Welcome to Global Signals, your monthly update of new and interesting 'signals' in the world of AgriFoodTech.
We hope this newsletter inspires you to start thinking about your market in new ways.
But what is a signal? Signals can come in the form of an event, product, practice, business model, or technology. They’re specific, small, or localised innovations that have the potential to grow. Signals may inform the future of food, agriculture and technology but alone predict the future, or definitively identify trends.
That's why Callaghan Innovation collaborates with futurist Melissa Clark-Reynolds to present the signals we find most intriguing, and help you understand the importance behind them.
For now, sit back and enjoy. Happy reading!
Kia pai te rā, Melissa (Futurist) and Shane (Callaghan Innovation)
Getting closer to the first greenhouse in space
Redwire Greenhouse is one step closer to developing the first commercial-owned greenhouse on the International Space Station, scheduled to take flight as early as 2023.
Redwire’s first customer is expected to be Dewey Scientific. They aim to advance biomedical and biofuel research utilising space-grown hemp and a 60-day gene expression study.
Escaping climate change by moving to Mars is still the stuff of sci-fi fantasy – but the number of companies tackling terraforming, and the number of investors willing to invest in terraforming companies are rising quicker than you think.
New Zealand punches well above its weight when it comes to food production. What technology could we develop that would allow us to more easily grow food in space?
Eyleen Goh’s farm is on the roof of a multi-storey carpark. Supplying up to 400kg of vegetables per day, it’s popular with locals for freshness and quality.
Although they’re not yet profitable, these farms allow Singapore to produce its own food rather than relying on complex international supply chains.
It makes sense to grow food within walking distance of customers, as it cuts the carbon emissions of transport to almost zero, requires less fertiliser than conventional growing systems, and reduces waste as growers harvest to order.
As more and more CBD real estate becomes available (thanks to an increase in remote work, and the continuation of the Great Resignation) could urban farms be the new neighbours of inner-city townies?
Symbrosia’s seaweed-based feed additive reduces livestock methane enteric emissions (or ‘bovine burps’) by over 80%.
The venture has been backed by Danone, one of the world’s biggest dairy corporations. Their $7 million investment will increase production by a factor of 1,000.
The global desire to decrease methane emissions from cattle is reaching fever pitch. Many different options are being touted, but which methane-reducing method will be adopted by farmers, or demanded by consumers?
Will food-based additives like Symbrosia’s win out over less ‘natural’ interventions like vaccines or chemical sprays? And is Danone likely to hedge its bets with investments in other technologies promising the same results?
Ever eaten a white truffle? This ultra-premium product is unfamiliar to most of us, and for good reason: they’re far harder to farm commercially than the more familiar black truffle.
Earlier this year, France’s National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment managed to cultivate 26 white truffles, weighing 900g in total. This is the first time white truffle fruiting bodies have been grown in significant numbers outside where they naturally grow.
White truffles can go for over $17,000 per kilogram, and best of all can be cultivated on forest land that is otherwise unproductive.
With more and more farmers in New Zealand incentivised to plant trees on their land, are white truffles a realistic diversification opportunity? Could a white truffle industry replicate the success of the NZ wine sector by capturing Aotearoa’s unique terroir, or revealing new flavour profiles, all while creating a new income stream for farmers?
Greg Wilson of Ongaonga farm estimates they only use two-thirds of the solar power they produce. A new trading scheme has made it easier for farmers to share their excess energy with others in the community, from their neighbours to the local school.
In the coming years, New Zealand is going to have to think smartly about how we replace ‘dirty power’ in some of our biggest industries – like agriculture and horticulture. Right now, we just don’t have enough electricity to drop coal entirely.
But what if every farm in New Zealand installed solar panels? Could we think about decentralising power sources and using electricity that we generate ourselves? How could farmers use excess energy in service to their neighbours or local communities?
US start-up Vitrolabs has developed bio-identical leather, grown from real cow cells – but in a lab. The new material can be used just like leather to make handbags, shoes and clothes, and investors have poured in a whopping €43 million in new funding.
We have recently seen innovation and diversification in the leather industry with commercially viable, vegan leathers made from pineapple and other vegetable inputs. Are bioidentical leathers considered vegan when grown in a lab, and no death is no longer required?
It will be interesting to see if consumers prefer vegan leather or bioidentical leather when given the choice. Perhaps bioidentical leather will carve out a market niche for consumers demanding cow-origin leather without the guilt. Or will prices of traditional leather be bolstered by nostalgics looking for the ‘real deal’?
"Wales is small enough to innovate, yet big enough to matter,” Jane Davidson writes in this fascinating read on her time as the Welsh Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing.
Back in 2015, Wales radically responded to global climate change issues by creating the Wellbeing for Future Generations Act, which legislates that sustainability be at the centre of policy-making.
New Zealand shares many similarities with Wales, in particular our ’small size yet big enough to matter mindset’, and our comfort at being a social experiment on the bottom of the world - women’s suffrage is the classic example of this. What if we, following Wales’ lead, created our own national vision for future generations? What would it look like, what would it say?
I think this book is perfect for changemakers, as it documents Davidson’s political successes and doesn’t shy away from describing her many failures.
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.
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