérez
Director of PR Iberia at Getir

Areas of expertise:
delivery, retail, consumer.
Favourite food:
natural artichoke, prepared any way.

What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system?

Food delivery, including fresh products and restaurants, has had an unexpected breakthrough
due to its necessity (or convenience) because of the pandemic. The product, speed or price
have taken priority in generating differentiation among operators. However, once the times
of need have passed, one of the main challenges regarding delivery will be the management
of the remote experience for customer loyalty, especially when talking about fresh products
and restaurant food. Achieving a differentiated food delivery experience that equals or
surpasses a visit to a trusted store or eating in a restaurant will be one of the challenges for
this sector in the coming years.

How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?

I work to make delivery both sustainable and efficient, to listen to the consumer, suppliers
and deliverers and to ensure the transparency and understanding of such an innovative
service. We could say that I try to bring the typical corner store experience to your
doorstep. It is essential that people understand how this remote service works for it to
be reliable and valuable.

What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?

Every initiative or innovative solution that aims to break down existing barriers between
physical and digital shopping will have a considerable impact. In the same way that medical
appointments can be set virtually, online shopping must embrace more than just a mere
gathering of pictures.

The consumer wants to see, touch, compare and read what they
are going to purchase, especially when it comes to fresh products
and restaurant food. It is therefore crucial to develop from today’s
multiple selling channels to a single integrated one containing all
the options.

The food of the future will be...

Cooked in record time (in most cases). In the same way that a few decades ago, people used
to sew their own clothes whereas now this is practically considered a mere hobby, food may
follow a similar path. We will buy pre-cooked or nearly finished food, at more affordable prices,
to eat on a daily basis. Making your own meal will become less and less usual and will be
relegated to special occasions.
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The omnichannnel transformation of retail & food service 127

 Alejandro Arranz
Corporate Venture & New Technologies Manager at Mahou San Miguel

Areas of expertise:
technology, entrepreneurship, digital
marketing and beverage industry.
Favourite food:
paella.

What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system?

I think the main challenges of the food system are to be found in the area of sustainable
packaging. New materials are needed to create more sustainable alternatives to current
solutions. I also believe further challenges can be found regarding alternative proteins
and the ongoing problem of sugar reduction.

Finally, a revolution will be seen in current sales channels as well

as in the digital model, which will change consumer interaction
with food at the level of both acquisition and consumption.

How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?

In my opinion, the most remarkable contribution that we have made is to help the hotel
and catering industry in Spain to recover after the pandemic, supplying it with a product
that meant an estimated turnover of more than 75 million euros for hotel and restaurant
owners. With this initiative, Mahou San Miguel wanted to ease the economic impact that the
pandemic measures meant for bars and restaurants, thus providing them with products to
make sure they could start off their activity while bearing lower costs.
We are also developing several open innovation programs to help develop the beverage
and hospitality market, where we play a relevant role. There, we continue to promote
Barlab, our open innovation platform that we are now developing together with the Basque
Culinary Centre, where we both commit to share the knowledge we have regarding the
industry. We have also created a “brewhub” where we share our knowledge and technology
available with companies in the craft beverage sector to help them scale their businesses
by facilitating their production.

What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?

At Barlab, our collaborative innovation brand, we have been working with several startups
since 2016. At first, proceeding as an Accelerator and later following a Challenge format.
We work with a clear focus on the foodservice industry but simultaneously contributing
throughout the value chain.

The food of the future will be...

Delicious, personalised and non-fattening.

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The omnichannnel transformation of retail & food service 129

Retail is the industry that connects all the efforts of producers and suppliers Sustainable Development Goal No. 2 is to end hunger by 2030 by ensuring access
with the consumer’s decisions; the omnichannel platform where the consumer for all people to healthy, nutritious and sufficient food all year round. In turn, the
chooses what to buy and how to improve their lifestyle. United Nations 2030 agenda has set the goal of reducing food waste by 50%
There is no doubt that 2020 has transformed this industry, changing the by 2030. Tackling both sides of the problem is one of the great challenges of
way we shop and eat. Innovation in the field of retail, food service and food regenerative development.
delivery has undergone unprecedented acceleration. One of the challenges There are many challenges that have been pointed out such as digitalisation,
facing Food Service is the rapid digitisation of traditional hospitality and high competition, delivery and omnichannel. From our KM ZERO Squad, the
the lack of resources, investment and knowledge to adapt quickly to these importance of training and professionalisation of the sector has also been
sudden changes. highlighted, and these could be boosted through, for example, a crowdsourcing
New consumer habits linked to increased demand for delivery and online platform including executives who have transversal knowledge, and where the
shopping are pushing the traditional industry to understand how to navigate sector is collaborating.
omnichannel. In foodservice, digitisation becomes a great ally to control stock
and reduce shrinkage. Likewise, robotisation could emerge as a great opportunity
to “free” the human from certain mechanical and non-value-added tasks.
The winners will be the solutions that manage to give the consumer the sensation
of personalisation without losing profitability at the business level.
On the other hand, as Irina Jaramillo, CEO of Astra and former CEO of Carulla
(Grupo Éxito) pointed out at ftalks’21: “global warming is not waiting, the oceans
are accumulating more and more plastic, and we live in a contrast between obesity
and waste and extreme malnutrition. This implies a great need to accelerate
the transformation of food towards healthier food and food which is not only
sustainable but also regenerative.” This is why a regenerative transformation of
retail is necessary.
Reducing the use and impact of plastic on ecosystems in our new COVID context
requires radical and collective efforts and this is why we have even seen public
policies such as the elimination of plastic in fruits and vegetables by 2023.
Irina also points out that, for improvements in the supply of products to be effective,
it requires consumer demand and a sustainable change in their consumption
habits, and in this an important role is assigned to supermarkets that even under
behavioural economics actions can ease the path to those healthier habits,
something like “So easy, that its almost accidental for consumers”. For example:
placing fruit and vegetables at the entrances, food registration apps, highlighting
local product display, reducing fat, salt and sugar of their own brands, increasing
the vegetarian portfolio, among others.
In Spain, more than 7.7 million tons of food are thrown away, making us the
seventh country in the European Union that wastes the most food. This waste
impacts the health of the planet and intensifies and aggravates climate change.
FAO reminds us that in the production of these millions of tons of food that go
to waste, enormous amounts of resources are used in vain, which, in addition,
produce unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions.

