FoodBytes! Press Coverage

Increasing efficiency and using innovation to reduce waste and save money was a common theme among startup food and drink companies looking for investment as part of the FoodBytes! global pitch competition in London.

Is your food or agriculture startup pioneering a more sustainable future? We want you to apply to pitch for FoodBytes! London on September 13 or FoodBytes! NYC on October 18.

This episode showcases the best of startup innovation in food and ag! We had the pleasure of talking with Nina Meijers, who is a Senior Associate and Platform Manager of FoodBytes! by Rabobank. FoodBytes! was launched within Rabobank as an initiative to engage with the startup community, focusing on food and ag. Nina has extensive background in sustainable food and ag tech and discusses how the program started and how it has experienced incredible growth over the past few years. This episode has so much good stuff, whether you’re interested in how to build a brand, grow a platform, or just interested in how Rabobank is approaching the startup world. Too good not to listen!

Twenty companies have been selected to pitch at FoodBytes! NYC on October 18, marking the event’s third run in the big apple. FoodBytes! is the global pitch competition organized by food and agriculture bank Rabobank with the aim of harnessing new innovation to create a better world through food. The pitch competition has now taken place in seven cities globally with more than 40 countries taking part.

FoodBytes! is making its London debut on Thursday, 13 September. The next-generation food and agri pitch competition boasts 210 global startup alumni across the entire supply chain, and 20 new innovators will join the roster in London. From ai-driven dairy farming and novel food freshness indicators, to recycled plastic flat wine bottles and a wonky veg subscription box, check all their ideas here and see them take the stage.

20 disruptive food and agriculture companies have been awarded chance to pitch ideas to investors, corporates and industry leaders at Rabobank’s inaugural London event

In the immortal words of Bob Dylan: “The times they are a-changin’.” I like to think that he wrote that lyric specifically about the grocery world, which is rapidly transforming thanks to the influence of technology like e-commerce, blockchain, and AI. (Just me?)

FoodBytes! played a key role in our launch activities this year,” said Bruce Rasa, CEO and founder of AgVoice, a mobile voice-interaction service designed to improve sustainability, productivity, and accuracy of data captured in the agriculture/food supply chain and the winner of the 2017 FoodBytes! New York Judges Choice Award. “The valuable insights we received at FoodBytes! helped us identify the right strategies for our business growth and enabled us to improve our product to meet the needs of the new generation of ag professionals embracing smart technology.”

“This is Rabobank’s first FoodBytes! event in London and we are blown away by the caliber of the presenting companies that are developing technologies and products to disrupt the food system,” Nick Fereday, Executive Director of Food & Consumer Trends at Rabobank and FoodBytes! London judge, said, “whether it is to improve the transparency of the supply chain or bring alternative proteins to the market.”

Twenty food and agriculture startups have been selected from a total of over 150 applications to pitch at the first ever FoodBytes! London. FoodBytes! is the global pitch competition organized by food and agriculture bank Rabobank with the aim of harnessing new innovation to create a better world through food. The competition has now taken place in seven cities globally with more than 40 countries taking part.

Nearly one-quarter of applications came from startups focused on the farm, a larger portion than in previous editions of FoodBytes! where CPG startups have tended to apply in greater numbers.

“Precision agriculture is the dominant theme among the selected companies, including AI-powered dairy farming and data-driven beekeeping,” said Nina Meijers, startup innovation platform manager at Rabobank, adding that animal health was a particular theme among agtech startup applicants.

CPG startups still contributed 43% of applications and 23% came from foodtech startups.

Fresh produce high-tech startups, including examples from the UK, are among 20 candidates selected to pitch at FoodBytes! London, organised by Dutch food and agriculture bank Rabobank with the aim of harnessing sustainable innovation in the sector.

Rabobank’s FoodBytes! is returning to the Big Apple on the hunt for the world’s most promising startups. Pitch to leading corporates, investors and media, get mentorship from industry experts and make life-long connections with fellow entrepreneurs.

Une compétition internationale réunissant de jeunes entreprises en alimentation et en technologies agroalimentaires réunira 20 compagnies innovantes le 16 mai a Montreal

La compétition FoodBytes! permet de découvrir les industries de demain dans le domaine de l’agroalimentaire. Lors de l’édition montréalaise du 16 mai 2018, Coup de Pouce était là.

Qu’y a-t-il dans votre assiette? Sur quoi les jeunes pousses du secteur agro-alimentaire planchent-elles pour l’avenir?

The company was the only Canadian to receive an award, with California-based SmartCatch and SAP! from Vermont taking the judge and highly-commended award respectively.

Of the 20 finalists who went got to pitch their ideas and companies at FoodBytes!, three came out the big winners

Le premier volet canadien du concours FoodBytes! s’est tenu à Montréal le 16 mai dernier. Une vingtaine d’entreprises en démarrage novatrices du secteur alimentaire ont tenté, en moins de quatre minutes, de se faire valoir pour remporter l’un des prix décernés. Hélène Laurendeau a été surprise tant par le nombre d’innovations que par la technologie de pointe utilisée par les entreprises participantes.

