20 minute read
Meet the best innovations presented at the Fi Europe 2019 Startup Innovation Challenge
Meet the winners and finalists of the Fi Europe 2019 Startup Innovation Challenge
Some of the biggest game-changing ideas in the F&B sector have been brought to us by food ingredient startups who need to successfully navigate various hurdles, from funding, to collaboration models and regulatory complexities, before their innovations become industry standards.
Now in its fifth year, the Fi Europe Startup Innovation Challenge offers some of the most promising of these innovators within food ingredients a platform where they can showcase their innovations in order to gain the right attention from potential investors and collaborators to help them prosper and disrupt the industry.
The 2019 edition featured 20 of the most ground-breaking F&B innovations, across four categories: • Most Innovative Food or Beverage Ingredient • Most Innovative Plant- or Cereal-Based Food or Beverage Ingredient • Most Innovative Alternative Food or Beverage Ingredient • Most Innovative Process, Technology or Service Supporting the Food & Beverage Industry
For the 2019 edition, we were fortunate to have the support of the following partners:
Amai Proteins - WINNER Amai Proteins is on a mission to reinvent the Food & Beverage industry with their unique protein design technology. By combining biotechnology with Agile Integrative Computational Protein Design (AI-CPD), Amai produces tasty, healthy and food-compatible proteins, fit for the mass food market.
It’s all in the technology With their application of AI-CPD, Amai is able to redesign and adapt natural proteins. By using precision fermentation (similar to how beer is brewed) microorganisms produce proteins in such a way that they are compatible with the extreme conditions found in food and beverages, further resulting in a high production yield, as well as improved stability and functionality. The company’s name ’Amai’ means sweet in Japanese, and their first focus is on producing Sweet Designer Proteins that are non-GMO, healthy (zero calories, zero glycemic index), tasty, cheaper than sugar (in sweetness units), widely foodcompatible, scalable, sustainable, and environmentally friendly.
Important validation At Fi Europe 2019, Amai were the winners of the Most Innovative Food or Beverage ingredient Category at the Startup Innovation Challenge. According to Ilan Samish, Founder & CEO of Amai Proteins:
Challenge is an important acknowledgement and
validation for a new startup like Amai. As a result, we
received collaboration requests from numerous large
and medium-size Food & Beverage multinationals,
potential producers, distributors and companies who
can help in formulation of new products.” 6
Market launch for their product is expected within the next two years and the Amai platform is also targeting digestible proteins, hypoallergenic proteins, alternative proteins for meat and milk, as well as other tasty and healthy proteins.
Solving sugar overconsumption
“Amai is working with several large Food & Beverage multinationals on formulating the Amai healthy and sustainable sweetener in megabrand consumer packaged goods. With PepsiCo and Danone, we won a 1M Euro EIT Food grant. With Ocean Spray, are working on sugar-reduced cranberry juice, and with others, we are working on some well-known products to help solve the world's largest global health threat of sugar overconsumption.” 6
By harnessing the powers of emerging technologies and innovating upon an age-old, reliable production process such as fermentation, Amai Proteins is one of the startups that are looking to do what they can in order to contribute to more sustainable and healthy food ingredients.
Other startups selected to showcase their innovations at Fi Europe 2019 in the Most Innovative Food or Beverage ingredient Category included:
microPow microPow offers a new, additive-free large-scale encapsulation platform for food products. Ingredients such as flavours and colorants, as well as compounds which are oxidation sensitive and unstable, are protected during processing and storage which leads to improvements in shelf-life and product quality. Moreover, thanks to the unique physicochemical properties, ingredients such as colours and flavours can be released at the right time which allows microPow to produce long-lasting chewing gum with a constant flavour being released during the whole chewing time of 15-20 minutes. Or, vegetarian burgers that look like real beef burgers, with a juicy, medium grilled core and a crispy, grilled outside.