The omnichannnel transformation of retail & food service 131

 09
FEEDING FUTURE
GENERATIONS

Begoña Rodríguez / Sophie Egan / Juan Llorca

/ Elsa Yranzo / Begoña Pérez-Villareal / Abby
Fammartino / Vicente Domingo
Begoña Rodríguez What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?
Director at BCC Innovation We have created a living lab focused exclusively on the food sector, called LABe. It
Areas of expertise: management, entrepreneurship, food-value- tests new technologies in a real context (developed by companies or startups) during
chain, strategy, business development. early stages of development to obtain feedback from either end consumers or chefs to
incorporate these inputs into the final design of those technologies, thus minimising
Favourite food: the inherent risks of innovation. It also promotes the co-creation of new solutions for
spanish omelette, paella, Iberian ham
the sector by following the so called “open innovation philosophy”.

What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system? The food of the future will be...

Feeding a fast-growing population in a sustainable and healthy manner. I would also argue It will continue to be enjoyment around the table, always.
that we need to incorporate technology not only faster but more intensively in order to
achieve this goal.
This involves breaking down the barriers between different knowledge disciplines. For
example, to achieve a healthier diet, chefs are working closely with both nutritionists and
experts in data analytics. This enables the possibility of incorporating artificial intelligence
in the transition to healthier food.

In general terms, we could say that those disciplines that barely

had an impact before are now emerging to provide innovative
answers to the challenges the sector faces.
It is worth mentioning the work that remains to be done to help companies along the
entire value chain (from producers to restaurateurs) to absorb these new technologies,
breaking down the barriers that currently exist.

How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?

1- Actively promoting the digitalisation of the sector.

2- Generating new knowledge around what we call a) “customised gastronomy”, since we expect that
food in the medium/long term will be designed for clusters of people who share certain biological
characteristics and b) “healthy gastronomy”.
3- Promoting strategies for the valorisation of co-products in the industry and the Horeca sector while
aspiring to achieve “zero food waste”.
4- Deepening the research on consumer tastes and preferences with the aim of designing food that
delights them whilst meeting their expectations.
5- Researching new sources of protein/ingredients.
6- Promoting the creation of new companies that generate value-added employment and strengthen
our value chain.

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Feeding future generations 135

Sophie Egan What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?
Founder of Full Table Solutions, and author of “How to Be a Conscious Eater” It’s fairly new, but I am really inspired by Dr. Eva Monterrosa and the Demand Generation
Areas of expertise: sustainable food systems Alliance. She, EAT, GAIN, and WBCSD are truly filling a gap and responding to a need that
and behaviour change related to conscious so few players have yet to resolve.
eating: making food choices that are good for
you, others, and the planet. We need a tidal wave of campaigns, influencers, and pop culture
Favourite food: pizza margherita. I spent time efforts to leverage social norms for the better and truly make
living in Tuscany as a child, so it remains my
most craved, most comforting dish.
healthy, sustainable, responsible eating the norm.

What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system?
The food of the future will be...
To me, one of the greatest challenges is individualism. This is particularly pronounced
in the United States, where individual rights are sacred above all else. Focusing on our Far more diverse than it is today. We’ll eat a great many more species than we currently
independence stands in the way of living life in the spirit of interdependence. It stands do, especially those from the sea. The Blue Food Assessment has really underscored the
in the way of true collectivism that could be directed to tackling the climate emergency: importance of growing the food supply from freshwater and marine environments rather than
taking actions today that represent solidarity with nature, with every living creature, with from land. Years ago, I had a life-changing taste of sea asparagus, for instance, yet I hardly
our neighbours, with our children, and with future generations. see options like that, algae, or sea vegetables on menus or shelves in the U.S. Now that I’ve
Instead, topics of healthy, climate-smart food choices are highly politicised and had the opportunity to be involved with the Seaweed Revolution and Seaweed Manifesto, I
polarising—even before the conversation begins. Efforts to engage eaters to shift diets am certain we’ll all be eating far more “blue foods” in the future—and I can’t wait!
are so often fraught with perceived threats to this sacred right of choice. See for example
the false scandal that President Joe Biden was trying to take everyone’s meat away. It’s
the same root issue as refusing to wear a mask. This is why narrative is so important in
the movement to shift diets, and yet it’s an area where we have far too little success under
our collective belts.

How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?

I work to transform the food system in two main ways: bottom-up and top-down. Bottom-up
by speaking directly to eaters through my writing—answering reader questions, debunking
myths, incorporating a sustainability lens into nutrition conundrums, etc., through my
writing for The New York Times and through my books and speaking—and ultimately
helping generate demand and better empower eaters to vote with their forks, feet, dollars,
and votes toward the food system they want in the future. I work top-down through
Full Table Solutions, my consulting practice, by engaging companies, policymakers,
foodservice leaders, and other decision-makers to change the options that are available in
the first place (changing the food environment, shifting supply chains, shifting institutional
purchasing patterns, etc.).

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Feeding future generations 137

Juan Llorca What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?
Executive chef at Valencia Montessori School A project in which several areas of the same centre work together to make sure children can
Areas of expertise: see the evolution and relationship between what they eat, its cultivation, the methods used to
gastronomy, food education, communication manage the product and the impact it has on both their daily health and the environment. We
and sharing knowledge. must work with the same values and message. First, we have to be conscious and consistent
in relation to what we consume so that health takes priority.
Favourite food:
paella and curry.
The food of the future will be...

What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system? What the children of today and their eating habits want it to be.

Undoubtedly, the main challenge I see and the reason for which I work every day, is food
education in schools, the implementation of an educational model that involves this field
and the value of and need to improve school dining rooms in our country, aiming to offer
both higher quality and better diets.
If we, as adults, do not start to educate the younger generations differently, making them
familiar with products and their origin, we will continue to lose the opportunity to live a
healthier life.

We must show children the food chain works, from the farmer or
fisherman, and what their job is, how we interact and supply and
what happens afterwards.

How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?

