FoodBytes! Forum Recap

The Next Wave: Biotech takes on Food & Ag

F&A industry experts weigh in on the methods with the biggest impact

On Tuesday, June 22, FoodBytes! hosted a virtual forum exploring biotech’s future in food and ag. Joined by panelists Ashlie Burkart of Germin8 Ventures, Linda Boender of Rabo Food & Agri Innovation Fund, Verleen Goh of Alchemy FoodTech, and moderated by our own Anne Greven, Global Head of F&A Innovation at Rabobank, we dissected the topic at length. Highlights from panelists include:

Dr. Burkart on drivers of investing in Biotech at Germin8:

• “For Germin8 it’s necessary for us to invest not only to have profitable financial return, but it must show impact – and this could be addressing chronic illness, improving soil health, decarbonizing the economy, reducing plastic pollution, democratizing access to food, et cetera.” – Ashlie Burkart

Linda Boender on the dividing line between consumers, retailers, and regulation:

• “Where consumers expect brands to take their health into consideration when they’re producing everyday products whereas brands and retailers actually point to the consumer for continuously making unhealthy or unsustainable choices. To me, the conclusion is that there’s clearly a role there for governmental bodies or regulations to push the industry forward.” – Linda Boender

Verleen Goh on the advancement in technology and subsequent effect on price:

• “It costs, I think, $1 billion and took 13 years to sequence our first genome. Now we can do it in less than a day, from less than $100 and in a couple of years, it will probably be for less than a few dollars in an hour.” – Verleen Goh

For the full conversation, watch the forum on-demand and read more about the forum at FoodNavigator.