Staying ahead of the technology curve means strengthening your competitive advantage. That is why we give you data-driven innovation insights into the food sector. This time, you get to discover 5 hand-picked food processing startups.
Global Startup Heat Map highlights 5 Top Food Processing Solutions out of 188
The insights of this data-driven analysis are derived from the Big Data & Artificial Intelligence-powered StartUs Insights Discovery Platform, covering 1.379.000+ startups & scaleups globally. The platform gives you an exhaustive overview of emerging technologies & relevant startups within a specific field in just a few clicks.
The Global Startup Heat Map below reveals the distribution of the 188 exemplary startups & scaleups we analyzed for this research. Further, it highlights 5 food processing startups that we hand-picked based on criteria such as founding year, location, funding raised, and more. You get to explore the solutions of these 5 startups & scaleups in this report. For insights on the other 183 food processing solutions, get in touch.
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UglyGood develops Waste Valorization Solutions
Food processing generates large amounts of wastes and byproducts. A large fraction of food produced is also wasted along the supply chain. Additionally, waste disposal by incineration contributes to huge amounts of carbon dioxide emissions. Waste valorization solutions derive value from food waste, enabling a circular economy. These solutions convert food waste into food products, animal feed, or food ingredients.
UglyGood is a Singaporean startup developing a waste valorization solution. The startup harvests and processes fruit pulps and peels from fruit juicing companies and extracts high-value products from them. It transforms citrus fruit waste into natural cleaning solutions or animal feed. The startup also uses the cold press method to extract essential oils from orange peels. By adding value to the waste fruit stream, the startup’s solution prevents emissions and builds a circular economy.
Tebrito offers Insect-based Protein
Insect-based solutions provide more food while consuming far lesser quantities of resources as compared to meat or poultry. Moreover, processing insect-based protein requires lesser space, making it more sustainable as well as suitable for urban spaces. It is also amenable to vertical production and utilizes food waste, further improving sustainability. Food startups are developing a range of insect-based products to enable a circular economy.
Swedish startup Tebrito offers insect-based protein. The startup leverages AI-based automation to sustainably rear insects in an industrial-scale vertical-production facility. It uses larvae of a mealworm species with a high-quality amino acid profile. Tebrito processes these larvae into food for both humans and pets, as well as refined products for other food applications.
Meatable utilizes Cellular Agriculture
Beef production and processing facilities are major emitters of greenhouse gases. To lower the carbon impact of the food processing sector, biotech startups are working on alternatives to meat. These include either plant-based meats or cellular agriculture. In addition to sustainability, the latter also provides scalability by enabling culturing meat in industrial-scale fermentors.
Dutch startup Meatable utilizes cellular agriculture to produce a sustainable meat alternative. By using the induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology, the startup eliminates the need to kill an animal. It cultures cells taken from live cows and pigs into fat and muscle tissue. It then combines the two to create a sustainable meat alternative.
Renewal Mill enables Byproduct Upcycling
Food processing waste contributes to a significant fraction of the emissions in the sector. Byproduct upcycling solutions utilize waste from one system as a raw material for another food processing solution. This allows food processing companies to lower resource costs as well as carbon emissions.
Renewal Mill is a US-based startup that upcycles food byproducts. The startup’s proprietary production process utilizes pulps obtained from plant-based milk production. It dries and mills the pulps to create ingredients that are rich in macronutrients such as protein and fiber. By channeling food waste from one processing plant into another, the startup enables the circular economy.
MiAlgae advances Microalgae Production
Omega-3 is a popular supplement that provides numerous health benefits. Food processing companies extract this family of fatty acids from fish caught in coastal waters. However, this is becoming unsustainable with depleting fish populations. Food processing startups are turning to microalgae as a sustainable source of Omega-3. Microalgae cultivation further contributes to a circular economy by utilizing wastewater streams.
British startup MiAlgae produces fatty acid-rich microalgae for sustainable livestock and pet feed. It grows algae on human-grade growth media made of co-products from the whisky industry. The startup’s fermentors provide the optimal conditions for microalgae growth. MiAlage’s zero-waste process provides microalgae rich in Omega-3 while returning clean water.
Discover more FoodTech Startups
Food processing startups such as the examples highlighted in this report focus on alternative proteins, genetically-edited food, and algae-based solutions. While all of these technologies play a major role in advancing FoodTech, they only represent the tip of the iceberg. To explore more food technologies, simply get in touch to let us look into your areas of interest. For a more general overview, you can download our free Food Innovation Reports to save your time and improve strategic decision-making.