It is important to make both new and existing generations to see new trends, research
and knowledge which are flourishing in the face of so much change. Together, we have
to highlight the opportunity which is coming and work on it. Above all, we must start
this work at home, which is where habits are formed, and then see how to extrapolate
into different spheres. For example, I work with schools so that they achieve “Slow Food”
certification, thus educating children’s palates and working on all areas involving food,
such as composting, growing vegetables, sustainability, etc.

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Feeding future generations 139

Elsa Yranzo What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?
CEO of Creative Designer Food Studio BCN Perhaps one of the roles in which I feel more of a “transforming agent” is teaching. I
teach in different gastronomy and design universities, and I feel very comfortable with
Areas of expertise: food design, gastronomic talking about the relationship between design and food or food design. I also think it
design, projects manager, consulting and is very enriching to give inspiring and thought-provoking talks to companies from very
teaching. diverse sectors explaining the new food ecosystem that can be built from the vision of
Favourite food: Sunday paella at my parents’. a food designer.
I am convinced that food design is and will be a fundamental tool for disruptive innovation
in the food industry.
What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system?
The food of the future will be...
In my opinion, the challenge is to feed an ever-growing world population by trying to
avoid the inequalities of today and to ensure access to food for everyone on the planet, The food of the future will be more accessible, healthy, fair, sustainable and ethical.
in a fair, sustainable and beautiful way.
We will favour more personalised diets, made of more functional and intelligent food
that can satisfy our holistic wellbeing (body and mind). It will be food that depends
How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system? on new proteins, alternative fats... replacing animal protein one way or another. It will
therefore be a way of eating which is far more digitalised and robotised... that will help us
From my food design & food art studio, my goal has always been implement new circular and regenerative systems to allow the design of new materials,
ingredients, and habits to generate less food waste.
to connect and generate new links and connections between food
Be that as it may, I hope that the future of food will be totally respectful with the world,
and people through design and art. nature, the sea, animals and people.
We create these new links through the design of artistic experiences, managing artistic
projects with either food, mentoring sessions or teaching. Always using food design as
a tool for change.
I think it is also very enriching to investigate and disseminate content such as new
scientific experiments, ingredients, recipes, tools... that pushes the limits of cooking
to show how the rituals of preparing and eating food can connect us culturally, socially
and politically.

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Feeding future generations 141

Begoña Pérez-Villarreal
Director of EIT Food in Southern Europe

Areas of expertise: innovation and entrepreneurship in

the agri-food sector.
Favourite food: any salad.

What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system?

I can think of several, which are interrelated. On the one hand, we have the demographic
challenge: The United Nations estimates that the current population of 7.8 billion will grow
to more than 9.7 billion by 2050, and we must be able to feed everyone, yet to accomplish
it we will have to change our consumption habits. On the other hand, we have the climate
challenge: in the next 30 years, a tenth of agricultural land will be lost to erosion, salinity
and climate change. And more urgently, we need to leave behind the current pandemic,
which has shaken the entire agri-food sector.

Food is changing completely, and it will change even more in

the coming decades.

How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?

At EIT Food, we work to increase citizens’ confidence in the food system. In this
way, they have healthier food options while the agri-food system is more connected
to the consumer and responds to real needs. We do this by promoting innovation and
entrepreneurship, with numerous programmes that cover different fields at a European
level: finding solutions to water scarcity, empowering women, promoting regenerative
agriculture, improving education, promoting startups with solutions that reach the
market and are scalable…

What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?

EIT Food receives hundreds of innovative projects, which we select and promote every year.
From our headquarters in southern Europe, we support over 150 entrepreneurial teams on a
yearly basis. They are very varied and provide real solutions to the sector. Some startups have
won awards at a European level, ranging from a company (Odd.bot) that has developed a robot
whose purpose is to eliminate weeds, hence avoiding the use of herbicides, to a platform (Trigger
Systems) that allows remote control irrigation pumps, among other essential systems for smart
agriculture.

The food of the future will be...

Healthier and more sustainable. That’s what it seems, despite the difficulty of making such a
prediction, given its unpredictable and quick evolution (the Covid-19 pandemic serves as an
example). But these trends have been confirmed in the last year, together with the reinforcement
of traceability, to provide each type of consumer with the information they consider most relevant
and to make the purchasing decision easier. The continuous search for alternative sources of
protein will also change our eating habits in the future.

Feeding future generations 143

Abby Fammartino What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?
Senior Researcher, Future Food Institute; Research Project Manager, Food Food for Climate League is a non-profit research collaborative creating new food and
for Climate League climate narratives that reframe climate-smart eating as easier and alluring to partake in,
so that sustainable habits become relevant to all people. More inclusive and appealing
Areas of expertise: sustainable food service, food and climate narratives help drive demand for climate-friendly products and menu
research and education.
items, thereby making sustainable food and agriculture initiatives good for the bottom
Favourite food: spicy greens and radish salad, line as well as the planet. The way we talk about and present climate-smart food is the
and crispy beet fritters. precursor to widespread change.

What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system? The food of the future will be...

It’s a challenge to convince companies of the immense value of investing in knowledge Diverse. It will celebrate cultural heritage and tell stories that connect people to the
building and knowledge sharing. An investment in widespread education about sustainable world and to each other. It will celebrate the rich potential of our soil through increased
food practices can have a big impact at all levels of the food system. biodiversity, and the creative potential of farmers and chefs who will become more
resilient and innovative in the phase of change. It will hopefully require far less packaging
The issue is that education as a solution may not be seen as innovative. and be enjoyed and savoured slowly.
However, experiential food education offers tremendous learning
opportunities which can lead to behaviour change, which in turn has
the potential to positively impact our global food system from planting
to procurement to plate.

How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?

Currently I am conducting human-centred research for the purpose of helping foodservice

organisations train and empower their staff to develop and serve more sustainable,
plant-forward food options. Large-scale food service, such as in schools, universities,
and corporate cafes, comprises a huge part of the foodservice industry. As such, it is
responsible for much of the carbon footprint of prepared food people eat outside the
home. By changing the practices and menus of large-scale food service providers, and by
educating their team members, positive transformation of the food system is possible.

