The US restaurant industry alone is responsible for more than 11 million tons of food waste each year, or $25 billion worth of food, and Valentine's Day is one of the industry's biggest nights of the year.
Growing in retrofit shipping containers has received significant buzz over the past five to 10 years as produce is grown hyper-locally on a small footprint. But how viable is this form of growing in the long term?
The report discusses three categories of innovation that are primed to improve our food system's sustainability and the roadblocks that are impeding each sector's progress.
European food tech startups are on course to have raised between €750 million to €1 billion in 2018, according to different estimates. That will be around a 40% decline on 2017 funding levels.
The first wave of European food tech companies has mostly focused on building technology and logistics platforms to deliver food to consumers. And while the plethora of new food e-commerce options across the globe has caused investor fatigue and failures, the five leading food delivery companies in Europe are now worth seven times more than their combined investment, an awesome feat, according to Niccolo Manzoni, partner of agrifood tech investment firm Five Seasons Ventures.
With highly skilled talent in many disciplines from animal and plant sciences to land management, the UK has a proven ability to develop and market new technologies.
The fledgling startup industry looks different to other global markets with the vast majority of innovation and investment ($1.7 billion) taking place downstream; but China’s agrifood startup scene has something the US market does not.
According to the report, some $85 million worth of farmland in its first fund — Vital Farmland LP — generated a financial return of 67%, but also $21.4 million in ecosystem service value, which accrues to the surrounding communities and environment.
Working from data collected from a survey of 1490 farmers in January 2018, a new report estimates the US market for farm management software could grow to $1.62 billion.
2017 was a year of extremes in agrifood tech investing. Large deals pushed the total investment volume up to post an encouraging 29% growth, but deal count fell by 17% to 949, with the most dramatic contraction at the crucial seed stage.
Only 3% of growers are currently using robotic harvesting, but there is indeed a constituency for early-stage robotics technology, a recent report reveals.
Plant-based protein startups using technology to create and mass produce their products have traditionally received support from a small but dedicated group of investors, which is increasingly being joined by major food and agriculture players as this trend solidifies.
A small group of farm robotics startups is taking on various farming tasks in the hopes of saving labor, adding efficiency, and improving precision agriculture.
The data used to answer increasing inquiries about the sustainability of large agrifood company supply chains is not keeping up with the pace of demand, leading to figures that are largely theoretical.
A recent report evaluating new innovations in the food system based on potential impact on post-harvest food waste and commercial feasibility reveals what the authors call “high-priority investible innovations.”
Though historical Israeli agritech strengths are in irrigation and water management, and livestock and poultry, smart farming has developed three times faster than other sectors, with 29 new companies forming in the last five years.
In a comprehensive assessment of the potential for automation by McKinsey, agriculture ranked fourth with a 57% potential for automation, behind accommodation and food services (73%), manufacturing (60%), and transportation and warehousing (60%).
Since 2014, insect startups raised $124 million. Of this, $4.2 million went to companies creating consumer products for human consumption - the rest went to insect farming operations.
