Workshop with Thought For Food Foundation (TFF) - Knowledge Partner for Esummit'21

Topic: Green Food Supply Chain 

Food production is one of the most difficult environmental problems the world faces. Fertilizers that are sprayed onto fields wash into waterways where they can cause toxic algal blooms and fish kills. Pesticides used on crops have a detrimental effect on pollinating insects like bees and butterflies. Livestock have been found to be a significant source of carbon emissions. Shipping food from the rural areas where it is grown to the urban markets where it is consumed takes vast quantities of fuel and compounds all of these issues. It’s clear that more must be done to increase the sustainability of the food industry. 

Yet green supply chain management in the food industry is a challenge that has mostly gone unmet. The global population is growing, and we depend on fertilizer and pesticides to keep crop yields high. The basis of the problem is that we do not yet have the means to meet the growing global demand for food in a sustainable way. Still, there is growing reason to believe that we may crack this problem through new technology and a change in our approach to agriculture. Until that time, companies looking to create a sustainable food industry supply chain are focusing on improving efficiency by reducing wasted fuel, packaging, and products.

Green supply chain management means integrating environmental thinking into supply-chain management, including product design, material sourcing and selection, manufacturing processes, delivery of the final product to the consumers as well as end-of-life management of the product's useful life. 

Environmental concern has become an important factor in manufacturing industries, so they are in need of practicing supply chain concern towards environment or green supply chain management. The growth of the industries is rapid but the growth can’t be stated as vigorous growth because of their awareness and concern towards environmental manufacturing. 

The industries are experiencing an increased pressure to reduce cost, improve quality and reduced time of delivery to sustain in the present market, so they are narrowed on focusing on the factors of their sustainability and other influencing factors to the environment are ignored. The lack of awareness and because of high recklessness the environment is affected to great extent by these industries. The traditional supply chain comprises five parts: raw material, industry, distribution, consumer, and waste. Each of the links in the supply chain can be a reason for pollution, waste, and other hazards to the environment. 

About TFF:

Thought For Food is food and agriculture’s entrepreneurial innovation engine for impact. They find and connect creative, divergent thinkers from all disciplines and all parts of the world, and support them generating and scaling breakthrough solutions for sustainable, inclusive, and resilient food systems. In 2020, Thought For Food’s Founder & CEO Christine Gould joined the Advisory Committee for the UN Food Systems Summit 2021.

The organisation’s wing-to-wing innovation programs attract and support startups at every stage – from ideation through to investment. Since 2013, Thought For Food has helped to launch 60+ ventures that have collectively raised $200M+, and have accelerated 8K+ new business concepts. The TFF Community comprises 20,000+ next-generation leaders from over 175 countries, and continues to grow every year.

Date: 21st Feb, 2021 (Sunday)

Time: 2-4pm IST

A. Speakers: 

1. Christine Gould

Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Thought For Food Foundation (TFF), Advisory Committee and Scientific Group Member, 2021 FoodSystems Summit, United Nations

As Founder and CEO of Thought For Food (TFF), Christine is helping to empower the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs everywhere in the world with the mindset, skills, connections, and investments they need to build locally relevant solutions that can be scaled for global impact. As an advisor for reNature, she will be guiding us through the process to empower young entrepreneurs to foster innovation & sustainable solutions for the regenerative ag space. 

Christine has been appointed by the UN Deputy Secretary-General to join the Advisory Committee for the UN Food Systems Summit. The UN Food Systems Summit will be convened in 2021 by The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, in collaboration with The United Nations (UN) Rome-based Agencies. It will serve as a critical contribution to the Decade of Action to deliver the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

Serving the Advisory Committee role in a personal capacity, Christine will bring forward her deep passion for and expertise in next generation-led, purpose-driven innovation and entrepreneurship in the food and agricultural sector to provide strategic guidance for the UN Food Systems Summit’s successful development and implementation. She joins eminent leaders from intergovernmental humanitarian organizations, international research institutes, educational institutions, as well as for-profit and nonprofit organizations.

2. Marie Brueser

Thought For Food Community Manager, Thought For Food Foundation (TFF)

Marie is passionate about food sustainability which has shaped her path so far.

With a Ph.D. in plant genetics and plant breeding, she understands some of the challenges faced by farmers and plant breeding companies as well as the techniques available to solve global issues like food security. At TFF, she is constantly energized by the inspiring people and the innovative solutions they are bringing forward. 

She is passionate about sustainable food and agriculture. She is interested in startups and innovative solutions to create a more sustainable food system.

At TFF, she works with the global TFF Community which includes its startups, entrepreneurs, mentors, regional coordinators, and ambassadors. She also runs the TFF Academy, TFF's virtual acceleration program. 

She loves hearing about the innovations and motivations of our next-gen changemakers she works with and to hear about the locally relevant solutions that can be scaled to have a global impact.

B. Startups: 

1. WTH

Founders: Carlo Antonio Ng, Carissa Jane Lim, Stephen Michael Co

Location: Philippines

Solution Area: Plant-Based Foods/ Nutrition

Plant-based, nutritious and delicious food products made from valorized bumper crops sourced directly from local growers, processed to minimize waste and have a long shelf-life.

The 2019/20 TFF Challenge Finalist Team WTH (Worth The Health) Foods produces plant-based, ready-to-eat meals, such as jackfruit stew and mung-bean based ground meat. The team is now developing their new range Seasonals, which uses seasonal crops to create delicious, nutritious and convenient foods that help to reduce the waste that occurs from post-harvest loss and processing.

Read more: https://thoughtforfood.org/wth-foods/

2. Climate edge

Founders: James Alden

Location: London

Solution Area: The Climate Edge Service Platform is a Marketplace linking Farmers to Agri-Services Providers. Climate Edge works with agricultural Service Providers to make their Services accessible to thousands of Smallholder farmers.

Climate Edge is a social enterprise dedicated to increasing the profitability and stability of smallholder agriculture. Their mission is to revolutionise how services are delivered to this market.

Read more: https://www.climate-edge.com/

3. Aglonera 

Founders: Febri Aditya, Abdul Aziz, Maylsha Tiara

Location: Indonesia

Solution Area: Marketplace

Bulk buying platform for street food vendors to save them valuable time, increase their revenue and source high quality produce directly from local farmers.

In Indonesia, market vendors get up at 2 or 3 AM to buy fresh produce at the wholesale market so they can open their own small shop early in the morning. They sell the produce until the late evening, catch a few hours of sleep and then repeat the same procedure day after day. Launched in 2017, Aglonera helps the street vendors by directly bringing food to them, cutting travel-time needed each morning, ensuring cheaper market prices and an overall higher income for street vendors. This also helps save time and costs for the food vendors, while improving the quality, nutrition and sustainability of food provisions.

Read more: https://thoughtforfood.org/aglonera/