CLICK

Feeding future generations 145

Vicente Domingo What company or solution would you highlight for its potential in solving our greatest challenges?
Director of the World Sustainable Urban Food Centre of València (CEMAS) In addition to defending and suggesting any proposal in line with the protection of
small producers, we especially value initiatives that encourage young people to value
Areas of expertise: public policy, sustainable conscious, healthy, coherent and participatory food. There are school food projects,
urban food systems, city networks. especially in rural areas, which directly involve local producers, the women of the area
Favourite food: food prepared with love. in the preparation of recipes, and municipalities that provide land for both fields and
That is the best and most noticeable livestock farms. The community is involved by making compost out of organic waste
ingredient of them all.
while creating pride of belonging. Such initiatives highlight the broad scope of a
sustainable food system and directly appeals to children and parents. The roadmap to a
healthy, sustainable and just future is in the DNA of millions of people. It is a matter of
What do you consider to be the main challenge currently facing our food system? common sense.
There is an issue, in my opinion, just as important as the climate problem, namely the
challenge of protecting small producers, family producers. Not only granting protection, The food of the future will be...
but also the promotion of policies to create a fair, coherent and healthy productive system
that respects the natural environment. It is in the hands of hundreds of thousands of One that celebrates life, that expands dignity and respect in each of the processes. One
mayors around the world to consider or perhaps reconsider the identity of their town, their that is valued as an element far above a marketing product, thus essential, diverse and full
city, their environment. Protecting small producers generates social economy, rebalances of culture and history. The food of the future must be global and extremely local. It must
the interaction between urban and rural areas, dignifies the valuable work of producing food capitalise the quality of the products, the nutritional benefits and the fair payment of all
and creates collective identity, pride of belonging to a place. Obviously, there are urgent those involved in the chain. It must be free from speculation and must recognise that there
issues, such as the fact that we ought to act immediately to alleviate the catastrophic are areas of biodiversity that are unique. It must promote knowledge, rapprochement and
effects that global warming is already spurring. Still, the medium and long-term approach the greatness of sharing, something essential for human beings if they want to continue to
is defined by the beauty of food from the expression of nature. We live in a time of “fakes” be part of this planet in the coming centuries.
characterising a world immersed in a concept that I would qualify as “co-reality”.
The planet does not need us, but we need the planet.
The main challenge is to ruralise the life of the cities, to be
coherent with not only the cycles of the year, but with the cycles
of life. To value proximity and those who produce it, prepare it
and value the energy that brings us quality food.

How are you contributing to the transformation of the food system?

My position as Director of the World Sustainable Urban Food Centre of València (CEMAS)
allows me to receive a multitude of initiatives in many different areas of work: local and
national public policies, civil society initiatives, research centres, the private sector, etc. It is
exciting to connect from our Centre ideas, projects and good practices with players involved
in this huge global process. We collect and assimilate as much information and knowledge as
possible and try to disseminate, inspire and promote sustainable urban food systems in cities
and regions. To achieve it, we rely on the permanent technical support of the FAO. Also, from
my daily actions in my personal life to the influence of CEMAS in city networks, we have been
working for years in advice and guidance to create, maintain and expand models of healthy
and sustainable food.

CLICK

Feeding future generations 147

The acceptance of healthier, more planet- and people-conscious products, diets, To put an end to this situation, research, development and implementation of
or lifestyles is entirely subject to individual consumer choice. This will mean concrete programmes aimed at the different players involved in turning the
that the heavy burden of innovation driven by the industry will have to go hand coin around, promoting public awareness and providing the different agents
in hand with education at all levels: raising awareness from an early age among of change with the necessary tools and knowledge are necessary.
children and families; among chefs; among companies and entrepreneurs in the It is a challenge to transfer new trends, studies and knowledge and bring
sector; among institutions.... We need a movement that permeates all segments them to the table on a daily basis. As adults, we must begin to educate the
of society if we really want to improve the current situation. younger generations in a different way, bringing them closer to the products
A situation in which the rates of obesity and diet-related diseases at international and their origin to improve both their health and wellbeing.
level continue to escalate; in which awareness of the reduction of emissions, We need to be more aware of the society we live in, what is happening in our
packaging, etc. only reaches certain privileged points of the planet; and in day to day lives and see how we can improve all those areas it affects. It is
which the inequality gap and access to nutritious food continues to widen. important to make the new generations understand the value chain from the
farmer or fisherman, its impact and how they relate and supply.
As recommended by our KM ZERO Squad, creating good habits must start in
the home.
We need to be conscious and consistent with what we are consuming. And
give our health and the health of the planet priority, if we want a different
world, at least for our children.

Feeding future generations 149

 10
FTALKS FOOD
SUMMIT 2021:
A CLOSER LOOK AT
WHAT WE EAT
Impact Investing / Resilience & Biodiversity / Health,
Taste & Wellbeing / Protein 4.0 / Zero Waste / Data, AI
& Robotics / Retail & Food Service / Food Education
In the third edition of ftalks Food Summit we have once more
turned Valencia into the epicentre of food innovation for two
days, through a hybrid format in the central Palau Alameda and
a totally experiential one, the second day, in El Telar de Miguel
Martí, an old textile factory full of history, in which participants
have been able to co-create solutions to the challenges facing
the sector and establish new synergies.

At ftalks’21, we brought together world lea- At the opening session of ftalks’21, Raúl
ders in the transformation of the food sys- Martín, CEO of KM ZERO, highlighted the re-
tem to reflect upon the latest disruptions in silience of the sector: “Foodtech startups rai-
the market and the challenges facing the sed €20 billion globally in the first six months
sector: sustainability, the circular economy, of 2021, almost equalling the amount gene-
the new generation of complementary pro- rated the previous year. The change in consu-
teins, personalised nutrition and regene- mer preferences was drastic in 2020. Since
rative agriculture. A first day full of reflec- then, growing trends such as digitalisation,
tions and inspiration leading on to a more robotics, e-commerce, the integration of wor-
participative day, where assistants were kflows to reduce food waste and the adoption
able to highlight the importance of all the of 4.0 industry technologies throughout the
knowledge acquired at the Food Conferen- whole of the value chain have become even
ce through working groups. stronger. Ftalks Food Summit is a showroom
Artificial intelligence, robotics, vertical urban for all of them through the most disruptive
farms, edible packaging and utensils, vegeta- local and international projects.”
ble protein made from agricultural by-products, ftalks Food Summit 2021, created by KM
laboratory cultivated meat or fat, plant-based ZERO, enjoyed the support of more than 40
cheese and shellfish, are some of the main partners from the sector and from public
global tendencies in food presented at ftalks and private entities, presenting more than
Food Summit, which this third edition has hel- 50 innovative products through the Futu-
ped to firmly establish as a leading internatio- re Box, the Future Market and the Future
nal event in agri-food innovation. Lunch. 60,000 people joined the ambitious
programme of contents which had over 50
international speakers, generating over 11
million impacts on social media and over
120 national press mentions.
For two days, we brought together more than
50 recognised international speakers, who
discussed trends, disruption and the current
challenges facing the food sector. We also
enjoyed the active and prominent participa-
tion of the food industry and the most inno-
vative and disruptive foodtech startups in
the current food ecosystem.

