Food Meets Climate Podcast with Simon Newstead

Nick Hazell, the founder of Algenie, shares his background and motivation in food and algae industries before moving to the potential of algae as a solution for carbon capture and the challenges of reducing the cost of algae production. Nick explains the evolution of algae production methods, from raceway ponds to photo-bioreactors, and introduces the helical photobioreactor developed by Algenie....

Luca Fichtinger, one of the founders of Kern Tec, an Austrian-based upcycling food tech company, discusses their journey of turning fruit pits into new ingredients for the food and beverage industry. They have developed technologies to extract healthy fats and proteins from fruit pits and have created products such as food oils, chocolate spreads, and dairy alternatives. Luca emphasizes the import...

Alan Iván Ramos, co-founder of Libre Foods, discusses the role of fungi and mycelium in alternative protein. He shares his journey from studying philosophy to joining the ProVeg Incubator and starting Libre Foods. Their first product is a fungi-based bacon that aims to replicate the taste, texture, and experience of traditional bacon without the harm. Alan also discusses the challenges of regulati...

At 16 years old, Tasneem Karodia cut meat out of her diet for sustainability reasons. However it wasn't until she was working in management consulting that she saw the accelerating potential of protein alternatives, and decided to leave her job to join the movement. Now as co-founder and CFO of Mzansi Meat, Africa's first cultivated meat company, she comes on the podcast to share her story and tha...

While completing his PhD in stem cell differentiation, Viknish Krishnan-Kutty realised he wanted to apply his science directly, rather than run the risk of having his research published and archived. Fast forward to now and he is the founder and CEO of Singapore-based startup Cellivate Technologies, a startup focused on enhancing and improving cell culture efficiency through the creation of edible...

One day while working as a biologist, Aaron Chua Yu Xiang had a friend who presented him with a question: why not become a pescatarian? At first he was sold however the more he began to research, the more he realised the plethora of issues - bycatch, parasites, micro-plastics - associated with the fishing industry. As a result, Aaron founded Fisheroo, a cell-based fish startup focussing on cultiva...

After five years of working in a top consulting firm, Pilk co-founder Alexander Pagonis wanted to try his hand at something new. With a deep cultural and family connection to ice-cream he ventured into a mission of creating an indulgent plant-based alternative. In this week's episode we chat to Alex not only about Pilk Foods and the founding story, but also about his previous gelato startup and th...

From radical transparency to Guinness World Records, Planted is the alternative meat startup taking Switzerland by storm. In this week's episode we chat to Christoph Jenny, one of Planted's four co-founders, about his journey to starting the company and their approach to innovation. We also discuss their (literally) see-through production process, the benefits of having their own factory, and the...

While working for a large dairy manufacturer, Sujala Balaji began to question just how sustainable the future of our food system really is. With over two decades of experience in the industry, it wasn't long before she felt a strong sense of responsibility to make a difference. Now, Sujala is the cofounder and CEO of Rainfed Foods, an early-stage startup changing alternative dairy by tapping into...

While working on deep tech commercialisation for aquaculture, Mihir Pershad witnessed firsthand the issues facing our current seafood sector. Fast forward to now, and Mihir is the CEO of Umami Meats, a Singapore-based startup focused on cultivating seafood products. We chat to Mihir about his journey to entrepreneurship, as well as the evolution of Umami Meats as an early-stage company. We also di...

With over 20 years of experience in impact investing and social enterprise, Albert Tseng is passionate about utilising business to solve some of society's most pressing problems. Now, Albert is the co-founder of Dao Foods, an impact-oriented investment firm focused on supporting and accelerating plant-based and alternative protein companies in China. In this week's episode we discuss the historica...

When she was in her teens, Shannon Falconer decided to stop eating animals for welfare reasons. Now, the former Stanford microbiologist has found an opportunity to use her scientific training to take animals out of the supply chain altogether, focusing on the cultivation of meat for pets through her startup Because, Animals. In this week's episode we chat further with Shannon about the impact of t...