PANVEGA PANVEGA presents vitamiN’ co: the first vitamin B12 in the world allowed in organic-certified food products. Flexitarians represent a growing section of the global population and are driving the rapidly expanding plant-based and organic food markets. Plant-based food lacks vitamin B12, so vegans, vegetarians, and flexitarians are at risk of developing a B12 deficiency. PANVEGA AG – a startup from Zurich – offers the first B12 in the world to be allowed in organic-certified food. It sells its B12 under the brand vitamiN’ co, in a stable powder form that can easily be mixed into all kinds of food products. The GMO-free vitamiN’ co is as natural as sauerkraut or wine and makes it possible for a plant-based diet to be both healthy and complete, without the need for supplements.
Epinutra Epinutra is dedicated to the development of benescoTM, a targeted nutraceutical ingredient designed to support oesophagus health by strengthening the oesophagus wall. Three in ten of the general population, and a staggering 80% of pregnant women, can benefit from oesophagus health support as they suffer from heartburn caused by stomach acid rising up and irritating the oesophagus. With a defined mechanism of action and solid patient data, benescoTM aims to catalyse the shift from synthetic medicine to natural food in this >10B € market.
Hempfy Hempfy’s focus is on using legal hemp ingredients (THC/CBD-free) to produce mass-market driven products. They choose to only work with the freshest plants, promoting sustainable farming, and have developed a core know-how on cold-fusion technology, which preserves freshness and taste of the plant. Hemp is a trendy ingredient. However, Hempfy is the only company who succeeded in launching and distributing it across supermarkets in Switzerland, Germany, and other markets, continuously introducing new forms of products based on legal Hemp.
Better Nature - WINNER
“Any great solution starts with a great problem.” 7
These are the words shared by Christopher Kong, CEO & Co-Founder of Better Nature, the world’s first food
tech company focused on using innovative tempeh fermentation methods to fulfil their simple mission of
creating foods that are better for people, the planet, and animals. 7
A better natured alternative The rate at which meat is currently being consumed is highly unsustainable and the expectation is that this will only increase in the coming years; especially in developing countries such as Asia and Africa.
As a result, Better Nature is hoping to identify more sustainable meat alternatives with no compromises. Kong said:
“As member of the Western world, we need to serve as a role model and cut
our meat consumption. Our products, and our brand, stand very firmly in support
of a whole-foods, plant-based diet. We deeply believe that there is no need for
consumers to compromise on the taste, nutrition and health of their products by
going plant-based.” 7
Reinventing the wheel By applying modern science, Better Nature has found a way to reinvent the fermentation-wheel, providing a sustainable solution to the meat consumption crisis the food industry is facing. Kong noted:
“The really great thing about tempeh fermentation and this technology that we
are innovating upon, is that it can be applied to any bean, legume, nut or grain.
It decreases the fat content by about 40% and, at the same time, increases the
protein content by about 20% and improves the amino acid profile such that our
tempeh has the same quality of protein as that of beef, with the same protein
content as that of grilled mackerel or grilled cod. Because it is such a simple food
process that can be applied to so many plant-based substrates, we believe that
countries in the developing world can readily apply the same technology to
improve the quality of their crops and help curb their rate of meat consumption.” 7
Better things to come Having won the award for Most Innovative Plant- or Cereal-based Food or Beverage ingredient at the Fi Europe 2019 Startup Innovation Challenge, Kong noted that this certainly corroborates that they are on the right track to becoming a full-fledged ingredients company in the near future. It has also assisted them in successfully raising further investment funds needed for further development. Kong stated that:
“Having that validation from a third-party organisation that we are a truly
innovative company and pushing the boundaries of food science, food tech and
food ingredients, has certainly helped us to attract the right investors to accelerate
the use of these technologies and the introduction to market.” 7
Since the competition, Better Nature has successfully launched their first range of products through their own online store, as well as through the UK’s largest online vegan store, TheVeganKind Supermarket. They are also rapidly expanding into various retail stores around the UK, with their products already available in around 70 retailers, including Planet Organic, which is a premium London-based retailer. More product launches can also be expected throughout the coming year; with their Better™ Bites expected to come to the market in May, and their Better™ Burger, Better™ Strips and Better™ Ribs to follow later in the year. Having a robust platform of product development and innovation seems to have offered them an upper hand when it comes to releasing products to the market at a faster pace. Kong mentioned that:
“What has proven to be really effective and great, is keeping a lot of our
innovative capacity in-house and sourcing the best talent to help us bring
these truly innovative, clean-label meat alternatives to the market.” 7
Where innovation is concerned - from a startup perspective, Kong advises:
“You need to be solving a real problem. Don’t spend too much time elaborating
on the problem you want to solve; if it is pertinent, relevant and huge, you will find
the right people to help solve it with you.” 7
CaffeInk CaffeInk aims to offer a sustainable and healthy dark colorant to the food and beverage industry, while closing the loop of the coffee value chain. This startup works on extracting dark (brown-black) colorants and other valuable compounds, such as oil, from spent coffee grounds, and collaborates with the F&B sector to offer plant-based, local ingredients with a circular economy mindset and a low energy and carbon footprint.