ftalks Food Summit 2021 153

Food Conference: a meeting point for industry, startups, investors The conversation with Juan Llorca, CEO of lopment Director for Probiotics F&B Global,
KIDS Inspired Food, highlighted the impor- Health & Wellness at ADM Nutrition, there
and opinion leaders. tance of feeding the future starting with was a discussion about how personalised
education in schools and homes, including nutrition can help us to easily improve our
knowledge about products, their origin, their food habits, although there is now more talk
Beatriz Jacoste, director of KM ZERO opened the inspiration session with the official pre- transformation and their impact on the envi- about “clustered”, rather than personalised,
sentation of the KM ZERO Squad, our continually growing network of ambassadors inclu- ronment and health. food.
ding leaders from all over the world who fight for the transformation towards a healthier,
more sustainable, more resilient and fairer food system and whose thoughts are contained This year there have been new collaborators The morning of the first day of ftalks’21 clo-
in the Fooduristic’22 report. in ftalks, including Fundación LAB Medite- sed with an inspiring conversation between
rráneo, a project driven by the Valencian Bu- Beatriz Jacoste and the Director of Innova-
“The food sector is key and strategic for the Valencia region. This is why, for the second siness Association (Asociación Valenciana tion and Entrepreneurship at CAPSA FOOD,
year running we are one of the main partners of ftalks, where people come together to dis- de Empresarios AVE) with the aim of con- Rubén Hidalgo. One of the clearest messa-
cuss the food of the future and how it will affect our society.” verting the region of Valencia into a national ges was the importance of the primary sec-
Jordi Juan, Regional Secretary for Innovation and Digital Transformation of the Valencian and European benchmark for enterprise, in- tor for the industry and the preservation of
Regional Government. novation, technology and research. biodiversity. “Without livestock there is not
regenerative agriculture,” he affirmed, and
Thanks to Karl de Smedt, we were able to take an imaginary trip through the first sourdough Fundación LAB led a round table, moderated he also highlighted the need to involve all of
library in the world promoted by the company Puratos and we learned that “the future of by Javier Jiménez, director general of Lan- those who form part of the value chain in this
bread is in its past”. zadera, at which business people Pedro Ba- unstoppable transformation of the sector.
llester, CEO and founder of Logifruit, María
One of the subjects of the first day of ftalks’21 was the reinvention of packaging, addressed
José Félix, director general of Helados Estiu, From Israel, Alon Chen, CEO and co-founder
by Rodrigo García, Co-founder and Co-CEO of NotPla, a company dedicated to creating sus-
and Toño Pons, president of Importaco, ex- of Tastewise showed how, thanks to arti-
tainable packaging from natural materials found in seaweed, who highlighted the following:
plained how three leading companies have ficial intelligence, it is possible to anticipa-
“The fact that the material is edible certifies that nature can help us in the transformation”;
backed RD&I and highlighted the importance te trends and have first-hand knowledge of
and by Daphna Nissenbaum, Co-founder and CEO of TIPA Corp, a project which has concei-
of research and innovation for the future of consumer needs. And, in order to be aware of
ved a biodegradable material which behaves in a similar manner to organic matter. Santi
the agri-food sector. the technological tools which are at the ser-
Mier, CEO and founder of Ocean52 (the official water of ftalks’21) and Natalia Suazo, direc-
vice of the food sector to digitalise it, make it
tor of marketing at PepsiCo drinks also shared information about their projects in this field.
more efficient and grow exponentially, Jordi
Juan, Regional Secretary for Innovation and
Digital Transformation of the Valencian Re-
The farming of the future was also one of the gional Government moderated a panel which
most prominent subjects of ftalks’21. Alina included Henrik Stamm, founder of Blendhub
Zolotareva, RDN director of marketing at Ae- & ChemoMetric Brain; Mariel Diaz, CEO of
rofarms, explained how the company has de- Triditive; Joaquín del Río, Director of Quali-
veloped aeroponic systems to grow different ty, R&D and Environment at Vicky Foods and
varieties of plants simultaneously in vertical Alejandro Arranz, Director of Corporate Ven-
urban farms; and Adrián Ferrero, Co-founder turing and New Technologies at Mahou San
and CEO of Biome Makers, a Spanish biotech Miguel.
startup based in California, explained how to
At ftalks’21, José María Lagarón, founder of
analyse the microbiome of the soil in order
Bioinicia SL and Group Leader at IATA-CSIC
to provide information to agricultural com-
introduced his Capsultek project, a new dis-
panies and improve the quality of crops. For
ruptive technology for encapsulating and
his part, Ricard Borrell, Head of Bayer’s Field
drying bioactive molecules at room tempe-
View Spain, showed us the benefits of this
rature.
digital tool which helps farmers make deci-
sions and encourages the most efficient use The creation and development of new prote-
of resources such as water, land, energy, fer-
ins to feed the growing population was ano-
tilizers and phytosanitary products. ther prominent theme of the day. Mark Post,
Co-founder of Mosa Meat, a Dutch company
At the round table with Iñaki Mielgo, VP New
pioneering the introduction to the public of
Business Development Plant Proteins at Ke-
a portion of “in vitro” mincemeat made with
rry and Iago Quintana, Ph.D., Business Deve-
cow stem cells, stressed that: “The develop-

