What a transformative month! Proud to have presented and connected at some fantastic events, all driving food innovation and a sustainable future for our food systems. Here’s a look back: 1. #publiekseventcrole by Crole Natuurrund and Kansen voor West 2. #festivalvandetoekomst by Provincie Zuid-Holland 3. #foodtechlondon organized by Rethink Events 4. #thenextbite in Rome from EIT Food 5. #dutchdesignweek in Eindhoven, invited by Rabobank 6. #futureofproteinproduction in Amsterdam The Future of Protein Production 7. #KETX@theboat in Amsterdam from The KindEarth.Tech (KET) Foundation Some key take aways: 1. Technology is accelerating fast. There is so much exciting coming in cultivated meat, precision fermentation and hybrid products. Watch out for: Those Vegan Cowboys , NoPalm Ingredients, Mosa Meat, Upstream Foods, FiberFoods 2. Startups are leading the way. Huge respect for that, but it’s impossible to expect these pioneers to take all the risk. The incumbents in the food sector need to jump in early and assign resources to develop new categories (also for their own future). 3. European venture capital is trying hard, but cannot fuel the changemakers. Yes, the capital market is tight, lead-times are long, risks are high (rewards are higher!). Smaller ticket sizes and less favorable conditions are not helping to go after the big bets. Also, don't expect that you can get the societal impact on top of the financial returns. In most cases it’s a tradeoff. 4. Farmers are often forgotten or not involved. RESPECTfarms puts the farmer at the center. And you would not believe how many times we have to justify why we involve these stewards of the land. Most of the pitches from startups start with bashing livestock farming. It’s not us against them; together we need to work on a sustainable and tasty protein mix to feed the ever growing demand for food. And TIFKAP (The Industry Formerly Known as Alternative Protein) can now be referred to as Complementary Protein. 5. Public money is there, but scattered over different regions, programs, timeline and priorities. It's all earmarked for something specific, and execution is handcuffed. When solving the world food problem it should not matter if a consortium member is from another country, or does not completely align with the formulated policy agenda. The worst thing that can happen is that startups change their plans to a mediocre plan to fit in subsidy guidelines and impact suffers from that. We at RESPECTfarms are looking for a special breed of supporters! Reach out to info@respectfarms.com if you believe that: 1. We have a challenge to solve in our food system. 2. Cultivated meat is a piece of the puzzle and we need to accelerate this to market. 3. Farmers are at the foundation the food system and should be involved in the transformation. Read more about how you can donate or sponsor our foundation at: https://lnkd.in/eNJG6EvU
Niels Snoep
1w
Goed bezig Ralf Becks & RESPECTfarms 👏👌🏻 keep pushing
Co-founder at RESPECTfarms
6dAdding One to the list ImpactCity yesterday! Some headlines I notes bold in my notes: 1. Big corporates need to play a portfolio game: sustainabalize their current model, increase demand for plant based (set bold goals to go for 60-40%?) and stimulate new models (pick one and give it a try). 2. Embrace Diversity, in everything, people, products, business models. 3. We need to resolve the whole food problem together with smarter land use. Or as Steve Jobs would have probably positioned it: Farm Different!