Krusli Krusli is on a mission to Rescue Food! They do this by creating delicious and healthy breakfast products made from rescue d food, like brewers’ grain, wheat bran, broken chips, seeds that are too small, peanut butter that would be wasted otherwise and nuts that are broken, but still perfect for breakfast. They created four different flavours: Peanut butter & Banana, Apple & Walnut, Beetroot & Ginger, and Sweet Potato & Cocos, all of which contain less than 10% of sugar (only a little bit of fruit syrup). They also have three innovation projects that are ongoing, in order to venture out to other categories and rescue even more food.
Innovopro Innovopro is the first company in the world to launch a chickpea protein 70% concentrate (CP Pro 70®), an innovative plant-based protein that adds value to both producers and consumers. It extends customers' choices for a new, clean-label, non-GMO and non-allergenic source of protein, and it brings excellent food-technology properties, as well as benefits in terms of functionality, health, nutrition, taste and mouthfeel. Several products based on Innovopro's CP Pro 70® were already launched by their customers, and hundreds of global food manufacturers are already testing CP-Pro 70 in a variety of applications.
The 5th edition of the Startup Innovation Challenge will be held during Fi Europe 2020, taking place in Frankfurt from 1-3 December.
We like to see you there!
FUMI Ingredients – 2 PRIZES, 1 WINNER! FUMI Ingredients not only won the award for Most Innovative Alternative Food or Beverage ingredient, but they were also selected by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) to receive a special €10,000 food prize grant.
The use of microorganisms in food production is no foreign concept and has been seen in a wide variety of food applications to date, from the production of cheese to that of alcoholic beverages. Whilst having been used in food production processes for centuries prior, FUMI Ingredients believe that there is still a major untapped source of high value ingredients that exist in microorganisms which can be used for fully sustainable diets. As a result, they have developed a unique platform to produce functional, animal-free, food ingredients. And their target? Proteins suitable for egg-white replacement.
Vegan egg-white protein Egg white protein is arguably one of the most utilised animal proteins when it comes to food production, due to its unique ability to form very stable foams, strong gels and stabilise emulsions. However, due to the disadvantages associated with egg white production, it is imperative for the food industry to come up with a suitable and sustainable alternative solution. FUMI, therefore, is implementing scalable and ready-to-use technology which permits the production of novel proteins, suitable for use as egg-white replacers.
The technology behind FUMI’s platform is based on
an efficient and mild extraction of specific molecules
present in the structure of the microorganisms.
According to Edgar Suarez Garcia, CTO of FUMI
Ingredients, they are currently in the process of
validating their technology with several food
companies in Europe, which will enable them to
produce a novel, vegan, egg-white protein. 8
At the Fi Europe 2019 Startup Innovation Challenge, FUMI Ingredients not only won the award for Most Innovative Alternative Food or Beverage ingredient, but they were also selected by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) to receive a special €10,000 EIT Food Prize grant. Winning both awards certainly meant a lot for the startup, not only financially, but also in several unexpected ways. Suarez said that:
“The money element is always well received (especially for an early stage startup)
but the exposure, recognition and networking opportunities were really important
and something we did not expect.” 8
Successful innovation does not just happen When it comes to successful innovation, ensuring that your ideas are relevant and up to date is vital, and advice from experts, knowledge on legislation and having a good understanding of what the competition and other companies in the global food sector are doing, should be sought. Suarez noted:
“Getting up to date with other fellow startups and getting a glimpse of the current
innovations and products launched by established small and large companies in
the food sector worldwide was also crucial, as this provides an excellent view on
the newest developments.” 8
While FUMI may not have found their way to the market yet, it’s their business model that will most likely prove to be their greatest asset.
