Business for Good Podcast

Join host Paul Shapiro as he talks with some of the leading start-up entrepreneurs and titans of industry alike using their businesses to help solve the world’s most pressing problems.

No Palm, No Problem: Fermenting the Future of Fat 04/01/2025

No Palm, No Problem: Fermenting the Future of Fat Palm oil is everywhere—from food to cosmetics to biofuels—but its production is a leading cause of deforestation, habitat destruction, and greenhouse gas emissions. What if we could have all the benefits of palm oil without the downsides? Enter , a Dutch biotech startup using fermentation to produce a sustainable alternative to palm oil—without the need for palm trees. Instead of chopping down rainforests, they’re upcycling agricultural waste, feeding it to their specialty yeast, and brewing a fat with the same characteristics as high-end palm oil in the process. The company’s raised €6 million to date and has already done a trial run of its process in a massive 120,000-liter fermenter. In this episode, I’m joined by NoPalm’s CEO, Lars Langhout, to talk about how microbial oils can disrupt a $60 billion industry, whether fermentation is the future of fats, and the challenges of scaling a sustainable solution. Could NoPalm Ingredients make deforestation-free oils the new norm? If they have their way, perhaps so. Discussed in this episode The that inspired Lars to start NoPalm Ingredients. Lars was also inspired by CEO . Lars recommends reading and Our past episodes with (tree-free wood) and (wood-fed meat). Get to know Lars Langhout Lars Langhout is the co-founder and CEO of NoPalm Ingredients, a biotech pioneer company he established in 2021 alongside Prof. Dr. Jeroen Hugenholtz. Leveraging his background in strategy consulting and an MBA (CBS '16), Lars leads the team in developing sustainable, locally produced alternatives to palm oil. Under his leadership, NoPalm Ingredients has achieved significant milestones, including scaling their fermentation process from benchtop experiments to industrial-scale production of 120m3 within three years. This innovative approach transforms agri-food side streams into high-quality, food-grade palm-oil alternatives. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/35951415

Turning Air Into Butter: Savor’s Revolutionary Approach to Alternative Fats 03/20/2025

Turning Air Into Butter: Savor’s Revolutionary Approach to Alternative Fats What if the fat in your butter, cheese, or even burger could be made without animals, without plants, without fermentation, and without agriculture at all? That’s exactly what is doing. Using a groundbreaking process that transforms compounds like CO₂ and elements like hydrogen into rich, animal-free fats that can mimic what animal fat does, this California-based startup is rethinking how we produce and consume one of the most essential ingredients in food. In this episode, I sit down with Kathleen Alexander, cofounder and CEO of Savor, to dive into the science behind their innovative fat production, why alternative fats could be the next big breakthrough in food tech, and how their approach could help fight climate change while making all types of foods, including plant-based meats and dairy, taste even better. So far the company has raised more than $30 million in venture capital, including from Bill Gates, and is now gearing up to start selling its new fat in restaurants and bakeries within 2025. Will humanity be able to divorce food production from agriculture? If Savor succeeds, that just might be the case. Discussed in this episode Katheeen co-authored the paper . Savor was incubated by . with Pivot Bio president Lisa Nunez Safarian. Kathleen and Paul both recommend and . Kathleen recommends Long Life, . on Savor’s technology. More about Kathleen Alexander has a strong background in materials science and engineering. She has worked in various roles, including as a CTO and CEO at Savor, a Project Director at Orca Sciences, and a Climate Solutions Consultant at KCA Research, Inc. Kathleen has a proven track record of designing and implementing innovative projects for climate solutions, with a focus on greenhouse gas reduction technologies. She has also conducted extensive research and modeling in the field of materials science, particularly in areas related to electrochemistry and battery performance. Kathleen's academic background includes a PhD in Materials Science & Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, further showcasing her expertise in the field. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/35663820

Cleaner Air from Better Plants: The Neoplants Story 03/01/2025

Cleaner Air from Better Plants: The Neoplants Story We spend about 90 percent of our lives indoors, yet the air inside our homes and offices is often far more polluted than the air outside. Volatile organic compounds—better known as VOCs—are constantly emitted by furniture, cleaning products, and even the very walls around us. Formaldehyde, benzene, toluene—these chemicals sound like something you’d find in an industrial park, but they’re actually in the places where we eat, sleep, and work. Well, what if nature could give us a hand here? What if plants, and even microbes, could be supercharged to clean our air at a level that truly makes a difference? That’s exactly the mission of today’s guest: Patrick Torbey, CEO and co-founder of . His company is using synthetic biology to enhance houseplants and their soil microbes with built-in air purification superpowers. Right now, they are offering microbial powders called to mix with water and sprinkle onto the soil of your own houseplants to super-charge their air purifying capacity. I already mine and am using them now. They also offer , which is their all-in-one plant and microbe duo, including a Marble Queen Pothos. The bottom line is that they claim their technology can make plants up to 30 times more effective at cleaning the air in our homes and offices than the plants we currently have today. Their systems don’t just filter air pollution but actually metabolize it into harmless compounds. In this episode, Patrick and I have a wide-ranging conversation about topics like synthetic biology, science fiction, nature vs. nurture, and of course, how his company’s tech will both make money and make the world a better place. Already the company has raised more than $20 million in venture capital, with more still yet to come. So, if you’ve ever wondered how science, business, and sustainability can come together to solve a problem hiding in plain sight—or in this case, plain smell—you won’t want to miss this conversation. Discussed in this episode You can order Neoplants’ microbes for your houseplants’ soil . Our past podcast episodes with (nitrogen-enhancing microbes) and (rapid-growth trees). Patrick discussed how reading changed his life. There was also a 1980 TV Series by Sagan called and an in 2014 by Neil deGrasse Tyson. Patrick discusses how outside cities to improve air quality. Patrick recommends reading science fiction, leading Paul to recommend a book he recently read, by Arthur C. Clarke. More about Patrick Torbey Patrick Torbey is the co-founder and CEO of Neoplants, a Paris-based synthetic biology startup, engineering plants’ genomes and microbiomes to have a positive impact on the air we breathe. Patrick has a PhD in genetic editing from ENS Paris, his expertise spans molecular biology, biotechnology, and entrepreneurship. He drove Neoplants R&D efforts for many years as CTO, and is now leading the company. Patrick is passionate about taking the “fi” out of “sci-fi.” He is fascinated by the potential of deep technologies to change the world for the better, and convinced that we need more and better GMOs to face the challenges of today in a sustainable way. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/35489020

Helping Alt-Protein Startups Survive the Winter: Ahimsa’s Consolidation Approach 02/15/2025

Helping Alt-Protein Startups Survive the Winter: Ahimsa’s Consolidation Approach It’s no secret that the alternative protein startups are struggling these days. A combination of lower revenue, intense competition, and less available venture capital is leading to a contraction in the sector, with countless alt-meat and dairy companies conducting layoffs, declaring bankruptcy, and even folding altogether. Enter , a newly formed investment group acquiring promising but distressed plant-based brands. This isn’t charity, though. Ahimsa's belief is that, with their consolidation strategy and pooled resources, these brands that are built on a strong underlying product can become profitable under the Ahimsa umbrella. As Ahimsa CEO says in this conversation, pendulums swing, and many of these companies can be brought to profitability, meaning they could ultimately be sold at a much higher price than their valuation during this period in which plant-based products are in the valley. So far the company has acquired , , , an Ohio plant-based foods , and more. Matt is a man of many talents, as you’ll hear in this episode. In addition to being CEO of Ahimsa Companies, he founded and sold his own education tech company, and is also the co-founder and CEO of , the parent company of supplement company and of . He’s both a missionary for plant-based lifestyles and a mercenary seeking to combine his passion for plant-based foods with profit. Discussed in this episode Ahimsa Companies is for plant-based startups to acquire. an analysis of their strategy and history. in which he describes Ahimsa’s goal by declaring that “we’ve got to step up and try to help these companies survive.” about Ahimsa’s acquisition of the Plant Plant in Ohio. Both Paul and Matt are interested in human-nonhuman communication, something Noa Weiss discussed on a . Matt recommends reading both and . Matt also recommends Paul Graham’s essay, . More about Matt Tullman Matt is the co-founder and Group CEO of the – a private equity firm acquiring and operating best-in-class plant-based food and manufacturing companies. He is also the co-founder and CEO of Outlier Health, the parent company of and , which have served nearly 13 million people just in the past three years. He’s also an investor in health/food/bev startups, and a contributor to Inc. Magazine. Previously Matt founded a ed-tech firm that was ultimately acquired by Stride Education (NYSE: LRN). Matt is most proud of bootstrapping a business that was named to the Inc. 500 list of fastest growing companies in 2021. He has dedicated his career to growing nutrition-first health companies to help catalyze the movement to a plant-based lifestyle for the mainstream consumer. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/35290760

