Future Food with Analisa Winther

Based in Minnesota, Puris is the largest producer of pea protein in North America supplying the likes of Beyond Meat. Fast Company named them the most innovative food company in 2021 for their end-to-end solution to food production. To speak about the company's philosophy, history, business model, and future, my guest today is CEO Tyler Lorenzen who runs the company alongside his sister Nicole Atc...

If you’ve been to the Nordics, odds are you've tried licorice. In today’s episode, we dive into the story of the luxury licorice and chocolate company Lakrids by Bülow . Johan Bülow started cooking licorice in his mom's kitchen on the Danish island of Bornholm in 2007. Fast forward to today and they've become an iconic brand with sales in 35 countries and counting. Their mission: to make the world...

Signe Anker is the Co-Founder of Bornholmerhampen . She and her partner were some of the first people in Denmark to start growing hemp again. Today, they hand harvest it to produce teas, flours, oils, and cosmetics on the beautiful Danish island of Bornholm. In this episode, we explore why it's considered a miracle crop, how it's making a comeback, and the roots of its bad reputation. As a listene...

In October 2021, the Danish government announced that it was allocating 1 billion kroner or 168 million euro to ramp up plant-based food production. This is one of the largest investments into plant-based by any country to date. Join me and Rune-Christoffer Dragsdahl, the Secretary General of The Vegetarian Society of Denmark, as we discuss the details of the agreement and what it means for the fu...

There is a big trend in the food and cosmetic industry to move away from artificial colors and flavors, replacing them with natural ingredients. My guest today is Gerit Tolborg, the CEO of Chromologics . Gerit describes herself as an accidental entrepreneur. Through her research at the Danish Technical University, she stumbled upon a way to naturally produce a red colorant using fungi and fermenta...

Listen again. Artist and food designer Alexandra Genis is set on challenging your notion of artificiality and what sustainability means in the context of food production. Are natural and wild foods really better? We explore her work and how artificial foods, technology, and art can help us reimagine a better food system. 1:50 The Atoma project, turning individual molecules into spices 2:48 The com...

Listen again. Foraging exists in a delicate balanace with nature. If we take too much, it can lead to environmental degradation. At the same time, it survives as a cultural tradition and a key way families put food on the table. My guest today is Dr. Mikelis Grivins a researcher at the Baltic Studies Center. In this episode, we discuss the four kinds of foragers commonly seen in Europe, the ethics...

ICA is one of the biggest grocery retailers in Sweden. Every week, around 12 million people pass through their stores. Recognizing the important role they play in the everyday life of Swedes, ICA is intent on supporting the shift to a sustainable food system. A system that supports biodiversity, plant-based, and local foods. They launched ICA Växa , a new unit of the organization, to bring new pro...

Gunnar Karl Gíslason is the founding chef behind Dill , which was the first restaurant in Iceland to receive a Michelin star. He is also the author of North: The New Northern Cuisine of Iceland. In this episode, we trace Iceland’s food traditions through the individuals that are helping to keep them alive 2:15 Rundown of Gunnar's career and opening a res  7:30 Defining New Nordic food and the Icel...

As the year wraps up, here are a few reflections from 2021 as well as some announcements for what's to come in 2022. If you would like to support the podcast, consider contributing $5 a month by going to https://nordicfoodtechpodcast.substack.com/ You can also subscribe to the podcast's newsletter here . You'll be notified about new episodes as soon as they are released.  Lots of love, Analisa

In 2017, Camilla and Raymund were trying to get the best food possible to feed their family. Realizing that food is tightly linked with health, they were looking for high-quality, nutrient-dense foods, but actually struggled to find it in Norwegian grocery stores. So, they decided to start growing their own food. This is the story of how they traded city life and taught themselves how to farm acco...

Yara is the world’s leading producer of nitrate-based fertilizer.  Most fertilizers are produced using fossil fuels. Fertilizer runoff has also been linked to environmental degradation. At the same time, fertilizer plays a critical role in our food system's productivity. Over half of the world's population relies on mineral fertilizer to be fed. Yara's mission is to responsibly feed the world...

The Danish king established salt production in Iceland in the 18th century using geothermal energy. The production stopped a few decades later, but the tradition was not lost forever. In 2011, Björn Steinar Jónsson co-founded Saltverk , re-instating Icelandic salt production in one of the most remote parts of Europe. The result is a delicious, hand-harvested flaky sea salt that tastes like the oce...

