YASAI: Building The Largest Vertical Farm in the World

YASAI: Building The Largest Vertical Farm in the World

YASAI empowers customers to grow more with less for the health of people, plants and the planet.

Headquartered in Zurich, YASAI is a vertical farming service that allows its customers to grow more with less. The startup creates circular food production systems in regions lacking sufficient agricultural resources like freshwater or arable land. Their model drastically reduces the use of pesticides and increases biodiversity by enhancing food production through resource-saving technologies. YASAI replaces food imports and reduces production costs across the value chain by focusing on locality and premium quality.

The idea started with founder Mark Zahran’s Master’s thesis at ETH Zurich. His mission is to feed the world sustainably and contribute to the health of people, plants, and the planet. He sought to integrate vertical farming within the mountainous Swiss landscape. And he saw the opportunity to do so by transforming the La Sarraz quarry into the world’s largest vertical farm.

At YASAI, we imagine a world where everyone is empowered to grow their own plants, a planet of self-sustaining ecocities that form a sea of biodiversity

Mark Zahran

Co-Founder & CEO, YASAI

For more information:

YASAI AG
c/o ETH Zurich
iE-Lab, 4th Floor, STE J16
Stampfenbachstrasse 54, 8092 Zurich

Phone : +41 79 866 10 67

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Farmer Connect Secures US$9M to Bring Transparency to Supply Chains

Farmer Connect Secures US$9M to Bring Transparency to Supply Chains

Swiss agritech startup Farmer Connect has raised a US$9M in a Series A investment round.

An investment led by ITOCHU Corporation, a major Japanese general trading company, resulted in Farmer Connect securing US$9M. The Series A financing comes after significant growth in 2020 when the company’s revenue surged and its roster of clients and partners grew. Their partners include Cooxupé, the biggest coffee cooperative in Brazil, UCC Coffee, Beyers Koffie and The J.M. Smucker Company. Farmer Connect will use the money to develop new solutions for sustainability efforts in coffee and other agricultural sectors. They also plan to build new teams across the world like Geneva, New York City, Singapore and Brazil. ​

Launched in 2019, Farmer Connect offers a blockchain-based traceability platform for the safe storage and sharing of business data. Essentially, this technology connects producers to consumers to empower them and help their business grow. The blockchain-based tech was developed in part by IBM, based on the IBM Food Trust platform.

Investors from Europe and both North and South America participated in the round, along with Farmer Connect’s founding partner, Sucafina.

For more information:

Farmer Connect
Chemin de Blandonnet 8
Vernier, Geneva 1214, CH
Email : media@farmerconnect.com

Or you can also contact them here.

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Migros Adopts Nutri-Score for All In-house Brands

Migros Adopts Nutri-Score for All In-house Brands

Swiss retailer Migros has announced that it will introduce Nutri-Score labelling on the packaging of all private-label food items.

This week, major Swiss retailer Migros announced that it will put Nutri-Score on the packaging of its own-brand products. Nutri-Score is a colorful evaluation system that allows consumers to discover at a glance the nutritional quality of a product. Hence, simplifying food selection on a daily basis. Additionally, Migros is now offering nutritional value reporting on its online platform. This step makes it the first Swiss retailer to act in a very comprehensive and methodical manner for greater transparency.

Read the full press-releases in German, French and Italian

Learn more about the Nutri-Score evaluation system:

Watch video in German:

Watch video in French:

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For more information:
Migros
Limmatstrasse 152
Zürich​, Zurich, 8005
Switzerland

Phone : +41 44 277 21 11

Migros Website

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Innoterra, Formerly Pioneering Ventures, Aims to Transform the Global Food Ecosystem

Innoterra, Formerly Pioneering Ventures, Aims to Transform the Global Food Ecosystem

Innoterra aims to produce and supply high-quality, safe and traceable food from farm to fork in a sustainable, farm-friendly way.

Swiss-Indian incubator of agriculture, food and technology businesses, Pioneering Ventures, has set up a new corporate entity: Innoterra. With a footprint in 14 countries, Innoterra provides products and services to 65,000 farmers. It also serves around 1.5 million consumers daily through fully traceable, high-quality food products, including farm produce and milk products.

Formed to transform the global food ecosystem, Innoterra is committed to creating value for all stakeholders with its impact-driven purpose. To fulfil this mission, the company is creating an integrated platform to connect the entire agri-food value chain. The data-driven technology platform provides farmers access to tech solutions from AI, big data and analytics to on-ground tech-integrated farm tools for traceability and monitoring. It also integrates knowledge sharing and easy access to affordable finance. The platform aims to build a community of connected stakeholders, driving economies of scale and benefiting each stakeholder from collective resources and expertise.

Innoterra’s Mission

Innoterra CEO, Ron Pal, said, “As food security and sustainability is becoming an important global challenge, we must critically question the status quo of the industry and the entire food ecosystem… We see our company as an integral part of the food ecosystem and view our role as an orchestrator with the mission to provide consumers access to healthier and more sustainably produced food while empowering farmers and other stakeholders in the system.”