With a background in material science and engineering, Michelle Wolf always wanted to use her technical skillset to help make the world a better place. Being inspired by plant-based beef alternatives gaining traction in the mainstream, she began to learn more about other industries and realised that despite the opportunity, nobody was really looking at seafood. Fast forward to now and Michelle is...

As a mechanical engineer, Andre Menezes never imagined that he would be working in the food industry. Nonetheless after a career as the manager of Singapore's largest distribution company, Andre joined the plant-based space through the co-founding of Nextgen Foods - parent company of plant-based chicken brand TiNDLE. In this week's episode we chat with Andre about why Nextgen have decided to tackl...

Despite always being interested in entrepreneurship, it wasn't until a trip to Thailand that CEO and co-founder Daphne Hedley stumbled upon the right idea and Mekhala Living was born. 1600 stores and 6 countries later, we chat to Daphne about the journey of starting the certified vegan and organic Asian condiment business. We also discuss the process of getting a factory up and off the ground, the...

When his son was one, former Gold Coast Titans player and serial-entrepreneur Selasi Berdie went looking for an exclusively plant-based infant formula. To his shock however, he found that there wasn't an existing product on the market, leading him on a journey to creating a world first through his startup Sprout Organic. In this week's episode Simon talks with Sel about the founding journey and th...

At the age of 20, Kartik Dixit realised how much the food system was contributing to greenhouse gas emissions and became vegan overnight. What shocked him most of all however, was that nobody was working on tackling alternative protein in India. Starting with cell-based meat and then transitioning to the plant-based sector, Kartik is now working on evolving egg through his venture Evo foods. In th...

Early on in her life, it was a passion and love for food that brought Patricia Bubner to the field of science. Through her journey as a researcher in chemical engineering to working on food sustainability initiatives such as the Millet Project, it was only time until Patricia made her way into the cultivated meat space. Today she is the co-founder and CEO of Orbillion Bio, a startup focused on cel...

During his time in academia, Vinayaka Srinivas began thinking about how he could have a more tangible and direct impact on the world and people's lives. Given his technical background in stem cell biology, cultivated meat presented itself as an area of perfect opportunity to make this difference. Vin is now the cofounder and CEO of Singapore-based startup Gaia Foods, Southeast Asia's first cultiva...

Despite being known as the largest vegan chain down under, Lord of the Fries wasn't always as we know it today. In this week's episode we go back in time with LOTF cofounder Amanda Leigh Walker, to the beginning of the business and its evolution from food truck to franchise. We also chat about their recent collaborations with popular plant-based brands such as Beyond Meat, how to cope in stressful...

During her final year of post-graduate studies, Stephanie Michelsen developed a passion for alternative protein. Soon she realised however, that more than meat would need to be re-imagined if we were to transition to an animal-free and friendly future. Fast forward to now and Stephanie is the co-founder and CEO of Jellatech: an early-stage startup working on creating cell-based collagen and gelati...

Whilst working as a sales manager for an IT company, Cale Drouin bought a failing vegan grocery store and quickly watched as it turned around and grew on to its own two feet. Despite being only one decision, this career change led Cale on to a path within the plant-based space: from distribution, to consultation and currently to the role of co-founder of Australian vegan manufacturing company Cale...

Whilst on a hike in British Columbia, Betty Lu reflected on the fact that she had not yet found the ideal snack to take with her on her travels. She found protein bars bland, and potato chips were simply empty calories. That's when her inspiration struck to shift the snacking industry; fast forward to now and she's the founder and CEO of Singapore-based startup Confetti Fine Foods. In this episode...

For Jacob Conway, the passion of living a whole foods plant-based lifestyle hits close to home. Having quit dairy in college and watched the diagnosis and recovery of his brother from cancer, he made the changes he believed were needed to live more healthily. Reflecting on his experience on campus however, he soon realised that the decision to choose plant-based diary wasn't easy for students: the...

Christiana Zhu has always wanted to be an entrepreneur. It wasn't until she moved to China however, that she landed upon the idea that would take her there. Developing allergies herself and having observed a lack of good quality lactose-free options in the market she decided to found Marvelous Foods, a plant-based dairy company providing premium snacks starting with Greek-style coconut yoghurt. In...