Iceland is known for having some of the most productive fisheries in the world. Some even call it the Silicon Valley of white fish. In this episode, Thor Sigfusson, the Founder of The Iceland Ocean Cluster, dives into why Iceland is a leader in seafood processing technology, the innovative ways they are using 100% of a fish, and what the fishing ship of tomorrow will look like. Thor is also the au...

Jon Funderud is the CEO of Seaweed Solutions . Since 2009, they have been a pioneer in building up Europe's seaweed production, collaborating with players across the value chain to set up and establish growing and cultivation. Seaweed is an incredible raw material. Regenerative, sustainable, and versatile - seaweed is being used for animal feeds, food ingredients, biofuels, bio-plastics, and pharm...

Electrolux was founded in 1901. Today, they offer a full line of kitchen and laundry appliances, inspired by their work in designing professional products for the world’s best chefs. Tove Chevalley is the Head of Electrolux’s Innovation Hub focused on rethinking the way we cook, clean, and take care of our homes. In this episode, we dive into how the Innovation Team co-creates with chefs, teenager...

Tim Wendelboe runs his own roastery and espresso bar in Oslo, Norway where he imports, roasts and serves high quality coffees. Tim has won multiple international barista competitions and is known for his ability to create great taste. In this episode, we trace Tim's career starting as a barista, moving into coffee roasting, and then starting his own Farm, Finca el Suelo , in Columbia where he prac...

Klaus Thomsen is one of the Founders of Coffee Collective . Their goal is to explore and unfold exceptional coffee experiences, in a manner thatgives better living conditions to coffee farmers across the globe. For nearly, 15 years they have been pushing the coffee industry to do business differently. In this episode, we discuss their many initiatives from transparently sharing what they pay for c...

Regenerative ocean farming has been identified as a key solution to climate change. It’s the practice of growing seaweed along with several kinds of shellfish like oysters and mussels not just to feed people, but also to heal the oceans. HavHøst or OceanHarvest is an NGO helping communities throughout the Nordics get set up with toolkits to grow, harvest, and eat from the sea without harming natur...

Björn Öste founded Oatly with his brother Rickard in 1994. Fast forward to today and Oatly IPOed in May 2021 at a value of $10 billion. But how did this startup from Lund, Sweden become the world's leading alt-milk brand? In today’s episode, we cover Oatly’s startup journey from the early academic days focused on lactose intolerance to the development of their famous barista strategy. We also cove...

Diego Prado is the Head of R&D at Alchemist Explore - the research and development arm of restaurant Alchemist focused on making new dishes and conducting scientific research on products and techniques that create future building blocks for gastronomy. Alchemist was founded in 2015 by Rasmus Munk and introduced a new approach to gastronomy called Holistic Cuisine , which looks at the whole instead...

Carlsberg’s Together Towards Zero program consists of four major ambitions - ZERO carbon footprint, ZERO water waste, ZERO irresponsible drinking, and a ZERO accidents culture. Tenna Skov Thorsted  leads Carlsberg Denmark’s sustainability efforts. Her job is to ensure that these targets are met and that they create value. Join us as Tenna shares how sustainability at Carlsberg works in practice an...

The Nordic FoodTech Podcast spotlights individuals and organizations who are creating the future through food. In this episode, the Host and Creator of the podcast Analisa Winther is interviewed by radio and podcast personality Andreas Graulund. Listen in as Analisa explains how and why the show started, her background, common themes, how guests are chosen, and so much more. 8:10 How the podcast g...

Over 10 years ago, Heini Zachariassen and his co-founder Theis Søndergaard founded Vivino because they were frustrated by not knowing which wine to buy. Today, Vivino’s 50 million users can purchase nearly 13 million wines from around the world. The Vivino community has scanned over 1.6 billion wine labels, written 72 million reviews, and given 204 million ratings on 13.5 million bottles of wine....

The story of Nick's begins in 2014, when a Swedish serial entrepreneur with a background in mechanical engineering was diagnosed as pre-diabetic. Niclas Luthman had to change his diet, but he still loved and craved sweets. This led to him tinkering around in the kitchen and creating a line of "better for you" snacks and sweets that have no added sugar, gluten, or palm oil. Nick's products involve...