FoodTech Weekly #164 by Daniel S. Ruben

FoodTech Weekly #164

Hi there,

Dunkin’ Donuts has launched a new coffee with 930 calories (U.S. dietary guidelines recommend an intake of 2,000-2,500 calories per day). Am sure 185 grams of sugar will do you good. Watch this fun 45 sec video commenting on it (‘If America runs on this, we're f**ked’).

Meanwhile, the U.S. and Canadian food industries are paying influencer dieticians (!) to promote e.g. sugar and candy consumption.

Let’s just say our work to build a better food system is far from done.

So join me in Tel Aviv on Nov 6 for the AgriVest conference, for all the latest innovations in AgTech (and fun networking with investors, corporates, and startups). Here’s a quick recap video from last year’s event. Use the discount code AGRIVEST10 for a 10% discount when you register.

And since you’ll be in Tel Aviv, make sure to attend FoodTechIL too, on Nov 7-8. There will be 3,000+ participants, and yes, lots of food. Use FoodTechWeekly10 for a 10% ticket discount.

This week's rundown:

• Toopi Organics has scooped up €16M to turn urine into an agricultural biostimulant

• The Netherlands gov’t will invest €129M to transition to regenerative ag

• Why 11,000 participants were just disqualified from the Mexico City Marathon

Let's go!

Conversations

Noteworthy

• Toopi Organics of France has raised €16M ($17.2M) in financing (equity + non-dilutive funds) led by VisVires New Protein and joined by Edaphon, Noshaq, MAIF Impact, BNP Paribas Développement, ADEME, Bpifrance, as well as existing investors. The company collects urine, turning it into microbial biostimulants for agriculture, thus cutting the need for mineral fertilizers.

• HYDROCOW, a consortium led by Solar Foods of Finland, will receive €5.5M from the European Innovation Council to produce milk protein using CO2 and electricity.

• U.S.-based container farming startup Freight Farms will go public through a $147M SPAC.

• Just a year after its founding, Intact of France has scored €55M (!) in funding for its process that creates ingredients for plant-based alternatives out of crops such as legumes that’s been grown using regenerative agriculture (h/t DigitalFoodLab).

• OCEANIUM has reeled in $2.6M in a round led by Builders Vision and existing investors such as WWF and Green Angel Investors, as well as new investors such as BDT & MSD Partners and two family office members of the Sustainable Financing Initiative. Based in Scotland, Oceanium turns seaweed into e.g. food ingredients such as fiber and protein, as well as bioactive ingredients for health and cosmetics (full disclosure: I’m an advisor to OCEANIUM).

• Global antimicrobial use in farmed animals has decreased by 13% in the last three years, a new report from the World Organization for Animal Health says.

• Expert panels have concluded that cultivated meat (sometimes referred to as lab-grown meat) can be kosher and halal, if done right.

• Ireland’s dairy farmers are ‘in crisis’ over the EU nitrogen cap; similar protests and concerns have been voiced in e.g. Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands over stricter emission rules targeting livestock farming.

• The government of the Netherlands will invest €129M into promoting the transition to regenerative agriculture practices.

• DetraPel of Boston, U.S. has bagged $7.6M in Series A funding from Material Impact, INX International and others for its plastic-free food and textile films and coating. The company’s solution can be used in e.g. bread bags, dried fruit packaging, fruit cartons, and other food packaging types.

• France’s Ministry of Agriculture has proposed to ban labels like ‘beef’, ‘steak’, ‘ham’, and ‘grilled’ on plant-based meat products. France’s Minister of Ag, Marc Fesneau says ‘This new draft decree reflects our desire to put an end to misleading claims.’

• Three-quarters of Americans don’t think eating meat and dairy is linked to climate change, a recent poll shows (in somewhat related — and ironic — news, farmers in Puerto Rico are now breeding dairy cows that can handle a heating climate).

• Fascinating 8 min video on an AI-powered autonomous sniper robot that can differentiate between crops and weeds, thus treating 500k plants per hour with 95% less chemicals than conventional methods.

• Austrian startup KernTec has developed a unique process that make upcycled apricot kernels edible, similar in taste and look to almonds. They’re now starting to sell in Swiss food retail.

• Good 5 minute read on tools to halve food waste by 2030:

News from the FoodTech Weekly community

• GFI Europe (Europe/remote) is hiring an Infrastructure Investment Manager… Uncommon (UK) is recruiting a Lead Media Development Chemist… Johannas (Sweden) is looking for a Business Advisor… EVERY (U.S) has an open role for a Business Development Manager.

• Carole Bingley at RSSL is doing a survey on egg replacement technology; if you’re a company that uses eggs in your products and have a few minutes to help please see the link. Chance to win a £50 Amazon voucher, yay!

Want to share some FoodTech news/project with other FoodTech Weekly subscribers? Hit reply.

Random Stuff

• A town in Portugal was flooded with 2.4M liters (600K gallons) of wine after two large wine containers broke at a local distillery. Meanwhile in France, the country has way too much wine and will spend over $200M to destroy it.

• In 1907, French waiters went on strike for the right to wear…a mustache.

• Helpful visual on GMOs vs. CRISPR:

• Seven people are still battling, 20 days in, to with the title of ‘Laziest Citizen’ in Montenegro’s annual lying down contest. Contestants can get up for just 10 mins every eight hours to use the restroom, read, or use their phones.

• Right next door in Serbia, the World Testicle Cooking Championship is happening this week. Bon appétit, I guess…

• In August, 20.1% of new vehicle sales in the UK were battery electric vehicles (up from 14.5% in August of 2022).

• Officials at the Mexico City annual marathon announced that they had disqualified 11,000 participants for not completing the required 42k (26.2 miles); many runners had used e.g. public transport to cover part of the distance.

• Life before modern comms technology:

• If you are vertically challenged but want to guard Denmark’s Queen, here’s your chance: The Danish defense have abolished the height requirements for people serving with the Danish Royal Life Guards (a mainly ceremonial unit outside of Denmark’s royal palaces). Until now, males had to be at least 175 cm (5’9”) and women had to be 169 cm (5’6”) to serve.

• This auto translation from English to French and German is really cool and you should watch it (2 min video):

I love you / Je t'aime / Ich liebe dich,

Daniel

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This issue was produced while listening to Some Die Young by Laleh. Follow me on LinkedIn and Twitter. Did your brilliant friend forward this to you? Subscribe here.

Disclosures: I'm an operating advisor to VC/investment firms Nordic FoodTech VC, Mudcake, and Blume Equity. I'm a mentor at accelerators Katapult Ocean, Big Idea Ventures, and Norrsken Accelerator. I'm an advisor to BIOMILQ, FoodHack, Hooked, Ignitia, Improvin, IRRIOT, Juicy Marbles, Lupinta, NitroCapt, Oceanium, petgood, Rootically, Stockeld Dreamery, Transship, VEAT, and Volta Greentech; in some of these startups, I have equity.

Boring disclaimer: The newsletter content is intended only to provide general and preliminary information to folks interested in FoodTech, and shall not be construed as the basis for any investment decision or strategy. I assume no liability in regards to any investment, divestment, or retention decision taken by readers of this newsletter content.