Montreal – FoodBytes! by Rabobank has announced the start-up companies that will pitch their ideas at the event on May 16, 2018 at New City Gas.

The selected startups are pioneering food innovation, from data-driven apiary management and sustainable seafood technologies that reduce by-catch to sparkling superfood beverages and single origin pantry staples.

FoodBytes! – an event for start-up companies and their entrepreneurs to meet mentors, make connections and acquire the capital they need to grow – hits Montreal on May 16, 2018

The FoodBytes! founder Manuel Gonzalez is an ex-entrepreneur turned corporate banker at Rabobank, the food and agriculture corporate bank based in the Netherlands. Gonzalez moved to San Francisco six years ago after working 16 years in Rabobank‘s Mexico City office, to head the bank’s West Coast division.

For food and ag startups a real life Dragon’s Den is coming to Montreal with loads of cash and a focus on ag and food innovation

There is innovation all around the world in AI, software, medicine and more. But many users and investors often forget about industries everyone interacts with every single day. FoodBytes wants to change that.

Cutting-edge food, food tech and agtech startups encouraged to apply to pitch in Montreal

A food and agriculture pitch competition with a purposefully global slant will soon descend on Austin — bringing leading disruptors in food production and distribution to the Texas capital later this month, as well as exposing local innovators to an international audience.

FoodBytes! is a pitch competition-meets-networking event from Rabobank that aims to bring together the game-changers pioneering the future of food and agriculture.

For time-strapped entrepreneurs who are brave enough to take the stage, competing in pitch-slams is a good way to secure funding, meet potential business partners and weave a network of supporters who can help shine a spotlight on them without investing excessive time they don’t have to spare.

Do you ever buy fresh produce only to have it spoil in the fridge before you can use it?

Back to the Roots — a California startup on a mission to Undo Food™ — is calling thousands of schools, communities, and brands to action this Earth Day with one simple question — where does my food come from? The Back to the Roots Earth Day campaign strives to raise...

Arable Labs has raised $4.25 million to bring data-driven analysis and predictions to farming. The Princeton, N.J.-based startup uses sensors for the Internet of Things, or making everyday objects smart and connected, to collect data on a farm, measuring everything...

Flour milled from discarded coffee fruit. Chips made from juice pulp. Vodka distilled from strawberries that nobody seems to want. At one point not so long ago, such waste-based products were novelties for the Whole Foods set. But in the past three years, there’s been...

Masienda, a tortilla brand that is preferred by many chefs, is now selling its heirloom corn tortillas online. These tortillas, made from stone-ground nixtamalized corn, are sold frozen. They may look drab, but the tortillas more than compensate with an earthy,...

In the world of retail, presentation is important. Supermarkets strive to only purchase and sell produce that is free of spots and blemishes because research has proven that is what consumers will find appealing. Often, produce which doesn’t have the best color or...

You may know him as the steely blue-eyed judge of Bravo’s Top Chef, the reality TV-style cooking competition now in its 14th season. Or perhaps you’ve indulged in the critically acclaimed farm-to-table fare at one of his eight restaurants scattered across the U.S. But...

Outdoor-equipment retailer REI made headlines in November 2015 when chief executive officer Jerry Stritzke gave all of his employees Thanksgiving off instead of making them work early Black Friday hours. Last Thanksgiving, more than five dozen national retailers...

Agro-technology startup Full Harvest, an online B2B platform that connects farms with food and beverage companies to sell surplus, discounted and imperfectly shaped produce, announced on Wednesday that it has closed a $2 million seed round of financing on Wednesday....

US company LoveTheWild -- a startup that retails frozen, ready-to-cook sustainable fish -- is readying itself to add about 1,000 new retailers to the 600 that already carry the product by the quickly-growing and award-winning company. Read More [icon...

Scrappy food startups across the Bay Area are recognizing that one company’s trash could be their treasure — and potentially profitable businesses. Read More [icon name="external-link-square" class=""...

Stand back kale and move over matcha! There is a new supergreen in town and we're already obsessed. Moringa, which hails from India, Pakistan, and Nepal, is a small tree with leaves that have been used in Eastern medicine to treat and prevent diseases for years. And...

The San Francisco-based startup ReGrained wants you to have your beer and eat it too. Motivated by tackling inefficiencies in the food system, and especially in the beer making process, the company is set to reuse the “spent” grains leftover from the brewing process...

Sugar is undergoing a makeover in food labs as the not-so-sweet science increasingly shows eating too much sugar can pose serious health risks, from diabetes to heart disease. Sugar is already prevalent in foods ranging from cereal and spaghetti sauce to soda and...

Are mushrooms the next big thing in sweets? Colorado startup MycoTechnology has created a mushroom extract that stops taste buds from detecting bitter flavors from ingredients in popular foods and drinks, such as coffee, cereal and chocolate. “Sugar is an inexpensive...

On a sunny morning in Guadalupe Victoria, near the Guatemalan border in the state of Chiapas, Mexico, Hilda Pastor is washing corn in her backyard sink to make tortillas. It's a daily ritual that starts the night before. "I mix dried kernels, water and a spoonful of...