Subtracting the Bean from Coffee: The Minus Story 02/01/2025

Subtracting the Bean from Coffee: The Minus Story Did you know that it takes 140 liters of water to make a single cup of coffee? Turns out that coffee, as far as plant crops are concerned, has a fairly heavy footprint on the planet. And it’s getting harder to farm, with climate change altering where and how many coffee beans can even be grown. You’ve heard of making meat without chickens, and milk without cows. Well, you can also now get coffee without beans. This episode’s guest is the CEO of , a startup reimagining how you enjoy your daily brew. Minus has developed an innovative way to replicate the rich flavor, aroma, and experience of coffee without using coffee beans at all. Minus’ beanless coffee emits 86% less carbon than traditional coffee, uses 94% less water and utilizes 92% less land. Made from upcycled ingredients like date seeds and grape seeds, this alt-coffee is primarily marketed to women for reasons you’ll hear from CEO Maricel Saenz. The traditional coffee industry is rife with challenges, from deforestation and water-intensive farming practices to the instability of supply chains caused by climate change. Minus aims to address these issues head-on with a sustainable, scalable alternative that delivers the same satisfying experience without the environmental baggage. We’ll explore the science behind beanless coffee, the startup’s journey from concept to reality, and the potential impact of this bold innovation on coffee lovers and the planet. Whether you’re a caffeine connoisseur or just curious about how cutting-edge food tech is reshaping our world, this conversation is one you won’t want to miss. Discussed in this episode You can buy Minus coffee . Maricel recommends the Y Combinator . Maricel also recommends reading . Our past episodes on and . More about Maricel Saenz Maricel Saenz is a Costa Rican entrepreneur living in California with a strong passion for sustainability and innovation. She is the founder and CEO of Compound Foods, a food-tech startup that aims to reduce supply chains and food waste while creating sustainable and valuable products through fermentation. The company's first product, Minus, uses a beanless approach to reduce the negative environmental impact of coffee production and ensure a sustainable supply for the future. Maricel holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of British Columbia and attended Singularity University's Global Solutions Program in 2017. She has a diverse background, having previously co-founded Nextbiotics, a synthetic biology startup that addressed antibiotic resistance. She has also worked in international development in South Africa and Cambodia, empowering women and working with local entrepreneurs. Maricel has also worked with Monitor Deloitte in corporate strategy and innovation consultancies.In recognition of her accomplishments and innovative thinking, Maricel was named on the 2022 Forbes' 30 under 30 list. Her work in sustainability and food-tech is making a positive impact on the planet and inspiring others to think creatively about how to reduce waste and create sustainable solutions. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/35105645

Can a Problem as Big as Climate Be Solved by a Solution as Small as a Microbe? 01/15/2025

Can a Problem as Big as Climate Be Solved by a Solution as Small as a Microbe? In this episode we’re diving deep into the fascinating world of carbon recycling with a trailblazer who’s reshaping how we think about waste and sustainability. Our guest is Dr. Jennifer Holmgren, CEO of —a company on a mission to transform our biggest environmental challenge into an economic opportunity. LanzaTech is pioneering a process that takes industrial emissions—the kind of harmful gases that typically contribute to climate change—and recycles them into valuable products like fuels, fabrics, and everyday consumer goods. The concept might sound like science fiction, but it’s already science fact. LanzaTech’s technology captures carbon emissions from sources like steel mills, refineries, and even municipal solid waste, then feeds those emissions to specially engineered microbes. These microbes act like tiny factories, converting carbon pollution into useful materials. Imagine jet fuel made from industrial waste or yoga pants created from captured carbon—it’s not just possible; it’s happening. In fact, at the very end of 2024, LanzaTech received a holiday gift from the federal government: a $200 million award from the Dept. of Energy. In this episode, Jennifer and I discuss the path LanzaTech took, including raising $400 million and taking 13 years prior to commercializing its first product. We also touch on her personal journey from her birth in Colombia to her taking the helm at LanzaTech. As you’ll hear, this isn’t just about reducing emissions; it’s about completely rethinking the role of waste in our economy. LanzaTech’s vision is one where carbon is no longer a liability but an asset—a resource that can be reused and recycled, over and over again. It’s a powerful example of how businesses can align profitability with purpose, and it’s precisely the kind of story that inspires hope in these challenging times. So, whether you’re an entrepreneur, an environmentalist, or just someone curious about the future of our planet, this is a conversation you won’t want to miss. Discussed in this episode Jennifer recommends reading by Susan Cain. LanzaTech awarded up to in federal cash from the DOE LanzaTech is by Khosla Ventures. More about Jennifer Holmgren, PhD Dr. Jennifer Holmgren is CEO of LanzaTech. Under her guidance, LanzaTech is developing a variety of platform chemicals and fuels, including the world’s first alternative jet fuel derived from industrial waste gases. Given her integral role in the development of this alternative jet fuel, she is also a Director and the Chair of the LanzaJet Board of Directors. Prior to LanzaTech, Jennifer was VP and General Manager of the Renewable Energy and Chemicals business unit at UOP LLC, a Honeywell Company. While at UOP, she was a key driver of UOP’s leadership in low carbon aviation biofuels, and under her management, UOP technology became instrumental in producing nearly all the initial fuels used by commercial airlines and the military for testing and certification of alternative aviation fuel. Jennifer is the author or co-author of 50 U.S. patents and more than 30 scientific publications, and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. In 2003, she was the first woman awarded the Malcolm E. Pruitt Award from the Council for Chemical Research (CCR). In 2010, she was the recipient of the Leadership Award from the Civil Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative (CAAFI). In 2015, Jennifer and her team at LanzaTech were awarded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Presidential Green Chemistry Award, and she was awarded the BIO Rosalind Franklin Award for Leadership in Industrial Biotechnology. Jennifer was named as #1 of the 100 most influential leaders in the Bioeconomy in 2017 and received the Global Bioenergy Leadership Award in 2018, and the 2020 William C. Holmberg Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Advanced Bioeconomy. In 2021, she received the Edison Achievement Award and the Prix Voltaire Award. In 2022, she was included in ICIS’s Top 40 Power Players ranking. Jennifer also has an honorary doctorate from Delft University of Technology. Jennifer is on the Governing Council for the Bio Energy Research Institute in India. The institute was set up by the DBT (Department of Biotechnology, Indian Government) and IOC (Indian Oil Corporation). She also sits on the Advisory Council for the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University, the National Academies’ Board on Energy and Environmental Systems (BEES), the External Advisory Committee for the Advanced Energy Technologies Directorate (AET) at Argonne National Laboratory, the Advisory Council for the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), the Halliburton Labs Advisory Board, the Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS International Advisory Council, and the Founder Advisory for The Engine, a venture capital fund built by MIT that invests in early-stage science and engineering companies. Jennifer holds a B.Sc. degree from Harvey Mudd College, a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an MBA from the University of Chicago. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/34825835

From Harvard Business School to Rural Africa: Nicole Poindexter’s Journey to Advance Clean Energy Access 01/01/2025

From Harvard Business School to Rural Africa: Nicole Poindexter’s Journey to Advance Clean Energy Access In this episode we’re taking you on a journey to some of the most remote corners of West Africa, where energy access is scarce, and innovation is changing lives. Our guest is Nicole Poindexter, the founder and CEO of , a company that's bringing clean, reliable solar power to off-grid communities in countries like Sierra Leone, Benin, and Liberia. Nicole and her team are doing something extraordinary: building solar mini-grids that provide electricity to tens of thousands of people who otherwise rely on polluting and expensive energy sources—or have no power at all. And, impressively, Energicity is doing all of this while making a profit, already being an EBITDA-positive company. In our conversation, Nicole shares how she transitioned from a background in finance—after an Ivy League education—to founding Energicity in 2015, driven by her vision to end energy poverty. We dive into how solar mini-grids are more than just a source of light—they’re catalysts for economic growth, education, and health improvements in communities that have often been ignored. Nicole also talks candidly about the challenges of working in rural Africa, from financing to infrastructure to cultural dynamics, and how she tackles these head-on. One part of this conversation that resonated with me and I think will with a lot of founders is when Nicole says she takes to heart the saying: “Those who know how work for those who know why.” So many people see a problem, and because they don’t know how to solve it, they don’t act. Nicole makes it clear that if you surround yourself with smart people of whom you can ask many questions, combining those who know how with those who know why can really lead to transformational results. So, if you’re ready to get inspired by a trailblazer who’s proving that business can indeed be a force for good, stay tuned for this enlightening conversation with Nicole Poindexter. Discussed in this episode Nicole was employed at Opower . on Energicity’s work. Energicity has raised $10 million so far, and is seeking to raise another . Nicole recommends reading and . She also recommends checking out . Our with African clean energy startup I-G3N. More about Nicole Poindexter From starting her career as investment banker, Nicole Poindexter has had a variety of leadership roles in finance, government, and business. Prior to her founding Energicity Corp, she was an early employee at OPower prior to its successful IPO and subsequent sale to Oracle, founding and growing the business development team. In that role, she brought together the skills of an operator and software product development with sensitivity to energy customer needs delivering USD 10’s of millions in revenue for the company. She was inspired to start Energicity Corp both due to her deep seated commitment to developing renewable sources of energy and also her passionate desire to create economic opportunity for some of the world’s poorest people through energy access. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/34602385

From Korea to the US: UNLIMEAT Puts its Signature on the Plant-Based Meat Movement 12/15/2024