ftalks Food Summit 2021 155

ment of alternative proteins is inevitable gi- Led by David Kat, at ftalks’21 we were able Co-creation session: solutions to the main challenges facing
ven that the traditional system is not ready to understand how retailers can win the fight
to satisfy growing demand at an accepta- against food waste thanks to the Wasteless the food sector.
ble cost to the environment. Many products dynamic price tool. And still about retail, we
“In this edition, we have achieved the consolidation of our efforts over the past three
have already entered the market and the brought together representatives of the lea-
years to position ftalks as a leading international event in food innovation in Spain. We
variety and scale will expand exponentially ding supermarket chains in Spain, such as
have also managed to put Valencia on the map as the capital of this sector and, following
over the next 3 years.” Also taking part in the Mercadona, Lidl and Carrefour, who discus-
COVID, we have resumed face-to-face encounters, which has meant the creation of more
round table about the go-to-market of new sed measures to reduce plastic, taking ad-
synergies among participants”.
proteins were Miguel Calatayud, CEO of iWi, vantage of clean energy sources and the cir- Beatriz Jacoste, Director of KM ZERO Food Innovation Hub.
a company specialising in growing seaweed cular economy, at a round table moderated
to produce supplements in sustainable far- by Irina Jaramillo, ex corporate manager of The second day of ftalks’21 was totally ex- unconsumed food, 31 kg/l per person”, and
ms in Texas and New Mexico; Priyanka Sri- Carulla (Grupo Éxito) and one of the 30 most periential, involving participants through underlined the commitment of the Govern-
nivas, founder of The Livegreen Co; and Ido influential women in retail in Colombia. By different working groups led by the most ment to comply with the Sustainable Deve-
Savir, CEO and co-founder of Supermeat. the end, it was clear that the transformation authoritative voices in food, many of them lopment Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations
of retail should look towards regeneration. members of the KM ZERO Squad. Together 2030 Agenda, “which include the aim of re-
For the first time in the history of the ftalks
they discussed and worked on the main cha- ducing food waste by half by 2030.”
Food Summit were able to welcome notable The closing session of the first day of
llenges to the sector such as the new gene-
investment funds such as Unovis Asset Mana- ftalks’21 had a Chilean flavour thanks to the In this session, priority was given to star-
ration of proteins, the reduction of food was-
gement & New Crop Capital with Dan Altschu- ProChile presentation by Sebastián Pillado, tups, who were allowed space to deliver a
te, technology applied to food, biodiversity,
ler, Big Idea Ventures with Henrietta Heart, who highlighted Chile’s strength in foodtech pitch and were also able to introduce us to
retail and food service, wellbeing and perso-
PeakBridge with Nadav Berger and Quadia innovation with success stories such as Pro- their novelties and offer innovative products
nalised nutrition.
with Josep Segarra. The latter confirmed the tera, The Live Green Co and NotCo, whose on the Future Market.
great movement among startups and more founder and CEO, Matias Muchnik, offered all The members of each group, representing
mature companies in agtech and foodtech participants an account of the growth of the startups, entities, investors, industry repre- The councillor for Economic Innovation and
with a very important component of private fi- project from startup to unicorn and his aim sentatives and research centres, enjoyed the Enterprise of the Valencia Town Hall, Pilar
nancing: “Our objective is for these startups to to transform the food sector and “move the opportunity to co-create among themselves Bernabé, was responsible for closing the se-
grow, for them to act as a catalyst for their sec- needle” with plant-based products created and delve into trends and challenges in the cond edition of ftalks’21. In her speech she
tor and to mover the sector from the bottom using artificial intelligence. sector and reach agreement upon solutions highlighted that: “The agri-food sector has
up. We see very important trends at the start of and new synergies. The main conclusions always been of key importance in our pro-
And so ended the first day of ftalks’21 during
the value chain, the regeneration of land, or in duction model and events such as this, where
of these working groups are reflected in the
which we were able to fuel ourselves with
agriculture that combines technology, artificial the most innovative processes and startups
Fooduristic’22 report.
intelligence or robotics,” he affirmed. the knowledge of all participants and reach a are analysed and evaluated, positions us as
joint conclusion on all subjects. After all, this Regarding food waste, another subject dealt leaders in the agri-food sector. The Town Hall
At ftalks’21 we have seen that the future of is the time to back disruptive innovation and with during ftalks, the Director General of will always support any initiative that contri-
complementary proteins in our country is new technology. As Beatriz Romanos states, the Food Sector of the Spanish Ministry of butes to positioning Valencia as an interna-
taking hold with initiatives such as those of “this is the decade of things that have yet to Agriculture, Fishing and Food, José Miguel tional hub for food and innovation”.
MOA Foodtech and Biotech Foods and by be discovered.” Herrero, signalled the importance of making
the sector with DACSA Group, leaders in de- the public aware that products that come
velopments such as wet textured vegetable . from the countryside cannot end up in the
protein. Nevertheless, the conclusion of this rubbish and highlighted that, according to
round table is that much remains to be done MAPA data, “in 2020, Spanish households
and that this is the time to invest, research threw out more than 1.3 billion tonnes of
and work on complementary proteins in order
to satisfy growing global demand for food.

The importance of a healthy, tasty and va-

ried diet was also discussed at ftalks where
companies such as Biogran, Danone and Idai
Nature expressed their view that consumers
need to improve their food habits and that
education is necessary to create awareness
of issues such as nutrition and the origin of
the food we eat.

ftalks Food Summit 2021 157

The best food startups awarded at ftalks’21

Like the previous year, in September we launched a competition to select a group of startups
to give a pitch at the event and have the opportunity of being chosen the best startups in this
edition of ftalks Food Summit, as well as of presenting their project before the whole innovation
ecosystem: investors, entities, media, industry and opinion leaders.

Following the success of participation in the competition, 12 startups were selected to present
at ftalks’21, from among whom the jury chose the best one in the category of Sustainability, for
offering a solution which generates a positive impact on people and the planet, and the best
one in the category of Innovation, for offering a solution which stands out for its technological
development and its business model.

Nadie Sin Su Ración Diaria (NSSRD), a project which digitalises the food donation process from
beginning to end, received the prize for Sustainability. Anina, an Israeli startup which creates pio-
neering Ready to Cook food capsules which are 100% natural, rich in vegetables and nutrients,
easy to use and prepared using fresh products which have an unattractive appearance using
a unique form of technology, received the prize for Innovation. For its part, startup Baïa Food,
creator of Miraculina, a novel food which transforms acidic or sour tastes into sweet ones, and
which in the future may become a clear alternative to sugar and artificial sweeteners, received
the runner-up prize for Innovation.

