Grocery supply chains might not be as sexy as the edible insects or woolly mammoth meatballs that make foodtech headlines, but they are a crucial slice of the sector — and an important consideration in the fight against the worst effects of climate change.
Every year, 100k tonnes of readily available and edible food is thrown away from the retail and food manufacturing sector - just in the UK.
Growing Further is hoping to give this sub-sector a platform with the second iteration of its annual foodtech awards, focused on startups that are working on the retail supply chain. The winners receive funding from a pot of €100k, plus the publicity that comes with victory and networking opportunities with corporate partners and investors.
“We could have paid a consultancy firm to produce a report that would be expensive and pretty quickly end up gathering dust on a shelf,” says David O’Meara, the award’s founder and head of distribution at The Greenman Group, Europe’s only fully integrated grocery-anchored real estate investment and fund management group. “Instead, we decided to launch the Growing Further initiative to identify and reward early-stage businesses that are active across the food supply chain to learn ourselves first hand what is happening.”
But what do companies get out of the awards - and what do the awards get out of the companies?
The impact of the spotlight
Amine Raji, who won the award last year with microbiological detection device builder Spore.Bio was attracted to the opportunity despite having no historical proof that the application would be worth their time.
We had the amazing chance to meet lots of industry experts who were extremely interested in our solution that led to lots of really strong leads and even some commercial contracts.
“[We were drawn in by] the mission that they want to celebrate: [...] building the future of the food value chain, and bringing a positive impact to this industry,” he says.
While the €62.5k prize money for the overall winner (and €12.5 for each category winner) is an attraction for many founders, it was the status that came with winning that Raji hoped to gain the most.
“We applied more for the recognition and the contacts and intros that we would get through the event — the prize money was just a plus,” he says. “The communication and the press coverage that we got was impressive, with lots of press releases and communication all around the world.”
It also opened up opportunities for the business: “During the [awards ceremony], we had the amazing chance to meet lots of industry experts who were extremely interested in our solution that led to lots of really strong leads and even some commercial contracts,” Raji adds.
How to win
But how did Spore.Bio win?
Having strong ideas on how to prevent future supply chain problems is one thing - but Heather Morris, managing director of founder community and accelerator Dogpatch Labs and one of the judges for this year’s competition, says that the crucial characteristic of a winning startup is the vision to transform it to a functional and marketable product.
We need to be looking at all of the best practices - not just around how we leverage AI to make better movies and easier ways to sell things to people, but also the real core things that we need to live and survive.
“The overall hope is that not only can we find companies that are creating big and impactful globally scalable companies, but that they're coming at it with a customer obsession where they've not gone out and built something purely for the idea, but they've actually worked really closely with potential customers to figure out,” she says.
She adds that the best founders build not for problems we have today, but for problems we’ll be facing in 10 or 15 years.
“We need to be looking at all of the best practices — not just around how we leverage AI to make better movies and easier ways to sell things to people, but also the real core things that we need to live and survive,” she says.
Working out the bigger picture is also what Raji recommends that founders applying for the awards keep in mind.
“My only advice would be to approach it as everything you should be doing as an early-stage founder: sell yourself, sell the company, sell the vision,” he says. “Really deeply think about how your solution — despite all the technical aspects and product features — will change the whole industry.”
A spotlight on the industry
And putting a spotlight on the whole industry to change it, is what Raji hopes for the awards.
If the industry doesn't change, if there aren’t innovations that help the industry evolve, we won't have anything to eat in the coming years.
“When I was at engineering school, I was the only one who wanted to work in food and beverage manufacturing,” he says. “All the other engineers wanted to work in aerospace, transport and energy.”
The inspiration for the awards came from founder David O’Meara’s own childhood on a farm, where he experienced the beginnings of the food supply chain first hand, while the origins of The Greenman Group date back to 2005 where a small property investment company in Ireland later became 11 companies and a portfolio valued at approximately €1.35bn across France, Germany, and Poland. Historically rooted in the grocery real estate sector, the group has expanded its focus to include sustainability and innovation.
“The strong relationships we have with some of the world’s leading grocers has given us an insight into the intricacy of the processes and systems required to get that food into people’s fridges at home as well as the urgency of doing so more sustainably,” says O’Meara.
Raji also presses the urgency of scaling food supply chain startups.
“If the industry doesn't change, if there aren’t innovations that help the industry evolve, we won't have anything to eat in the coming years,” he says. “So [the awards are] really a good way to raise awareness about the urgent need of the industry to find new solutions to massive problems, from food waste to the supply chain, to the scarcity of resources.”