From Korea to the US: UNLIMEAT Puts its Signature on the Plant-Based Meat Movement Most plant-based meats in the US have centered around American staples like hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, and sausages. But there’s a world of meat consumption out there, and some of the most popular meat dishes are ones many Americans may have never even tried. In recent years, South Korea has seen great success exporting its culture around the world, with mega-popular K-dramas like and , K-pop like , and yes, K-food like . Now, South Korean plant-based meat player is bringing its twist on K-meat to thousands of US supermarkets. Already, the company’s Korean-style alt-meats have been sold throughout Asia, including at Starbucks, Subway, Domino’s, and more. And since they broke into the US market with a giant in 2022, the company is now making inroads into the American diet. With Korean-themed like bulgogi, pulled pork, and kimbap tuna, the company is betting that Americans will welcome new alt-meat offerings into their homes. In this episode, we talk with UNLIMEAT Co-CEO Ryan Chung, who’s in charge of the American market for the young and growing company. While the brand was started in 2019, they’ve already raised , built a , and are shipping . As you’ll hear, we discuss the challenges plant-based meat is facing these days and what might be done to overcome them, along with predictions for what the meat market may look like in 15 years. It’s a compelling conversation with a leader in the space who’s seeking to change the face of the alt-meat movement as we know it. Discussed in this episode Ryan recommends reading Paul recommends reading , whose author Melissa Schilling is a on this show! Paul’s of Quorn being marketed as essentially price parity with chicken in a London KFC. UNLIMEAT’s with Just Egg UNLIMEAT is available at , , , on , and more. More about Ryan Chung is a Co-CEO at UNLIMEAT, where Ryan also holds the titles of Head of International and Chief Strategy Officer. Ryan previously served as the Chief Operating Officer at BriteBelly and YBRAIN. He also worked at Tesla, handling various aspects of business operations. Ryan has a background in M&A from roles at Samsung NEXT and PwC, encompassing due diligence, post-deal value capture, and divestiture planning. With industry experience in technology, automotive, industrials, aerospace & defense, and consumer sectors, Ryan's expertise in operational strategy, new product development, and strategic analysis is well-rounded. Ryan holds an MBA from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business and a BA in Economics, International Relations, and Business Administration from Boston University. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/34441295

Bringing Clean Energy to African Businesses 12/01/2024

Bringing Clean Energy to African Businesses Imagine trying to run a small business without a constant supply of energy. With electricity intermittency, you may not have access to wifi, a phone, a computer, a way to service your customers and more. One way to solve this problem is to have constant access to fossil fuels to run diesel generators, but this is an expensive and dirty way to operate, creating unsustainable costs for the business and the planet. Enter , a South African company specializing in the design and production of advanced lithium-ion battery storage solutions for residential, commercial, and industrial applications. Their batteries provide reliable, cost-effective energy storage to support renewable energy systems, reduce reliance on unstable grids, and address load-shedding challenges in South Africa. By enabling more effective use of solar and other renewable power sources, I-G3N plays a critical role in promoting energy independence, reducing carbon footprints, and fostering sustainable economic growth in a region where access to consistent power is a pressing need. In this episode, we talk with I-G3N CEO and co-founder Sydney Phakathi about why he started the company, how he’s navigated and funded running a start-up in South Africa—including having him and his co-founders not taking a salary for nearly a year—and what kind of an impact the company’s making today. Discussed in this episode Sydney recommends reading . in pioneering local battery production amidst energy challenges I-G3N R20m investment More on the renewable energy in Africa. More about Sydney Phakathi is the CEO and co-founder of I-G3N, a South African company specializing in lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries for energy storage. With a focus on addressing South Africa's persistent energy challenges, I-G3N provides scalable battery solutions for homes, businesses, and industrial applications. Sydney, alongside his co-founders, has driven the company’s growth from its establishment in 2018 to a critical player in the renewable energy sector, emphasizing local manufacturing to mitigate the reliance on imports. The company has expanded its reach to other African markets, aiming to provide affordable and reliable energy solutions amid widespread power outages. Under his leadership, I-G3N has also championed youth empowerment, employing a predominantly young workforce and offering on-the-job training. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/34187105

One Good Human: Eric Schulze on Cultivated Meat’s Past and Future 11/15/2024

One Good Human: Eric Schulze on Cultivated Meat’s Past and Future Eric Schulze loves the intersection of science and food so much that after many years as an FDA regulator, he decided in 2016 to leave the federal government to join the then-nascent Memphis Meats (now ). He’d go on to spend the next seven years working to advance the cultivated meat pioneer’s science, technology, communications, and ultimate regulatory approval by the agency for which he used to work. Now, Eric’s charting a new path for himself, founding , a consultancy aimed at assisting and even launching biotech startups seeking to bring their new innovations to the world. In this episode, Eric and I discuss the state of the cultivated meat movement today and where it may be heading. This includes the path to commercialization, the obituaries being written for the sector, the statewide sales bans on the product, and comparisons to other technologies. We even discuss our mutual love of sci-fi and give some recommendations to those of you fellow nerds out there. Eric’s a wealth of knowledge on all things alt-protein, so if you want both information and inspiration, listen to what he’s got to say. Discussed in this episode Eric first learned about cultivated meat after the was unveiled in 2016. Our past episodes on this show with and , the latter of whom Eric has jointly launched a new company, . Eric is a big fan of British physicist Eric recommends reading (nonfiction) along with fiction such as , , and . Paul recommends (fiction) and (nonfiction). He also of some 19th century animal protection literature recently. Both Eric and Paul liked the films and . More about Eric Schulze, PhD Eric Schulze, PhD is a professional molecular biologist, genetic engineer, and former federal biotechnology regulator, and most recently is the CEO of , a full-service strategy and design firm. He served as Vice President of Product and Regulation at , where he led both design and development of the company’s meat products as well as its regulatory-, policy-, and government affairs. Before that, he served as a U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulator, handling a portfolio of novel food and drug biotechnology products. As a civil servant, Dr. Schulze also served as a federal STEM education policy capacity within the National Science Foundation and currently works with the National Academy of Sciences on undergraduate STEM education transformation. He holds a doctorate in genetic, cellular, and molecular biology with a specialty in embryonic stem cell engineering and is trained in broadcast communication, speechwriting, and risk assessment. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/33936852

Chocolate without Cocoa Farming: The California Cultured Journey 11/01/2024

Chocolate without Cocoa Farming: The California Cultured Journey We all know chocolate is sweet. The way that it’s made—not so much. From and to and , cocoa farming leaves a lot to be desired. But what if we could make cocoa powder without having to chop down the rainforest and engage in so many other unsavory practices? That’s what is working on now. The Davis, California-based startup has raised $16 million to grow cocoa cells inside of bioreactors and has already produced some pretty tasty chocolate from this process, as I can personally attest. This isn’t their CEO Alan Perlstein’s first shot at growing food inside of bioreactors. As you’ll hear in this episode, Alan was part of the team that a quarter century ago grew the world’s (goldfish cells funded by NASA). He went on to found —now —which grows sweet proteins inside of bioreactors. After running the company for six years, he’s now embarked on a journey to divorce cocoa production from farming the rainforest, and he shares that story here. Can they compete on cost with farmed cocoa? How long before their cocoa makes its way onto the market? Most importantly, does it taste as good as the chocolate we eat today? These are all questions we bite into—and more—in this conversation! Discussed in this episode Our past episodes with the and . Our World in Data greenhouse gas emission showing chocolate similar to beef. Alan endorses starting your company through . California Cultured with Japanese chocolate giant. Cocoa consumption’s . More about Alan Perlstein is a visionary entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in the food technology industry. From his early career in one of the first cell-cultured meat labs to founding California Cultured, Alan has consistently pursued sustainable innovations to solve global food production issues. His passion lies in addressing the environmental and ethical challenges of traditional agriculture by using cutting-edge plant cell culture technology to create real chocolate and coffee without the harmful impacts of deforestation, child labor, and toxic chemicals. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/33649632

Will Pets Be the First European Consumers of Cultivated Meat? Meatly is Betting on It 10/15/2024

Will Pets Be the First European Consumers of Cultivated Meat? Meatly is Betting on It If you follow the world of cultivated meat, you probably know that a few companies have gotten historic regulatory approval and have sold some limited quantities of product both in the US and Singapore. But earlier this year, —a company founded only in 2021 and with just a few million British pounds in their pocket—succeeded in getting regulatory approval to start selling its cultivated chicken meat…in pet food. This was the first-ever European approval for a cultivated meat product, and the first-ever approval for such a product in the pet food space. And as someone with a dog who sadly makes his distaste for plant-based dog food very clear, I can assure you that I’m eager to see if my dog will enjoy Meatly’s debut product. In this episode, I talk with Meatly CEO Owen Ensor about his journey from starting the company to now. We discuss the scale he’s at, the cost structure of his product, the inclusion rates in pet food he anticipates, what stores he plans to sell in at first, how he’ll fund the company, when he thinks cultivated meat may make a dent in total meat demand, and much more. It’s a riveting conversation with someone making headlines across the alt-meat world. Will pet food be the gateway for cultivated meat’s market entrance? You be the judge. Discussed in this episode Owen became vegan after watching . Owen’s showing the timeline to regulatory approval for various cultivated meat companies. Paul’s on pet food’s contribution to total meat demand. is another company growing chicken protein for the pet market. You can see Paul’s dog Eddie enjoying it . Our past episodes with and M. Owen recommends reading . More about Owen Ensor Owen is the Founding CEO of Meatly. Since establishing Meatly in 2021, with only £3.5m in funding, it has become the first company in Europe to get regulatory approval for cultivated meat, developed industry-leading technical processes, and created the world’s first cultivated pet food products. Before establishing Meatly, Owen started his career at the Management Consultancy company Bain and scaled one of the world's first insect protein facilities. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/33457222

