Food is health: an emerging superpower in agbioscience innovation

From a growing consumer voice to regulatory pressures, the way we produce and consume food is changing at a rapid pace. Research from AgriNovus Indiana shows a significant opportunity to innovate where two worlds collide: outputs from the state’s sizable production agriculture economy into inputs for food companies seeking to deepen their relationships at the farmgate.

Some food companies are shifting ingredients and exploring new product development approaches. Others are investing in their transition to regenerative agriculture practices to reduce supply chain risks and meet sustainability commitments. Indiana is positioned to lead in the Food is Health space with efforts spanning upstream intersectional research to strengthened regional food economies, bolstered by diversified agricultural production and a large base of value-added food companies.

AgriNovus CEO, Christy Wright, says Indiana is in an enviable position to lead, quickly. “We are in this exciting moment where innovators can solve for consumer food interests – whether that’s nutrition, sustainability, cost or another variable – and Indiana has a unique set of assets that make discovery, collaboration and development of new food technologies possible.”

Outside of location and logistics, which makes sourcing, manufacturing and moving food products easy, what are these assets so unique to Indiana?

1. A significant value-added food and nutrition economy to address consumer food interests and improve human health outcomes. Indiana is home to and supports the expansion of food manufacturers such as Clif Bar, Kraft Heinz, Missions Foods and more. Corteva Agriscience – via its Corteva Catalyst platform – announced a $25 million equity stake in Pairwise, a technology company focused on gene editing in food and agriculture, to accelerate new solutions for farmers that make produce more readily accessible and optimally nutritious for consumers.
2. An emerging ecosystem of early-stage and scale-up innovators focused on food technologies. True Essence Foods is a food technology company focused on licensing flavor balancing and symmetry solutions for the food and beverage industry. FloVision Solutions leverages AI-powered analytics for food processing. And early-stage innovator, NutriPop, has entered the Food is Health space with their snack that’s made from popped water lily seeds. The company recently won AgriNovus’ Velocity accelerator.
3. The acceleration of food-focused research and commercialization at the intersection of plant, animal, human and environmental health. In October, Elanco and Purdue University will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its OneHealth Innovation District in downtown Indianapolis, focused on becoming a globally recognized leader in this space. The shared-use facility is designed to deliver and scale innovation where industry and academia can collaborate, including office, wet lab and incubator space.
4. A place-based institute for food and beverage companies to ideate, develop and commercialize novel improved and sustainable products. The Food Entrepreneurship and Manufacturing Institute (FEMI) at Purdue University fuels economic growth in Indiana and beyond by enabling food and beverage ideation, development, and commercialization of novel improved and sustainable products through supporting farmers, entrepreneurs, small businesses and large corporations. It also provides learning experiences in innovation and entrepreneurship for students in Purdue’s College of Agriculture, which is consistently a top five program in the U.S.
5. Enabling farmers to diversify crop production and supply regional food economies. Indiana is well-positioned for growth if the state can translate the outputs of its sizable agricultural production platform into inputs for an expanded value-added food and nutrition platform. The state currently offers block grants for specialty crop expansion as well as grants to improve food supply resilience in the middle of the food chain.

With assets in place, Wright encourages innovators to come to build on our collective strengths. “Uniting our strengths for new collaborations at the intersections of human, animal, plant and environmental health is that next pivotal step to driving real change across the value chain. There is potential for tremendous impact on the food system and it’s got to start with new, unique conversations across industries, and where our strengths lie.”

AgriNovus enables early-stage innovation through its Velocity accelerator, a six-month program where participants ranging from students to startups and existing companies create solutions to defined challenges – one track competing in the Food is Health space. The winner receives a $25,000 grand prize to accelerate their technology forward.

To stay in this Food is Health conversation with AgriNovus, contact their team or subscribe to their podcast, Agbioscience, which is released each Monday at 6 AM ET.