Meanwhile, Chairman of Innoterra India, Akshaya Kamath, said, “While developing and rolling out our platform, we will continue to scale up our food operations in India and further expand our sourcing and distribution footprint in regions such as the Middle East, Eastern Europe and China… Our efforts enable us to sustainably supply high quality, traceable products around the year to the addressable adjacent markets with a population of close to three billion people.”

All five subsidiaries of Pioneering Ventures will now be under Innoterra: Desai AgriFoods (formerly Desai Fruits and Vegetables), Samaaru, Farmlink, Milklane and Innoterra Tech (formerly Lateral Praxis).

For more information:

Innoterra AG
Baarerstrasse 18
6300 Zug
Phone : +41 44 508 05 35

Or you may also contact them here.

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Nestlé Launches Bio-Based Packaging For Infant Formula

Nestlé Launches Bio-Based Packaging For Infant Formula

Nestlé will soon launch bio-based lids and scoops made from sugar cane and its byproduct for its paediatric nutrition products.

A range of Nestlé’s nutrition products for infants and children will soon launch with a newly innovated packaging. This comes after the introduction of bio-based lids and scoops made from 66% and 95% sugar cane respectively. They also have similar properties and functionalities as conventional plastic without compromising the high level of hygiene and freshness required. The bio-based lids and scoops complement the metal-based tin can, which is the most recycled material in the world. These certified plant-based packagings are also recyclable in countries with recycling facilities for polyethylene (PE).

Nestlé Products with Bio-Based Packaging

In 2020, Nestlé Nutrition’s NAN infant formula in the new packaging materials was introduced in Hong Kong. These will be available in other markets globally from 2021, including for other brands such as BEBA and GUIGOZ.

Meanwhile, Wyeth Nutrition is launching the new bio-based packaging for its brands SMA, LITTLE STEPS, S-26 and ILLUMA.

Nestlé Health Science is also introducing the new packaging material for its Althéra, Alfaré, Alfamino, Modulen and Peptamen Junior brands. These brands are part of its global range of paediatric food for special medical purposes.

Commitment to Innovation and Sustainability

Thierry Philardeau, Head of Nestlé Nutrition, said, “Nestlé continues to push the boundaries of science to provide nutritional solutions for children, and we are putting that same passion into pioneering new packaging that is good for our planet.

Meanwhile, Ryan Carvalho, Head of R&D and Chief Medical Officer for Nestlé Nutrition, said, “The development of innovative sustainable packaging solutions plays an important role in our journey to net-zero… while ensuring that our products maintain a high level of safety and quality.

Nestlé Health Science CEO Greg Behar said, “We are pleased that Nestlé Health Science’s paediatric range is our first product group to include the new bio-based lids and scoops: new solutions for a new generation.

Nestlé is a founding member of the Bioplastics Feedstock Alliance. The association aims to encourage the production of bioplastic feedstocks in an environmentally responsible, socially beneficial and economically viable manner.

For more information:

Nestlé Suisse S.A.
Rue Entre-deux-Villes 10 1814 La Tour-de-Peilz Switzerland
Switzerland
Tel: +41 21 924 51 11

You can also reach them here.

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Nestlé Tackles Food Waste Through Product and Technology Innovation

Nestlé Tackles Food Waste Through Product and Technology Innovation

Nestlé accelerates the development of products and technologies that use agricultural raw materials that typically go to waste.

Nescafé Nativ Cascara is a carbonated soft drink based on organic cascara – the “coffee berry” fruit surrounding the bean. Nestlé uses this antioxidant-rich coffee berry to brew a trend-based beverage. Through this, the company creates a new purpose for an agricultural side stream that would otherwise get discarded. And this innovative process creates new revenue streams for farmers and start-ups focused on developing food ingredients or packaging materials.

This organic caffeine drink is free from preservatives, artificial colours and flavours. It also has the same caffeine content as one cup of coffee. Furthermore, it comes in recyclable packaging with a paper label.

Nestlé experts have also developed a 70% dark chocolate using the traditionally unused byproduct cocoa pulp. The natural process includes drying the cocoa pulp and using it with the beans to create chocolate without refined sugar. 

Thomas Hauser, Nestlé’s Head of Product and Technology Development, says, “Developing new products and technologies using agricultural side streams is one way to reduce environmental impact, and it creates new opportunities for farmers.” Adding, “We are committed to addressing food loss – to create new value for raw materials and develop innovations that are good for you and the planet.

Nestlé also aims a net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. One way to achieve this is by fermenting coffee grounds to produce biogas, which provides electricity for the Swiss grid. Meanwhile, the fermentation residuals are used as eco-friendly fertilizer by farmers.

Their scientists are also exploring the potential of coffee production side streams as ingredients for bio-based packaging materials.

Find out more:

Nestlé Suisse S.A.
Rue Entre-deux-Villes 10 1814 La Tour-de-Peilz Switzerland
Switzerland
Tel: +41 21 924 51 11

You can also reach them here.

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