Investing in an Animal-Free Food System: Milk & Honey Ventures 10/01/2024

Investing in an Animal-Free Food System: Milk & Honey Ventures Around the time his son was born in 2011, Beni Nofech saw a video that changed his life. After listening to an argument about the need to move away from the view that animals are mere commodities for humanity to use however we like, Beni adopted a vegan diet and soon found himself attending animal movement and alt-protein conferences. From there, he began making angel investments in food tech startups that could help animals, eventually leading him to leave his career in the medical device world to become a full-time venture capitalist in the alt-protein food tech world. Today, Beni runs , an eight-figure investment fund with a mandate to place early-stage bets on Israeli food tech startups that are seeking to displace animals in the food system. He’s backed some of the biggest names in alt-protein, including many companies who’ve been on this podcast before. In this episode, Beni and I discuss the state of alt-protein investing, whether he views the current apparent malaise as permanent or transitory, and what he sees for the future of this important industry. I’ve known Beni since 2016 and can attest that he’s a great guy with important insights from which anyone who cares about building a better food system will benefit. Discussed in this episode Beni was influenced to become vegan after seeing online. Beni helped promote by SuperMeat, to which Paul donated. Beni served on the board of the . Beni recommends: , , , and . Bonus: One of Paul’s . The Good Food Institute’s in the alt-protein sector. Our past episodes with and . Pitch Milk and Honey Ventures at More about Beni is the Founding Managing-Partner of Milk & Honey Ventures - Israel’s leading venture capital fund exclusively dedicated to the Sustainable-Protein industry. He has been a key player in the sector in Israel for over a decade, actively serving as an angel investor, entrepreneur, and advocate for the industry. His experience spans investments in over a dozen startups, including some of the most notable success stories in the global alternative-protein space today. Beni’s passion is the effective acceleration of disruptive Sustainable-Protein technologies /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/33270527

Can Bacteria Make Better Leather than Cows? Polybion Says So 09/15/2024

Can Bacteria Make Better Leather than Cows? Polybion Says So You’ve heard of fruit leather, but what about making leather from fruit? Or more precisely, feeding fruit waste like mango pulp to bacteria which then convert those sugars into a leather-like material that can be useful for all types of purposes? That’s exactly what , a startup in Central Mexico, is doing. Co-founded in 2015 by two brothers with a passion for using biology to save humanity from ourselves—as CEO Axel Gómez-Ortigoza puts it—Polybion has pioneered methods of turning the fruit industry’s trash into what they hope will be their treasure. As you’ll hear in this episode, Polybion has methods for treating fruit waste to make it economic as a feedstock in their fermentation system to grow cellulose into a leather-like material they call Celium. Already the company is eager to put Celium into their menu of offerings. To sustainably feed and clothe ourselves into the future, it’s imperative that we no longer go big with animal agriculture, but instead go small with microbial agriculture. Will Polybion’s cellulose leather be a part of the solution? Time will tell. But for now, enjoy hearing the wild ride this company’s been on from conception to pivoting technologies to getting a product out onto the market. Discussed in this episode You can see photos of Celium . CNN on the between Danish fashion brand Ganni and Polybion. was an inspiration for Polybion’s founders. Ecovative also inspired them, and we did an with them too! offer hope Axel recommends reading and . He also recommends watching the original Carl Sagan from the 1980s. (The with Neil deGrasse Tyson is also great.) was an engineer who served as an inspiration to Axel. More about Axel Gómez-Ortigoza Axel Gómez-Ortigoza was born with an innate fascination for the mysteries of life, the natural world, and the universe, which sparked his lifelong passion for life sciences and finding solutions to complex problems. After completing high school, he decided to carry on the family tradition of engineering that had spanned three generations and pursued a career in bioengineering. With his expertise in Microbiology, Bioinformatics, Cell Culture, Murine Assays, Genetic Engineering, Synthetic Biology, and Origami, Axel became a skilled R&D scientist. At the young age of 22, he and his brother Alexis co-founded Polybion, a New Generation Materials Company, which soon earned Axel a spot as one of MIT Technology Review’s Innovators Under 35. Today, he serves as both CEO and CTO of his company, and his groundbreaking work has led to the development of the world’s first Bacterial Cellulose Biomanufacturing Facility. Axel’s tireless efforts have paved the way for the rapid advancement of bioassembled products, increased sustainability, and a more efficient transition toward a circular economy. He is convinced that the intersection of biology and technology is the key to solving the global health crisis. He envisions a future in which humans and nature can coexist in harmony. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/33048357

Are Chickpeas the Future of Alt-Protein? NuCicer is Working On It 09/01/2024

Are Chickpeas the Future of Alt-Protein? NuCicer is Working On It Alt-meat today is typically made from soybeans, yellow peas, wheat, or some combination of those three crops. But there’s a whole world of plants out there, and maybe some of them can be harnessed to widen the world of ingredients available to manufacturers, perhaps even offering better functionality and flavor. One of the problems though, is that making protein isolates from most beans or lentils can be pretty expensive, since these crops usually aren’t that high in protein to begin with. One reason why soy protein is so much cheaper than pea protein, for example, is that the soybean is typically 30-40 percent protein by dry weight, whereas the yellow pea at best is more like 25 percent. So you need to grow fewer soybeans to get the same amount of protein. With chickpeas, the situation is even worse, as they’re usually more like 20 percent protein. Enter , a startup in Davis, California that has leveraged the power of natural plant diversity to breed a chickpea with 35 percent protein and which they say has superior flavor and functionality compared to pea protein, a common ingredient in alt-meat today, explaining one reason alt-meat is often more expensive than animal meat. They’ve done this by taking today’s commodity chickpea—the only domesticated species within the Cicer genus—and bred it with wild relatives that never made it into the basket of legumes which were domesticated by the humans living in the Middle East thousands of years ago. The result is a chickpea with 75 percent more protein than the typical chickpea, reducing the cost of chickpea protein by about 50 percent. Already, NuCicer is growing its high-protein chickpeas on 1,000 acres across five states and is moving fast to scale up. Does a new world of alt-meats, high-protein hummus, and even chickpea-powered proteinaceous oatmeal await? The father-daughter duo that co-founded NuCicer certainly hopes so. That daughter, Kathryn Cook, serves as CEO and is on the show to tell you all about her journey from her first chapter as an aerospace engineer to now a CEO engineering a better chickpea. Discussed in this episode NuCicer is backed by and . Kathryn’s father the pioneering research at UC-Davis that led to the two co-founding NuCicer. Kathryn recommends the book . Chickpea protein was popularized by , which was acquired by Tate & Lyle in 2022. Rebellyous Foods was also founded by a former Boeing engineer, and we did an on them! More about Kathryn Cook Kathryn Cook is the CEO and co-founder of NuCicer. Kathryn started her career as a materials science engineer developing new raw material formulations and production methods. Shifting into product and program management, Kathryn managed multidisciplinary teams in both aerospace and machine learning technologies for natural language processing. Driven by the mission of enabling a more resilient, nutritious food system for our rapidly expanding population, Kathryn launched her career in food and agriculture. She is passionate about the urgent need to leverage breeding and biodiversity to improve our crop varieties and enable more delicious, nutritious ingredients. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/32847962

Better than the Reel Thing: How Oshi is Redefining Seafood 08/15/2024

Better than the Reel Thing: How Oshi is Redefining Seafood Seafood consumption is going up around the world, , with salmon being the fish species Americans . (The only seafood Americans eat more is shrimp, who of course are crustaceans, not fish.) The biggest wave of alt-meat so far has focused on beef replacement like burgers and sausages, given how many consumers already view red meat as bad for their health. But the perception that salmon is a healthy food is widespread, meaning that any effort to entice consumers to switch to alt-salmon will be swimming upstream in ways that alt-beef isn’t. Yet the need for fish-free salmon is as vast as the sea, both for and reasons, but it’s far more difficult to replicate salmon’s texture than ground beef. Enter, , a three-year-old startup that’s raised $14.5 million dollars to date and has invented new machinery to essentially build a fish-free salmon filet layer by layer. In this episode, Oshi CEO Ofek Ron talks about his journey from being an animal advocate working at a nonprofit vegan advocacy organization to taking the leap to start his own alt-protein company. As you’ll hear, at first he really had no idea how he’d remake salmon, yet still assembled a team of technical co-founders inspired by his desire and they have raised money based on their skills and not the idea. Since then, they’ve invented new technology, released various iterations of their salmon filet, and now have entered . For full disclosure, my own company, , works with Oshi, but I can assure you that my admiration for the company predates that partnership and the decision to bring Ofek on this episode is also independent of it. So, will Oshi help turn the tides for our oceans and their finned inhabitants? Time will tell. But Oshi is certainly riding a wave right now that’s taking them from across the Mediterranean to the shores of the US. Discussed in this episode Ofek was influenced to become vegan after seeing online. Ofek is a founding board member at the nonprofit . He met his cofounders via the and the . You can see a photo of the Oshi salmon filet . Paul loves . More about Ofek Ron: Ofek is the co-founder and CEO of Oshi, a leading company in the plant-based seafood industry, where they have been at the helm for 3.5 years. Before Oshi, Ofek served as a founding board member and Vice President at Vegan-Friendly, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting veganism and animal rights. Prior to that, they were the CEO of Software Sources, a role that followed their entrepreneurial venture as the co-founder and CEO of Buzz Production, an event production company. Ofek holds a BA in Economics and Business from Reichman University in Israel. A dedicated vegan for 13 years, Ofek has been an active advocate for animal rights, notably co-hosting the largest animal rights protest in Tel Aviv in 2017. Outside of professional and advocacy work, Ofek is a proud parent of two and is married. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/32569262