“We have a very good idea of the market we want to address, and we believe we
have a strong product and technology. But still we need to develop an effective
way to market. Our business model is particularly advantageous since we are
providing a non-GMO solution, independent of traditional farming, scalable and
economically competitive.” 8
According to FUMI, their product is robust, scalable and can, at full industrial scale, undercut egg white prices. Some of the industrial partners assisting in their product validation process, produce meat replacers, bakery or confectionery products, further showcasing the great potential that exists for these alternative ingredients.
Tamago Food Tamago Food develops the food products of the future, by proposing plant-based substitutes to eggs. While there is an increasing demand for plant-based substitutes, Tamago realised that it was not easy for the professionals to find simple plant-based substitutes for pastry, and so, they reinvented the egg. YUMGO, their plant-based egg replacer for food professionals, fills a gap for the food professionals. Their unique plant-based substitute allows food professionals to replace the eggs they are using without any complex learning or adaptation. YUMGO is simple to use, comes in a format suitable for food professionals, is delicious, and allows professionals to create plant-based recipes (meringues, mousses, macarons etc.) without any effort. YUMGO – 100% plant-based, 100% delicious.
Higher Steaks The world's population is exponentially increasing alongside meat consumption, despite growing knowledge of its negative impacts. To ensure worldwide sustainable development and health goals are met by 2050, we must create a more efficient and sustainable food supply. Cultivated meat (meat using cell culture techniques) can have a colossal positive impact; however, key technological challenges must first be overcome to create cost-effective, scalable manufacturing of cultivated meat products. Higher Steaks is a pork cultivated meat company, focusing on the breakthrough technologies that will bring cultivated meat products to scale.
Pleurette Will mushrooms be the next food revolution? Pleurette is an innovative Foodtech startup, based in the National Interest Market of Lille (the second most important in France). Producing fresh and organic mushrooms, Pleurette valorises oyster mushroom residues and develops mushroom-based protein texturing agents for the food industry: an alternative to ultra-processed products with a natural binding effect. It renders a good meatlike chewability and taste to their sauces and mini, meatless balls and burgers. These mushroom-based alternatives are soy-free, additive-free, gluten-free, vegan, organic and, being rich in fibres, also provide the texture and satiety effect of meat. Furthermore, they are also unique and match 4 major trends: organic, flexitarian, local, allergen-free. What’s more, they answer the increasing consumer demand for fresh products, locally made and processed in an environmentally clean way.
Lab Lab Lab Lab produces a proprietary, live, liquid starter culture to make innovative beverages, food, feed and ingredients. The unique starter culture and their proprietary methods are key to fermenting many different plants and ‘waste’ from other food value chains. Their production entails ‘zero waste’ as they commercialise both the liquid and solid parts of the fermentation processes, on top of which they up-scale and license the use of the starter culture itself. Compared with known industrial fermentation processes, Lab Lab’s methods are much faster and seem to create more and better aromas, taste, and structure.
Qwarzo® - WINNER Qwarzo® develops two unprecedented paper technologies, providing a 100% recyclable, biodegradable and compostable solution to fully and cost effectively replace single-use plastic in numerous applications; such as coffee stirrers, cutlery, straws, and other packaging. Qwarzo®Solid is the technology used, which allows injection moulding of 100% recyclable, biodegradable and compostable paper, replacing solid plastic packaging. Qwarzo®Stratum then, is a surface treatment of paper, rendering it unbelievable barrier properties, whilst keeping the paper 100% recyclable, biodegradable and compostable to fully and cost-effectively replace flexible plastic packaging. Both are fluoride free, polymer free, and of course – plastic free.
Other startups selected to showcase their innovations in the Most Innovative Process, Technology or Service Supporting the F&B Industry Category included:
Solar Foods Solar Foods is a visionary food-tech company that develops revolutionary fermentation-based innovations for food production at a global level. As an active player in solving the global food and nutrition crisis, Solar Foods provides new solutions that secure the sustainable use of natural resources by disconnecting food production from agriculture. Solar Foods produces the world’s most sustainable protein: Solein® and are on their way to make Solein® the magic ingredient for future food.
