Welcome to the New Year, and welcome to a new edition of Global Signals, providing you with all the new and exciting updates in the world of AgriFoodTech.
For those of you who are new to our community, thank you for joining us and welcome. We hope you find this new edition to your inbox insightful, useful and helpful in thinking about your industry and surroundings in new and unexpected ways.
Our second Global Signals workshop will be led by StratEDGY’s Dr Stephanie Pride. This virtual workshop will be brought to you from the comforts of your own home and will consist of 6 x 90-minute sessions, commencing 8 February 2022. Registrations are now open.
Kia pai te rā Melissa (Futurist) and Shane (Callaghan Innovation) January 2022
A thorny issue
Thornless Australian raspberries are being successfully cultivated creating exciting developments for the native food sector. The popular indigenous berries typically grow with thorny stems making them difficult to harvest and grow at scale. Due to the lack of thorns in this new variety, there are significantly less limitations for growth. Even more amazing is that they were discovered completely by chance.
What protection should there be for indigenous people when commercialising native species? How might there be a balance between encouraging all to enjoy while managing ownership rights?
Researchers from Washington State University have developed a technique to test soil properties, health, fertility and composition through electrical currents. This is based on how microbes in the soil constantly release an electrical charge from metabolism. With aspirations to become the ‘voice of the soil’ this new method is faster and simpler than many widely-used tests in today’s market.
Will the increasing demand for regeneratively-grown food lead to new developments in soil science and measurement?
Major players Intel, Nokia (edge cloud infrastructure), Telenor ASA and more are coming together to level up on remote fishing. Major Norwegian seafood company, Sinkaberg Hansen are implementing a livestream that will monitor fish health and cut off feeding, at the exact point when fish are full. If this can be integrated across their system, (which includes many smaller remote fish farms), they could save $6 million through one simple automation.
With autonomous technology advances seen in agriculture through trucks and tractors, we wonder - is aquaculture and fishing next?
After three years in development, NZ Beekeeping Supplier; Ecrotek is releasing their very first plant-based, compostable, zero-waste BioForme beehive frame to market.
Commercial beekeepers mostly use plastic frames because of their durability. Could these compostable frames be used instead to help eliminate fossil fuel products for the honey supply chains?
Hong Kong food tech start-up, Allklear have created a ‘Detox Future Salad’ made from natural vegetables and fruit, through utilising freeze-drying technology (commonly used to manufacture aerospace foods) They’re expecting to gain HK$1 billion revenue in the coming year through mainland China & international market expansion.
Are these salad sachets what we thought George Jetson would be eating?
Beijing-based company, Meicai, allows restaurant owners in China to order fresh produce directly from farms, disrupting traditional wholesaling by cutting out middlemen. Following crackdowns on international listings, they are considering shifting their initial public offering (IPO) from the US to Hong Kong.
The pasture to plate movement is growing globally, powered by businesses operating on a platform model. Is this the beginning of a fundamental shift in the way food is sourced in the future?
Allen Lane, 2021 Mission Economy takes inspiration from JFK’s ‘moonshot.’ Massive public investment and public-private partnerships to put a man on the moon. An unintended benefit of this was thousands of innovations spanning everything from odour and security, to air traffic control.
What unintended benefits might arise from an agritech climate change moonshot?
RE:TV This series was created by His Royal Highness Prince Charles as a showcase for inspiring innovations and ideas that point the way to a regenerative future. This series is a quick watch but one not to miss.
We’d love to hear your feedback so we can continue to share relevant monthly reads with you.
Don’t forget to share with us any signals or interesting innovations you’ve come across so we can spread the word. We enjoy seeing NZ companies be creative, innovative and push the boundaries, it makes for insightful reading.