Turning the Tide on Fossil Fuels: Is Eco Wave Power the Future of Clean Energy? 08/01/2024

Turning the Tide on Fossil Fuels: Is Eco Wave Power the Future of Clean Energy? Not everyone gets a second chance of life. But Inna Braverman got just that, and is using her second chance to try to solve one of humanity’s most pressing problems. Born in Chernobyl, Ukraine, Inna was only two weeks old when the nuclear disaster nearly took her life. When her mom found Inna blue and unresponsive from the pollution spewed from the damaged reactor, she used her nursing skills to revive her baby and miraculously keep her alive long enough for paramedics to arrive. A few years later, the Bravermans moved to Israel, where Inna would grow up to be a translator at an energy company in her early 20s. But as she learned more about the failed efforts to capture the energy of ocean waves, she wondered if there was a better way. This wondering led Inna to found her own company and start making some waves of her own. In this episode, we dive into the world of renewable energy with a focus on the innovative efforts of , an Israeli startup seeking to revolutionize clean energy production. Founded by Inna when she was 24, Eco Wave Power is harnessing the energy of ocean waves to generate sustainable electricity from onshore locations. Now at 37, Braverman has led the company to the forefront of the renewable energy sector. Eco Wave Power's cutting-edge technology captures and converts the natural motion of waves into usable electricity, offering a viable and environmentally friendly alternative to traditional fossil fuels. Unlike many offshore wave energy systems, Eco Wave Power's approach involves attaching their wave energy converters to existing human-made structures, such as breakwaters and piers. This onshore method simplifies maintenance and reduces costs while maximizing energy output. Already, the company has installations at several locations, including one at the Port of Los Angeles. Eco Wave Power went public in the US in 2021 with an IPO on the NASDAQ (symbol: ) and hasn’t had to raise additional money since. Throughout this episode, we’ll explore Inna’s journey from company inception to its current status as a pioneering force in the renewable energy industry. Eco Wave Power is not only contributing to the global shift towards sustainable energy but also demonstrating the potential of young entrepreneurs to make an impact on our planet's future. Discussed in this episode To view a photo of an Eco Wave Power installation, see . The on Eco Wave Power’s work. Inna recommends Sheryl Sandberg’s and . profile on Eco Wave Power in 2024. wave energy works and onshore may be more promising. The of Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba. Why nuclear power is than using fossil fuels. More about Inna Braverman Technology entrepreneur, Inna Braverman founded Eco Wave Power in 2011, at the age of 24, and was recently chosen as one of the 100 most influential individuals in the world by (along with Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and others). Under her leadership, Eco Wave Power installed the first grid connected wave energy array in Gibraltar. She is also responsible for securing the significant projects pipeline for the company. For Inna, clean electricity is a very personal journey, as she was born two weeks before the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster and suffered respiratory arrest due to the pollution in the region. She got a second chance in life and decided to devote it to mitigating pollution. Inna has given three TEDx speeches and her personal journey as a female entrepreneur was documented in a virtual reality film by Google, under the name “Female Planet”. She was also featured in Sanjay Gupta’s “Tomorrow’s Hero” in CNN for her impressive work in the wave energy field. Some of her notable awards include: “100 Makers and Mavericks” by Medium.com Wired’s list of “Females Changing the World.” “Eight young innovators with ingenious ideas for the future of energy” by Smithsonian Magazine The “30 most influential women in the world” by MSN.com /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/32323462

From Home-Made Smoothies to $200 million in Revenue: Daily Harvest’s Journey 07/15/2024

From Home-Made Smoothies to $200 million in Revenue: Daily Harvest’s Journey Imagine thinking it would be a good idea to try to help people eat more fruits and vegetables, so you start making whole foods smoothies for your friends and family. Soon you’re selling them to more people than you personally know. Next thing you know, you’re running an all-vegan frozen meal company with hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, a billion dollar-plus valuation, and hundreds of thousands of customers all enjoying your whole foods plant-based meals. That’s the true story of , founder of , whose success with the company landed her on of America’s Wealthiest Self-Made Women. But it wasn’t all success along the way. Two years ago, after the company had achieved its unicorn status, tragedy struck. Dozens of people were sickened by one of their products, and it wasn’t clear why. Some people were even hospitalized. In addition to the serious suffering of some of its customers, the crisis captivated national headlines, threatening to put an end to the Daily Harvest story after so much growth and success. Eventually, the root cause of the problem was found: A little-known ingredient called tara flour (not to be confused with taro flour) caused a seemingly allergic reaction in a small number of people—and policies were put in place to prevent a recurrence. Yet, the story didn’t end there. In the two years since the tragedy, Daily Harvest has since branched out away from just direct-to-consumer sales and is now in thousands of supermarkets too, making it easier than ever for consumers to choose healthy plant-based meals. And as you’ll hear in this conversation with Rachel, they’ve even achieved that lucrative land known as profitability. So, how did this all happen, and what’s next for Daily Harvest? Listen to the episode to find out. Discussed in this episode Rachel recommends Brené Brown’s TED Talk—apparently 65 million viewers agree. Daily Harvest is now sold at , , and more. Some Daily Harvest meals are per serving. Rachel landed on of America’s Wealthiest Self-Made Women Our with Doug Evans of Juicero. More about Rachel Drori, Founder of Daily Harvest Rachel Drori is taking care of food, so food can take care of you. As the Founder of Daily Harvest, Rachel and the company are on a mission to improve human and planetary health by making it convenient to eat more sustainably grown, organic fruits and vegetables every day. Since launching the business out of the trunk of her car in 2015, more than 20 million pounds of sustainably grown fruits and vegetables have been delivered to consumers' doorsteps while supporting farmers’ transition to regenerative and organic practices. Drori founded Daily Harvest with just 12 smoothies. The company, now valued at over $1 billion, offers meals and snacks for any time of day. In 2023, the company built on its successful direct-to-consumer business with its launch into national retail. Daily Harvest is now found in the freezer section of grocery stores across the country. Prior to Daily Harvest, Drori spent years honing her skills as a customer-centric marketing executive, leading teams at Gilt Groupe, American Express and Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. She has been named one of Inc.’s "Female Founders 100". Drori graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and earned an MBA from Columbia Business School. She lives in NYC with her husband and two sons. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/32138287

Novel Proteins for Pets: Omni is Helping Animal Lovers Feed Their Pets Fewer Animals 07/01/2024

Novel Proteins for Pets: Omni is Helping Animal Lovers Feed Their Pets Fewer Animals If America’s roughly 180 million meat-loving dogs and cats formed their own nation, they’d reportedly be the in the world. As pet-keeping has in the developed world, so too has demand for all the chickens, fish, pigs, and cows to feed those pets. There’s even been a trend toward human-grade meat in pet food, meaning pet food isn’t simply the meat that would have gone into lower end uses. This is of course a major environmental and animal welfare problem, and it can even be a problem for the pets who are consuming all that meat. As a result, startups are being formed to provide an animal-friendlier way to feed our animal friends. One such company is . Based in Europe, the company was started only a few years ago but has now already sold millions of meals to European dog lovers, and is on track to bring in about £4 million in annual revenue, or about $5 million USD. By using novel, animal-free proteins from plants, yeast, and algae, Omni claims that its pet food has real health benefits for dogs, and is actually preferred by many dogs to the conventional dog food they were previously given. The company has raised a couple million pounds in investor dollars, including even a crowdfunding campaign that generated With so much success in its first nascent years, Omni is aspiring to bring to the world the first-ever by partnering with cultivated meat startup , which it claims it intends to do within 2024. Already, the company has for its cat food made with chicken cells grown chicken-free. In this conversation with Omni CEO Dr. Guy Sandelowsky, we talk about everything from who the audience is for animal-free pet food, why non-vegetarians would choose to feed their pets vegetarian, what the future may hold, and more. Discussed in this episode Omni went through the . Omni’s (future) ! Our past episodes with (cultivated meat) and (plant-based dog food). Guy recommends reading . Paul’s on the rising meat demand from pet-keeping. More about Dr. Guy Sandelowsky Dr. Guy Sandelowsky, co-founder and CEO of Omni Pet Food, is a veterinary surgeon with over 10 years clinical experience and an MBA from Imperial Business School. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/31953872

Maisie Ganzler Dishes on When and How Corporate Animal Welfare Policies Work 06/15/2024