The startups were chosen by a jury composed of Beatriz Romanos, Innovation Coach spe-
cialising in Foodtech and Founder Tech Food Magazine; Tony Paños, Director of Projects at
Lanzadera, Carlos Lora, Co-founder and President of Espacio Res, and Josep Segarra, Invest-
ment Manager at Quadia; and received a trophy designed by Raúl Laurí, founder and CEO of
Decafé, which produces works of art from Decafé, a patented material made from used coffee
grounds, natural thickeners and mineral fillers.

Thanks to these awards, Nadie Sin Su Ración Diaria, Anina and Baïa Food will have access to
the 4 month long Next Level support programme promoted by KM ZERO, which consists of per-
sonalised mentoring and tracking of all areas of their business. They will also have the chance
to participate in the first exclusive foodtech startup Bootcamp created with members of the KM
ZERO SQUAD. In addition, they may be introduced to the KM ZERO Investment Opportunities
Club, they will have visibility in Fooduristic, the original content online platform, through inter-
views, participation in future events and presence in the Fooduristic’22 Report. And, in parallel,
thanks to a collaboration between KM ZERO and Lanzadera, the winners will have direct access
to the latter’s acceleration programme which starts in January 2022.

The nine remaining startups which took part in the competition (Harbest Market, Nucaps Nano-
technology, Voltstone, Voilà Bio, Roots Mindfoodness, Mimic Sea Food, Bold Drinks, Automato
Robotics and ODS PROTEIN) now form part of the KM ZERO community and will have access to
future networking opportunities.

ftalks Food Summit 2021 159

Ftalks Food Summit 2021, a hybrid and experiential event
In this edition we continued to back an event with a hybrid (physical and virtual) format,
with one completely experienced-based day on the second day aimed at generating new
connections and opportunities among participants. Participants were able to familiarise
themselves with the food of the future through their senses on three occasions: Future
Box (and Future Bag), Future Market and Future Lunch.

Future Box & Future Bag

At KM ZERO we prepared a careful selection of innovative products created by leaders in the

transformation of the sector, businesses and startups. A sample of new products conceived
to satisfy the needs of consumers which are consistent with the values of sustainability and
health. This box was previously sent to the houses of the virtual participants so that they
could also take part in the ftalks’21 experience and was delivered in tote bag format to all
participants who were physically present at the event.

Newyou by Personal Food: The combination of excellent quality chocolate with natural in-
gredients such as cacao and agave syrup which provide natural probiotics. Varieties: SLIM
with moringa, POWER with maca and hemp and pea protein, or INMUNE with reishi.

Singles doses of powdered protein by Trillions: Insect protein which, together with pea pro-
tein, becomes the best extra protein push you need. It will provide you with over 73% of
high-quality proteins for a sustainable, healthy and digestible recovery.

Canned white wine by Zeena: An elegant white wine which you’ll want more of when you
taste it! Long and fresh in the mouth, it traps all your senses. What’s more, it’s organic, sus-
tainable and comes in a handy canned format.

Raw bars by Natruly: A healthy unprocessed snack that uses 100% natural products; free of
sugar, gluten, lactose, palm oil, preservatives and colourings. Prepared 100% from fruit and
nuts and available in seven flavours.

Kale by Natruly: Crunchy kale leaves seasoned with natural tomato and oregano. A new
snack option with is 100% healthy, crunchy, covered in seeds and spices which transport
you to beautiful Italy.

Aquafaba BIO by Vegadenia: Aquafaba Bio is the functional alternative to egg white. A natu-
ral product which is organically obtained by cooking legumes to the right concentration and
reduction: healthy, sustainable, ethical and easy to use.

ECOCESTA organic crackers by Biogran: A large range of healthy snacks made up of 15

different varieties. Ecocesta crackers are made using 100% natural ingredients grown orga-
nically, with no artificial flavourings, preservatives or colourings.

ECOCESTA ground organic brown linseeds by Biogran: Organically grown ground brown lin-
seeds, ideal for adding as a topping to any meal of the day. Contains all the nutrients and
minerals needed to complement our daily food, in an easy, tasty and satisfying manner.
They are vegan, paleo and free of added sugar and gluten.

Organic bar by ASANA BIO: Seeds, nuts, oats and honey, with no other added sugars. A short
list of real and nutritious ingredients. Bars which are gluten free, rich in vegetable protein
and high in fibre.

ftalks Food Summit 2021 161

Organic snack by ASANA BIO: Mix of soya and seeds, very crunchy, not fried. 100% vegeta- Moa Foodtech: its mission is to transform waste in the agri-food sector into a new type of
ble and natural snack with no additives. High in fibre and vegetable protein (38%). Gluten protein ingredient. It achieves this process through fermentation.
free. Using ingredients grown in Europe, certified organic and non-GMO.
Aldous Bio: startup dedicated to creating honest, coherent and top-quality organic food and
Vegan pâté by Conca Organics: 100% vegan pâté with organically grown ingredients, con- superfood, so that any person can achieve a healthy diet.
taining no preservatives or colourings, no soya, and no potato starch. This pâté is carbon
neutral and with, its own TerraMater technology, a tool for analysing life cycle, has been Roots Mindfoodness: created to enable parents to provide their baby with quality, organic and
eco-designed to reduce its CO2e emissions as much as possible. personalised nutrition in its first 1,000 days of life, the key period in human development.

Tiggy Chufa & Carob by Tiggy: A spreadable cream for snacks and breakfasts. Ideal for Verdeo: produces and sells technical fat for industry made using olive oil, which is the heal-
using in baking on biscuits, brownies or cake coverings. thiest and least expensive alternative.

