Mista unveils 2024 Growth Hack participants with biomass fermentation focus

Givaudan’s food innovation platform, Mista, has announced that biomass fermentation will be the theme of its 2024 Growth Hack.

The annual programme brings together experts from across the global food system to develop integrated solutions that can deliver more nutritious, affordable and sustainable foods.

This year’s cohort of 14 early-stage food companies selected to participate has been revealed. Each has been selected due to their efforts in building unique technologies to leverage the benefits of a wide range of organisms, approaches and carbon feedstocks – such as sugar, agricultural side streams and CO2.

Céline Schiff-Deb, chief science officer for Mista, said: “The food system needs new solutions to feed the 8.5 billion people that will populate the Earth in 2030. Fermentation biomass is an approach that grows microbial cells – think microalgae, fungi, yeast or bacteria – that are packed with healthy nutrients, including proteins, fibres, vitamins and minerals. These cells are fed simple nutrients and multiply in the controlled environment of a fermenter.”

She added: “By leveraging this millennia-old technology, we can produce vast amounts of nutritious, affordable and sustainable ingredients that can improve the nutritional and sensory performance of foods, beverages and snacks.”

The selected start-ups are as follows:

Arborea, Portugal and UK
California Cultured, US
Calysta, US and UK
Equii, US
Ingrediome, Israel
MOA Foodtech, Spain
Nutrition from Water, New Zealand
Revyve, The Netherlands
Sempera Organics, US
Solar Foods, Finland
Solmeyea, Greece
Superbrewed Food, US
The Better Meat Co, US
The Protein Brewery, The Netherlands

Each start-up will put forward a food or beverage prototype highlighting the benefits of their ingredients, developed by a technical team that will include a mix of experts from several large corporate Mista members – including AAK, Buhler, CJ CheilJedang, Danone, Givaudan, Ingredion, JPG Resources and SIG.

The teams will work to combine their individual companies’ expertise and solutions into a collaborative approach designed to ‘disrupt conventional development processes’.

They will meet virtually to refine ideas and approaches in the coming months, before meeting physically in early November to finalise the projects at either the Mista Innovation Centre in San Francisco, US, or Givaudan’s Zurich Innovation Centre in Kemptthal, Switzerland.

This effort will then culminate in a two-day event in San Francisco on 19-20 November, which will include a technical symposium featuring discussions with global experts, followed by the presentation of the findings from each of the 14 discovery teams on day two.

Scott May, founder and head of Mista, commented: “Mista's cross-value chain ecosystem is curated to connect innovators and opportunities, delivering new potential to evolve people, teams and companies. The Mista Growth Hack demonstrates how we collaborate to bring the largest players in the food system together with an amazing array of early-stage companies, bringing new ingredients and technologies to life.”