Maisie Ganzler Dishes on When and How Corporate Animal Welfare Policies Work has never worked at an animal welfare charity nor an alt-protein company. Yet she’s in the upper echelon of effectiveness when it comes to reducing the suffering of farmed animals. That’s because she’s served as an executive of a national food management company supplying 1,000 schools and corporate dining facilities, , for decades. In her career, Maisie pioneered some of the first-ever corporate policies to require suppliers to stop using battery cages for laying hens and gestation crates for breeding pigs, meat reduction policies, and a whole host of other important animal welfare and sustainability initiatives. When Bon Appetit would implement a policy like those mentioned, it was often seen as leading edge at the time, yet eventually would become the norm among food service companies. For example, Bon Appetit’s 2005 cage-free egg policy would come to be adopted by McDonald’s a decade later. Maisie even ran for McDonald’s board of directors, backed by billionaire , a campaign she writes that the fast food company spent $16 million to defeat. While she didn’t make it onto McDonald’s board, Maisie does sit on the board of directors of an alt-protein company called , whose CEO Lisa Dyson has been a before! So it was with great pleasure that I learned that Maisie has come out with her first book, which is part autobiography and part guide for others on how to create meaningful change in our food and agricultural system. The book, which just recently came out, is called . I read it and found it both informational, inspirational, and entertaining. What more could you want? Well, maybe you’d want to hear Maisie’s story straight from her rather than from me, so enjoy this conversation with a true pioneer for animals, farm workers, and everyone who wants to build a better food system. Discussed in this episode worked with Maisie on many animal welfare policies, and now runs . was a student who in 2005 helped catalyze Bon Appetit’s cage-free policy, and who now is an executive in the plant-based food industry. Maisie discusses the difficulties implementing the , leading Compassion in World Farming to for compliance. You can read more in CIWF’s 2023 . Maisie recommends reading and the . Our with author Robert Paarlberg. Walker Hayes’ song has 146 million YouTube views, so it’s not just Maisie and Paul who like it. More about Maisie Ganzler Maisie Ganzler is the go-to expert on how companies can make positive change in supply chains and other entrenched systems. She’s been interviewed by leading media outlets including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NPR, Fast Company, and Bloomberg, spoken at conferences around the world, written thought leadership pieces for Forbes, Huffington Post, and the San Francisco Chronicle and is frequently called upon for strategic counsel by start-ups and big business alike. As Chief Strategy & Brand Officer for Bon Appetit Management Company, a $1.7 billion onsite restaurant company with 1,000-plus cafés at corporations, universities, and cultural institutions in 33 states serving more than 250 million meals per year, Maisie tackled local purchasing, antibiotics in meat production, sustainable seafood, humane care of farm animals, climate change, farmworkers’ rights, and food waste, positioning the company as the foodservice industry’s undisputed leader in sustainable purchasing and holistic wellness. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/31740672

Which Came First: The Chicken or the Potato? 06/01/2024

Which Came First: The Chicken or the Potato? Many listeners of this show will be familiar with precision fermentation, or turning microbes into factories to produce proteins like those proteins that have historically been produced inside of chickens and cows. Think of companies whose founders we’ve had on, like and . But, what if instead of using microbes as protein factories—and all the associated costs of bioreactors and other capex—you could simply turn plants into protein factories, and make actual animal proteins inside of the plants, which can then be extracted and sold? That’s exactly what Israeli startup is doing inside of potatoes. Their first protein: Ovalbumin, or the protein that makes up most of the egg white’s protein content. If you pay attention to ingredient decks on food packaging, you’ve probably noticed that albumin is an ingredient in , often serving to help color and texturize foods, as well as serving as a high-quality source of protein. In fact, the global egg albumin market is valued at billions of dollars, with some estimates around and others as much as . Founded in 2022, PoLoPo has already raised a couple million US dollars to scramble that market with real egg proteins grown inside of potatoes. Since the process is totally animal-free, it should go over easy as a vegan ingredient, but since it’s an actual egg protein, those with egg allergies will still want to avoid cracking open a food with PoLoPo’s Ovalbumin. In this episode, PoLoPo CEO Maya Sapir-Mir and I chat about her work as a plant biologist, how she teamed up with a vegan scientist to co-found this company, her passion for using bioengineering to help save the planet, and of course, how she plans to use the humble potato to displace some of the need for chickens in our food industry. Discussed in this episode 2022 Food Navigator on PoLoPo’s technology. Our past episodes with and . As well, Paul recommends reading , whose author we did with too. Fellow molecular farming startup Moolec from the USDA for its soybeans that contain pig proteins. More about Maya Sapir-Mir Maya Sapir-Mir is CEO and co-founder of PoLoPo, a molecular farming pioneer producing proteins directly in common crops, beginning with egg protein (ovalbumin) grown in potatoes. She has nearly ten years of experience in the biotech industry and agricultural R&D, including senior management at a small cannabis industry startup. In addition to leading R&D on plants with commercial and medical applications, she managed collaborations with partners and customers. She holds a PhD in plant sciences and an MSc in plant genetics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and a BSc in biochemistry from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. She performed post-doctoral work at the Volcani Institute, Israel’s leading agricultural R&D facility, creating a new area of research for the organization in Protein Identification, Extraction, and Characterization in plants and microorganisms. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/31504722

Premature Obituaries? Bruce Friedrich’s Optimism for Cultivated Meat 05/17/2024

Premature Obituaries? Bruce Friedrich’s Optimism for Cultivated Meat Upon reading his obituary, Mark Twain reportedly wrote that “the reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.” Whether Twain actually wrote this or not, the reality remains that today the reports of the death of cultivated meat are indeed quite real. Yet Bruce Friedrich, the president of the , is here to tell you that he believes such reports are not based on science and are indeed greatly exaggerated. Few people have done more to inspire others to pursue alternative protein—including cultivated meat—as a strategy to ameliorate world problems than Bruce. I’ve known Bruce since 1996, and one thing that’s remained constant during the past three decades is that Bruce’s commitment to reducing suffering on the planet is simply enormous. Whether in his role as part of the nonprofit animal advocacy world or the crusade he’s been on since co-founding GFI in 2016 to render alternative proteins no longer alternative, Bruce’s lodestar has always been: how can he do as much good as possible during his limited time on the planet? In this conversation, Bruce and I focus on the state of the plant-based and cultivated meat industries today, why he believes the critics are misguided, whether China will lead this race, how to respond to the new cultivated meat bans like those newly passed in Florida and Alabama, and critically: what it will take for alt-protein to no longer be alt. Discussed in this episode This episode is the 10th in our ten-part podcast series on cultivated meat. The previous nine episodes include , , , , , , , , and . Dr. Elliot Swartz’s presentation: . . GFI’s numerous additional resources, including , , , and . You can sign up to receive GFI’s many newsletters and to be alerted to their many webinars and other events and resources at . Bruce cites numerous laws, including (we tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run), (for every cumulative doubling of units produced, costs will fall by a constant percentage), and even Newton’s Third Law (for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction). Good Meat is cultivated chicken at a butchery in Singapore. China’s for the future of meat. The cultivated meat documentary . Bruce recommends Hannah Ritchie’s book, . You can see Paul’s review of it . Ezra Klein’s 2021 NY Times column, . Bruce’s 2019 . The Center for Strategic and International Studies’ report: . Our past episodes with and . An upcoming episode with Israel’s albumin producer ! More about Bruce Friedrich Bruce Friedrich is founder & president of , a global network of nonprofit science-focused think tanks, with more than 220 full-time team members across affiliates in the U.S., India, Israel, Brazil, Singapore, and Europe (UK, Germany, & EC). GFI works on alternative protein policy, science, and corporate engagement - to accelerate the production of plant-based and cultivated meat in order to bolster the global protein supply while protecting our environment, promoting global health, and preventing food insecurity. Friedrich is a TED Fellow, Y Combinator alum, 2021 "American Food Hero" (EatingWell Magazine), and popular speaker on food innovation. He has penned op-eds for the Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, USA Today, the Los Angeles Times, Nature Food, Wired, and many other publications. He has represented GFI on the TED Radio Hour, New Yorker Radio Hour, the Ezra Klein Show, Making Sense (Sam Harris), and a variety of other podcasts and TV programs. Bruce's 2019 TED talk has been viewed more than 2.4 million times and translated into 30 languages. Friedrich graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown Law and also holds degrees from Johns Hopkins University and the London School of Economics. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/31345207

Defying the Odds: Orbillion Bio Raising Capital for Cultivated Meat in 2024 05/10/2024