Tiggy Chufa & Ginger by Tiggy: A spreadable cream for breakfasts, snacks or baking. With ProChile: Chilean Government Agency for the Promotion of Export. Its mission is to contri-
hints of marzipan and caramel, its sweetness is soft and subtly reminds the palate of ginger. bute to the internationalisation of Chilean companies and the promotion of goods, servi-
ces, technology and innovation. In Spain it works with a wide range of innovative foods, as
Powdered dietary supplement by BioFit: BioFit Active LIMA is a dietary supplement based well as AgTech, Biotechnology, IA and Smart Packaging solutions, among others, oriented
on magnesium, Vitamin C and Vitamin B12. Ideal for combatting tiredness and fatigue in towards providing the world with more sustainable and quality solutions and responding to
your daily routine! the trends and needs of its target markets. Companies attending ftalks’21 were:

Masa Mater Premium by Darwin: Masa Mater is a kit for making sourdough bread at home a ANDES WISDOM CHILE - Synergic Food
lot quicker than the traditional method. The premium pack contains a combination of three
types of flour: Masa Mater Tritordeum, Masa Mater Khorasan and Masa Mater Secale. COMERCIAL EPULLEN LTDA. - Terrium

GRANOLIN SPA. Granolin Keto

Future Market THE LIVE GREEN COMPANY SPA., AZTLAN Y GIBIT. Barritas proteicas

El Telar de Miguel Martí became the market of the future the second day of ftalks’21. More WANIA FOODS SPA. – Wania
than 25 disruptive projects presented their innovative products or technologies and let us
try a sample of what we will find very soon on supermarket shelves. Some of the projects
which were also in the Future Box were Zeena, Masa Mater (Darwin), NewYou (Personal
Food), Conca Organics, Nadie Sin Su Ración Diaria, Anina, Baïa Food and Trillions. At the
market we were able to get to know:

Chemometric Brain: unique quality control cloud software based on NIR technology which
permits the analysis of powder, liquid, solid or gel food products in just a few seconds for
the purpose of ensuring food safety and avoiding fraud.

Mediterranean Algae: startup from Alicante dedicated to growing Mediterranean algae on

land. Its innovative technology allows high added value biomass and bioactive compounds
to be obtained for different applications such as human food, bio-fertilizers and cosmetics.

Mimic Sea Food: tasty and healthy plant-based seafood.

TIPA: 100% compostable flexible packaging which decomposes into organic material.

Voilà Bio: the first Spanish startup to manufacture and launch into the market edible uten-
sils with a biscuit base.

Väcka: designs and prepares tasty vegetable alternatives to cheese.

Cubiq Foods: develop and produce a new generation of ingredients (Go!Drop, Go!Mega3 and
cultivated proteins, fats and Omega-3) which improve the nutritional profile of products,
while respecting their original taste and texture.

ftalks Food Summit 2021 163

ftalks Food Summit 2021 165
Future Lunch

A menu inspired by the challenges of the sector such as zero waste, complementary proteins, bio-
diversity and digitalisation provided the finishing touch to the third edition of ftalks Food Summit.
Designed by chef Miguel Martí and KM ZERO, the Future Lunch was an immersive gastronomic
experience with dishes that are the edible expression of the future of food.

The entrées and main dishes on the menu of the Future Lunch made it clear that tomorrow’s food
does not have to be all that different to the food with which we are already familiar order to be res-
pectful of the environment and the seasons, healthy, nutritious and, above all, tasty.

Thanks to Dacsa Group, Anina, Voilà Bio, Mahou San Miguel, Puratos, Franuí, Zumex Group, Medi-
terranean Algae, Ocean52, Sweet Palermo, Vicky Foods, Bold Drinks, Pops n’ Bops and br5 for your
efforts to provide the whole gastronomic experience of ftalks’21.

ftalks Food Summit 2021 167

Now, more than ever, we need to cooperate together, to accelera-
te the much-needed transformation of the food sector towards
a more resilient, healthy, fair and efficient one, with innovation
and technology as our greatest allies, involving all players for-
ming part of the system without leaving anyone behind.
We may not be living in ideal times, but our motivation is
hope, not fear. We have never had so many tools to create a
real change. There are bold people among us who are already
working on solutions that have the potential to have an impact
on some of the challenges which most concern us. There have
never been so many of us sharing the same conviction. Toge-
ther we can create a future which not only sustains itself but
regenerates and includes all the players in the chain.

CLICK

ftalks Food Summit 2021 169

KM ZERO Food Innovation Hub is the think tank that was born in 2018 in Valencia with a
clear objective: to lead the transformation towards a healthier, sustainable, resilient and
fairer food system, connecting people and projects that are working to achieve a positive
impact on the entire value chain.
Its main mission is to support entrepreneurs and companies in order to boost their
consolidation and to generate products and solutions that have a positive impact on the
sector, responding to the main challenges it faces, focusing on the consumer and future
unmet needs.
Today, the industry faces a global challenge: to provide healthy diets from sustainable food
systems to a growing world population. This means transforming the way food is produced,
distributed, consumed and reused. To do this, we must respond to different demanding
challenges that mainly focus on improving product traceability, reducing food waste, reducing
the use of plastic, food safety, personalised nutrition or the creation and production of new
complementary proteins that generate a positive impact on the environment.
To understand the whole context and glimpse the areas of opportunity for all the players
involved along the agri-food chain, KM ZERO relies on the figures that are leading the
change worldwide and brings them together in the initiative called KM ZERO SQUAD. From
the Valencian capital, it contributes to accelerate the transformation of the food system. It
promotes synergies between industries, entrepreneurs, investors, the scientific community
and institutions, and promotes platforms for the exchange of opportunities.
The requirements to enter the KM ZERO ecosystem are clear. It focuses on projects strictly
related to the food sector and that have a projection of exponential growth and impact. It
invests in committed people who bring a disruptive and differential proposal.
 The Team

Raúl Martín Beatriz Jacoste Emilio Romero iris Ruescas

CEO Director Creative designer Graphic Designer

Juan Requena Leonor Romero Claudia Da Cunha Catalina Valencia

Financial Analyst Innovation Coordinator Trends & Innovation Consultant Community Lead

Laura Martínez Salvador Albert Raúl Navarro Mikel Berlanga

Project Management & Development Assistant Administrative manager Junior Consultant
Partners

Collaborators

FROM THE OCEAN

FOR THE OCEAN
 contact@kmzerohub.com
+34 963 685 197
Calle Polígono 1,Aldaia (Valencia) 46960
kmzerohub.com