Rival Foods At Rival Foods, they provide a disruptive solution for small- to intermediatescale production of the next generation plant-based protein products. This is made possible by a completely new process developed by Rival Foods: one that allows for the transformation of plant-based ingredients into truly innovative and culinary plant-based whole-cuts. These products are similar to animal protein products in size (0,5+ square meter) and thickness (2-3 cm thick), have a remarkable meat-like or fish-like structure with fibres and/or layers oriented along the length of the product, have a high moisture content and liquid release upon compression.
Cellular Agriculture Ltd Cellular Agriculture Ltd is addressing the technological bottlenecks of the cultured meat industry by establishing the most efficient industrial bioprocess. Scale, and more importantly, peak efficiency will allow cells to be produced at a price parity to traditional meat. With over 40 companies in the cultured meat landscape, Cellular Agriculture is already a second-generation business; they are not concentrated on food products but the first to solely focus on enabling technology to scale and expedite the growth of an industry. They have already delivered a proof of concept bioreactor system, which has been publicly displayed at Nemo Science Museum in Amsterdam and are building partnerships across the value chain to bring this technology to market.
Connecting Food Connecting Food helps food industrials rebuild consumer trust. Today, shoppers want to know everything about the food they buy: Where was it produced? By whom? And how? Connecting Food leverage blockchain technology to track, in real time, all food production from the farm to the consumer. What makes them unique is their LiveAudit® module: they are able to digitally audit 100% of the production, batch to batch, to ensure the product’s requirements are respected at all times. We improve customer experience by connecting shoppers with the brands through a simple scan of a QR code, providing chosen traceability information and audit results. Connecting Food is the first food transparency blockchain platform in Europe, operational in more than 5 countries.
Sphera Encapsulation SpherAQ are high-quality encapsulates, totally soluble in water, which can be consumed without the addition of any flavours or aromas. This is a cuttingedge technology developed by Sphera Encapsulation in order to overcome the major challenges related to the intake of bio-active lipophilic ingredients, such as oils. The main points that have been addressed when it comes to this type of molecules are their scarce bioavailability, their insolubility in water and their low stability. The SpherAQ technology enables the creation of real barriers between the active ingredient and the external environment, in so doing, protecting this active ingredient from the harsh condition of the gastric media and the action of metabolic enzymes, whilst making the molecules easy to handle and very stable to temperature and oxidation. Totally tasteless and odourless, 100% natural and water-soluble, SpherAQ encapsulates can hold any lipophilic ingredient, making it easy to incorporate in any product – from food to beverages – they can even be taken directly as a supplement. In vivo studies on different ingredients encapsulated with this system have confirmed an increased bioavailability and a supreme protection of the active ingredients inside SpherAQ.
Sources
1 Data and Trends report 2019, Food and Drink Europe: https://www.fooddrinkeurope.eu/uploads/
publications_documents/FoodDrinkEurope_-_Data__Trends_2019.pdf
2 Fi Global Insights, Creating better partnerships to fuel innovation,
<https://insights.figlobal.com/innovation/creating-better-partnerships-fuel-innovation>
3 Fi Global Insights, What are the key ingredients for open innovation success?,
<https://insights.figlobal.com/innovation/what-are-key-ingredients-open-innovation-success>
4 Fi Global Insights, Open innovation is the key to answer consumers’ future needs,
<https://insights.figlobal.com/innovation/open-innovation-key-answer-consumers-future-needs>
5 Fi Global Insights, Boosting innovation from within,
<https://insights.figlobal.com/fi-live/boosting-innovation-within>
6 Fi Global Insights, Startup success for Amai Proteins – Ilan Samish [Interview],
<https://insights.figlobal.com/start-ups/startup-success-amai-proteins-ilan-samish-interview>
7 Fi Global Insights, Startup success for Better Nature – Christopher Kong [Interview],
< https://insights.figlobal.com/start-ups/startup-success-better-nature-christopher-kong-interview>
8 Fi Global Insights, Startup success for FUMI Ingredients - Edgar Suarez Garcia [Interview],
< https://insights.figlobal.com/start-ups/startup-success-fumi-ingredients-edgar-suarez-garcia-interview >