Defying the Odds: Orbillion Bio Raising Capital for Cultivated Meat in 2024 If you follow the cultivated meat sector, you know that the last couple years have been tough. Some companies have gone under, others have gone into hibernation, and others have shed staff in cash-conserving layoffs. Major publications have published opinion column obituaries for this industry, yet the work goes on. Part of that work is that of , a B2B cultivated meat company which successfully , surely a Herculean feat. Having now brought in $15 million, while the Orbillion technology is complex, the business model is simple: grow high-quality wagyu beef cells and then sell those cells to others who will create finished goods with them. In this conversation, Orbillion CEO and I chat about what makes them different from other cultivated meat startups, her work as a plant and fungal biologist prior to her career in mammalian cell culture, what she thinks are the best ways to scale, why she thinks she was successful in fundraising during a funding famine, and more. Discussed in this episode Patricia is a fan of books. Patricia co-founded . Orbillion went through the accelerator program Patricia and Paul both recommend Hannah Ritchie book, . You can see Paul’s review of it . on Orbillion Bio. More about Patricia Bubner, PhD Patricia Bubner is a PhD scientist and engineer focused on commercializing cultivated beef. She is the co-founder and CEO of Orbillion Bio, Inc. with the mission to make sustainable, nutritious, and flavorful cultivated meat at price parity. Patricia grew up in Graz, Austria, surrounded by an abundance of local and regional foods. With farmers as grandparents, she learned early where food comes from and the hard work that goes into producing it. Her deep interest in food — and the molecular basis of food — led her to study chemistry. Patricia holds an MSc in Technical Chemistry and a PhD in Biotechnology from Graz University of Technology in Austria, and she conducted her postdoctoral research at the Energy Biosciences Institute at UC Berkeley. During that time, she also pursued her conviction of a more sustainable food system as a co-founder of the agriculture and food systems initiative, The Millet Project. Prior to Orbillion, Patricia advised several technology companies and led the Analytics and QC teams at biopharma startups. During her time with the Bioprocess Science team at Boehringer Ingelheim (BI), she built and led a team dedicated to scaling bioprocess development for mammalian cells — the very systems required to commercialize cultivated meat. At BI, Patricia met and worked hand-in-hand with Orbillion co-founder, Samet Yildirim, on a novel bioprocessing technology now commercialized by Pfizer. Combining her experience in the biopharma, food, and sustainable materials industries, Patricia co-founded Orbillion Bio, Inc. Orbillion is a B2B cultivated meat technology company that brings commercially viable meat to the ever-growing $211B global ground beef market. Orbillion has developed a game-changing algorithm for the scale-up of cultivated meat that makes commercializing low-cost cultivated beef possible. Orbillion has raised $15M and is backed by The Venture Collective, Y Combinator, At One Ventures, Venture Souq, and Metaplanet among others. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/31220967

The Past, Present, and Future of Cultivated Meat with UPSIDE Foods’ Uma Valeti 05/03/2024

The Past, Present, and Future of Cultivated Meat with UPSIDE Foods’ Uma Valeti No cultivated meat company has raised more capital than UPSIDE Foods. In 2022, after having already raised about $200 million in previous rounds, the company raised another with a company valuation north of the coveted $1 billion unicorn status. No company in the space has garnered more media attention, both positive and critical, than UPSIDE Foods. No company has as much volume of cultivation capacity as UPSIDE Foods. No company is as old as UPSIDE Foods, as it was the first startup formed to take this technology out of academia and work to commercialize real meat grown slaughter-free. It’s also one of the few companies in the world to have been granted regulatory approval to actually sell cultivated meat, which it did in the US. So it was only fitting that this conversation with UPSIDE CEO Uma Valeti take place in person inside the beating heart of UPSIDE’s EPIC (Cultivated Meat Engineering, Production, and Innovation Center) cultivated meat pilot facility in Emeryville, California. I often say that I’m Uma Valeti’s first biographer, since I profile him in Clean Meat, but I certainly won’t be his last biographer, regardless of whether he succeeds or fails. And the last time I visited UPSIDE Foods, in 2017, when the company was still called Memphis Meats, and I got to enjoy their cultivated duck. At that time, they had only a handful of employees. Now, as 230 UPSIDE employees worked away in the dramatically nicer building that houses EPIC, I first got to enjoy four different cultivated chicken dishes. I tried both chicken that was FDA-approved and grown in smaller cultivators, and chicken that was yet to be FDA-approved, which was grown in 2,000-liter cultivators. Spoiler: they all tasted great, and were easily discerned from most plant-based chicken in scent, flavor, and texture. After the tasting, Uma and I sat down for this frank conversation in which we discussed UPSIDE’s past, present, and future. That includes details about the scale and capability at which they currently sit, why they for their vaunted in Illinois, what expansions they’re planning on making at EPIC in California, what Uma thinks about the obituaries some journalists are writing for the cultivated meat industry, when he thinks cultivated meat will reach 1 percent market share in the total meat market, and much more. In this conversation, you’ll hear Uma elaborate on how the technology has gone from being decried as impossible to now possible, and what remains to be seen is whether it will now go from possible to inevitable. It’s a fascinating and revelatory conversation with a man who has served in many ways as a face for the cultivated meat movement for many years, even prior to founding this company. Discussed in this episode This episode is the eighth in our multi-part podcast series on cultivated meat. The previous seven episodes include , , , , , , and . Our with New Harvest founder Jason Matheny. A 2013 Washington Post for electric vehicles. Nine states are now gas cars by 2035, and so are automakers like . Uma and Paul both endorse the work of the . You can see a clip of Paul tasting UPSIDE Foods’ duck in 2017 . Uma is profiled in , which has an updated 2024 paperback edition . Tyson Foods of its investment in Beyond Meat. Paul couldn’t recall the exact name in the live interview, but he was referring to in Russia. More about Uma Valeti Dr. Uma Valeti is the CEO and Founder of UPSIDE Foods. Uma earned a degree in Cardiology from the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) in Pondicherry, India. After residencies at Wayne State and SUNY Buffalo, Uma completed three fellowships at the . He teaches Cardiovascular Medicine at Stanford University. In 2019, Uma was named a “Global Thinker of the Decade” by Foreign Policy magazine. He has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, the Aspen Ideas Festival, and SXSW. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/31081563

Fishing for Progress in Asia: Avant Meats 04/26/2024

Fishing for Progress in Asia: Avant Meats Asia is leading the world when it comes to semiconductors, solar panels, wind turbines, and other technologies critical for the future. In a time when several US states are the sale of cultivated meat, Asia seems to be leaning into the technology, and one of the most mature companies in the space there is . Founded in Hong Kong in 2018 and having raised about to date, Avant Meats is focused on making a dent in Asian seafood demand. In this episode, Avant founder and CEO Carrie Chan discusses why her focus is seafood, what scale she’s at and where she hopes to soon go, and how long she thinks it will be before cultivated fish might reach one percent market share in Asia. As you’ll hear in this conversation, Avant Meats is already animal component-free in its feedstock for its fish cells, and it’s cultivating inside a 250L bioreactor to generate the material for its public tastings. Now headquartered in Singapore, the company intends to grow there and eventually branch throughout Asia, a project for which it’s . Discussed in this episode This episode is the seventh in our multi-part podcast series on cultivated meat. The previous six episodes include , , , , , and . China alone consumers of seafood annually. Carrie points to how China the small fishing village of Shenzhen into a metropolis, and what relevance this has for cultivated meat scaling. More about Carrie Chan Carrie Chan is the co-founder and CEO of Avant Meats. She’s a seasoned business executive with a passion for the environment, particularly the impact of our food supply on the planet. With experiences in strategy and general management, she also managed major greenfield Capex projects from conception to revenue-generating operations. She is a Bloomberg New Economy Catalyst 2022 and holds an MBA from INSEAD. Carrie co-founded Avant with Dr Mario Chin in 2018 in Hong Kong, the first cultivated fish company in Asia, and expanded to Singapore in 2021. Avant’s technology offers a system to produce nutritious, tasty fish and functional proteins directly from fish cells at economically viable costs. The group’s end-to-end technology platform also allows continuous new product development from scratch to production. Avant aims to be a global leader in producing traceable and sustainably cultivated proteins in a fully contained environment for food, skincare, and functional applications. Avant now has a presence in Singapore and Greater China. Avant has also been awarded Technology Pioneer and Global Innovator by the World Economic Forum and featured in Reuters, Financial Times, TIME, Forbes, The Telegraph, South China Morning Post, and CCTV. For more information, please visit www.avantmeats.com. At Avant, Carrie provides the vision, guides the strategy and supervises the implementation. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/30975268

Fishing for High-Margins in Cultivated Seafood: BlueNalu’s Path to Scale 04/19/2024

Fishing for High-Margins in Cultivated Seafood: BlueNalu’s Path to Scale BlueNalu is one of the better-funded companies when it comes to cultivated meat. Having raised more than $100 million, including about $35 million toward the end of 2023—a notoriously difficult time to fundraise—their founder and CEO Lou Cooperhouse is optimistic about their path to success. But as you’ll hear in this episode, Lou isn’t working to compete against the commodity meats like chicken, pork, and beef. Rather, he’s pursuing a strategy to compete against products that are exponentially higher-cost, like bluefin tuna, which can often sell for more than $100 a pound. In this conversation, Lou lays out his vision for a future BlueNalu factory with multiple 100,000 liter cultivators churning out some of the priciest oceanic delicacies. And because of this high price point, Lou thinks that his economic model is among the most attractive out there. We also talk about BlueNalu’s collaborations in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and US, and what he thinks the biggest barriers to success are, and more. Discussed in this episode This episode is the sixth in our multi-part podcast series on cultivated meat. The previous five episodes include , , , , and . BlueNalu’s recent fundraise. Lou recommends reading and Lou was a guest on the show more than four years ago in ! Lou is affiliated with the . More about Lou Cooperhouse Lou Cooperhouse is recognized as a leading global authority in food business innovation and technology commercialization, with extensive leadership experiences throughout his 40-year career in the food industry. He is a results-driven professional, and has led cross-functional teams in a wide array of industry settings that include: multinational corporations, foodservice and retail operations, new business startups, mid-sized and family-run companies, university entrepreneurship and innovation centers, and industry trade associations. With his deep and diverse understanding of the food industry, Lou has spoken at hundreds of conferences throughout his career, specializing in food trends, disruptive technologies, and global best practices in business innovation and incubation. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/30895413

Is the Future of Cultivated Meat in Thailand? Aleph Farms is Betting on It 04/12/2024

Is the Future of Cultivated Meat in Thailand? Aleph Farms is Betting on It When you think about cultivated meat, Thailand isn’t exactly the first country that comes to mind. Sure, you may think about the US, Netherlands, Israel, and Singapore. But the Southeast Asian kingdom is where Israeli cultivated meat juggernaut Aleph Farms recently announced its first commercial factory will be. Having just received Israel’s first regulatory approval to sell cultivated meat—and the world’s first regulatory approval for cultivated beef in particular—Aleph Farms CEO Didier Toubia discusses his company’s rollout strategy with me in this conversation. As you’ll hear, Aleph wants to start by selling limited quantities in Israel within 2024, but the company intends to operate its first plant in Thailand with what Didier calls an “asset light” pilot facility capable of producing 1,000 tons a year. For those of you who aren’t mathletes, that’s about two million pounds of finished cultivated meat product—”finished” meaning finished goods that are a hybrid of animal cells and plant-based ingredients as well. Of course, two million pounds is a vast quantity compared to the volume of cultivated meat that’s been produced thus far, but it’s not even a rounding error in Asia’s meat demand, let alone global meat demand. So how long will it be before Didier thinks the cultivated meat sector will make a real dent in animal meat demand? You can hear his answer in this episode! Despite negative headlines surrounding the space lately, Didier claims he’s more optimistic than ever before about his prospects for success, and that he’s still fighting to have $1 billion in revenue within the next 10 years. You can hear him explain why he thinks that’s realistic in this conversation. Discussed in this episode This episode is the fifth in a multi-part podcast series on cultivated meat. The previous four episodes include , , , and . We discussed Aleph Farms and the impact of the 10/7 Hamas massacre in Israel in our with Kitchen CEO Jonathan Berger. Aleph Farms’ recent to move to set up shop in Thailand, partnering with . Didier attended The Better Meat Co.’s . The global meat market is worth about . Didier’s recent explaining his regret about cultivated meat timeline predictions. More about Didier Toubia Didier Toubia is the Co-Founder and CEO of Aleph Farms. He’s a Food Engineer and Biologist who led two medical device companies and co-invented over 40 patent families; Co-Founder and CEO of IceCure – went public in 2010, and CEO of NLT Spine – acquired by SeaSpine in 2016. He was trained at AgroSup in Dijon, France, and was awarded with a specialized masters degree from ESCP Business School. Didier holds a joint Executive MBA degree from the Kellogg and Recanati business schools, USA and Israel. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/30772753

Flying Cars or Electric Cars? Isha Datar’s Thoughts on Where Cultivated Meat Tech Stands Today 04/05/2024

Flying Cars or Electric Cars? Isha Datar’s Thoughts on Where Cultivated Meat Tech Stands Today When the New York Times recently ran an declaring the infant fatality of the cultivated meat industry, Isha Datar, CEO of , was quoted as saying of the sector, “this is a bubble that is going to pop.” Given that New Harvest is intended to promote and advance the field, what did Isha mean by this? She expounded on that thought in a asserting that while she disagrees with the columnist’s conclusion that cultivated meat can never become a viable reality, she believes that the sector has been plagued by “exaggerations, lies, and broken promises.” In this episode, Isha and I talk about what she’s referring to, the difference she sees between cellular agriculture via precision fermentation (e.g., and ) and cellular agriculture aimed at producing actual animal meat (e.g., and ), whether cultivated meat is more like flying cars (a far future technology) or electric cars from 15 years ago (not yet ready, but realistically possible), what pathway forward she sees toward actually fulfilling the promise to end the factory farming of animals. Discussed in this episode Isha’s first appearance in 2020 on this show, Our recent episodes in this podcast series on cultivated meat with , , and . New Harvest’s on the recent NY Times opinion column on cultivated meat The EU’s program: Fostering European Cellular Agriculture for Sustainable Transition Solution The Isha recommends reading by Jennifer McCrea More about Isha Datar Isha has been pioneering cellular agriculture since 2009, driven by a passion to see transformative technology create a better world. In 2010, Isha published "Possibilities for an in-vitro meat production system" in Innovative Food Science and Emerging Technologies; thus began her quest to establish the field of cell ag. Isha became Executive Director of New Harvest in 2013. She co-founded Muufri (now Perfect Day) and Clara Foods in 2014, and soon after passed her founding equity to New Harvest in full to establish the first endowment for cell ag research. In 2015 she named the field "cellular agriculture" - officially creating a category for agriculture products produced from cell cultures rather than whole plants or animals. She is a Shuttleworth Foundation Fellow and also served as a Director’s Fellow at the MIT Media Lab. Isha has a BSc. in Cell and Molecular Biology from the University of Alberta and a Masters in Biotechnology from the University of Toronto. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/30673608

Mark Post, A Decade After the First Cultivated Burger 03/29/2024

Mark Post, A Decade After the First Cultivated Burger In 2013, Dr. Mark Post when he debuted the world’s first-ever burger grown from animal cells. Weighing in as a quarter-pounder, the burger carried a price tag of a mere $330,000—all of which was funded by Google co-founder Sergey Brin. A decade later, what does Mark think about the movement and the industry he helped birth? When his burger was debuted, a grand total of zero companies existed to commercialize what would come to be called cultivated meat, no serious investment dollars had flowed into cultivated meat research, yet hopes were high that such meat would be on the market within a decade. In this episode, Mark offers why he thinks his timeline predictions in 2013 were proven too optimistic, what he thinks the biggest hurdles to success were and are, and what inventions still must be made to give cultivated meat a shot at making a dent in the number of animals used for food. Discussed in this episode Mark recommends reading the journal . Paul’s book tells Mark’s tale, and is coming out as an on April 9, 2024! More about Mark Post Dr. Mark Post, MD/PhD, has had several appointments as assistant professor at Utrecht University, Harvard University, as associate professor at Dartmouth college, and as full professor at Eindhoven University of Technology and Maastricht University. He currently holds the chair of the Physiology Department at Maastricht University. He is visiting professor at Harvard, University of Modena and faculty at Singularity University. His main research interest is the engineering of tissues for medical applications and for food. The medical applications focus on the construction of blood vessels that can be used as grafts for coronary artery bypass grafting. Tissue engineering for Food has lead to the development of cultured beef from bovine skeletal muscle stem cells in an effort to transform the traditional meat production through livestock. Dr Post co-authored 165 papers in leading peer-reviewed scientific journals and received during his career over 50 million dollars in funding and awards from different sources including government, charity and industry. He presented the world’s first hamburger from cultured beef in the August 2013 and is working on improvements and scaling up the production of cultured meat. He received the World Technology Award from AAAS/Times/Forbes for invention with the biggest potential for environmental impact. Dr Post is CSO and co-founder of MosaMeat and of Qorium, two companies that aim to commercialize meat and leather applications of tissue engineering. He is CEO of Cell2Tissue, which is a developer of technologies in tissue engineering for consumer and health applications. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/30567453

Are Smaller Cultivators the Answer for Cultivated Meat’s Success? Niya Gupta Thinks So 03/22/2024

Are Smaller Cultivators the Answer for Cultivated Meat’s Success? Niya Gupta Thinks So Some of the companies in the cultivated meat space are betting that massive stainless steel cultivators—think 100,000L to 250,000L—are the path to commercialization. Niya Gupta, CEO of , is thinking smaller. She argues that there may be a more realistic path using a , void of the impellers that agitate the more conventionally used reactors in the sector. Founded in 2018, the company was spun out of , the first-ever cultivated animal product company which is now focused on materials like leather rather than meat. Having raised more than $20M in its first six years, Fork and Good just held its of the animal cells they’re growing, and as you’ll hear in this conversation, it was a real success. Does Niya think that the cultivated meat industry can make up one percent of the conventional meat industry’s volume within the next decade? Listen to her insights in this episode for the answer to that question! Discussed in this episode Niya recommends reading , which she re-reads annually. Paul mentions that a quote from Man’s Search for Meaning was read by the officiant at . That quote follows: “The truth – that Love is the ultimate and highest goal to which man can aspire. Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love.” Niya also recommends reading and . Modern Meadow is profiled in , including the new (2024) paperback edition. More about Niyati Gupta Niya Gupta is the co-founder and CEO of Fork & Good, a cultivated meat company addressing the high costs of the industry with a novel and patented approach in cell culture that produces meat more efficiently than cows and pigs. Niya was also the CEO of Comcrop, a vertical farming startup in Singapore selling greens into major supermarkets. Prior to this she had spent more than 10 years in food and conventional agriculture businesses, including at McKinsey and Syngenta. She holds an MBA and MPAID from Harvard, and an Economics BA from Yale. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/30467053

Business for Good Podcast

TOPICS