Nordic Foodtech

Iceland is known for having some of the most productive fisheries in the world. Some even call it the Silicon Valley of white fish. In this episode, Thor Sigfusson, the Founder of The Iceland Ocean Cluster, dives into why Iceland is a leader in seafood processing technology, the innovative ways they are using 100% of a fish, and what the fishing ship of tomorrow will look like. Thor is also the author of The New Fish Wave: How To Ignite the Seafood Industry. 7:00 Low-hanging fruit as an impetus for collaboration 10:30 The history of Fish & Ships in Iceland 19:30 Using 100% of the fish 21:30 How the Iceland Ocean Cluster started 36:30 How the cluster's model is being applied elsewhere Interested in learning more about oceans and the future of food? Check out this series of podcasts. You’re also invited to join our community on Instagram 

Jon Funderud is the CEO of Seaweed Solutions. Since 2009, they have been a pioneer in building up Europe's seaweed production, collaborating with players across the value chain to set up and establish growing and cultivation. Seaweed is an incredible raw material. Regenerative, sustainable, and versatile - seaweed is being used for animal feeds, food ingredients, biofuels, bio-plastics, and pharmaceuticals. It is estimated that the seaweed market will grow to 9.3 billion euro by 2030, 30% of which could be captured by Europe. This episode is a crash course on seaweed's potential. We dive into what's unfolding in Norway and beyond and why seaweed is such a big deal.  6:30 Seaweed's many applications  15:30 The up and coming European market  22:00 Ways of farming seaweed 31:30 Seaweed Solutions operations  37:00 Why industry collaborations matter Episode Transcript  Related Links More episodes on ocean farming in the Nordics The rise of regentative ocean gardens Forget seaweed, why hemp is nature’s misund

Electrolux was founded in 1901. Today, they offer a full line of kitchen and laundry appliances, inspired by their work in designing professional products for the world’s best chefs. Tove Chevalley is the Head of Electrolux’s Innovation Hub focused on rethinking the way we cook, clean, and take care of our homes. In this episode, we dive into how the Innovation Team co-creates with chefs, teenagers, colleagues, and startups to develop new solutions that facilitate sustainable eating, better clothing care, and wellbeing in the home.  11:00 Electrolux's sustainability targets for 2030 18:12 The future kitchen in 10 years 24:00 Defining sustainable eating 29:00 How Electrolux sources innovation 43:30 How the hub facilitates internal innovation Episode Transcript  Related Links and Episodes More interviews from Sweden More interviews with corporate innovation leaders Chef Gunnar on using smoke to flavor food K Group on why companies struggle to communicate sustainability initatives How Carlsberg uses su

Tim Wendelboe runs his own roastery and espresso bar in Oslo, Norway where he imports, roasts and serves high quality coffees. Tim has won multiple international barista competitions and is known for his ability to create great taste. In this episode, we trace Tim's career starting as a barista, moving into coffee roasting, and then starting his own Farm, Finca el Suelo, in Columbia where he practices biological coffee farming. We also discuss how Tim works closely and transparently with farmers to improve their coffee quality.  8:30 Positively influencing great taste in coffee 15:30 The Tim Wendelboe coffee shop experience 18:00 How Tim works with farmers around the world  27:30 Adventures in biological coffee farming in Columbia 43:20 Sustainability and transparency  Episode Transcript  Related Links Coffee Collective is changing how the world thinks about coffee More episodes on farming More episode on top Nordic foods and beverage producers Yara on green fertilizer and the hy

Klaus Thomsen is one of the Founders of Coffee Collective. Their goal is to explore and unfold exceptional coffee experiences, in a manner thatgives better living conditions to coffee farmers across the globe. For nearly, 15 years they have been pushing the coffee industry to do business differently. In this episode, we discuss their many initiatives from transparently sharing what they pay for coffee to going carbon neutral by 2022. Their dream is for a coffee farmer in Kenya to obtain the same status and living conditions as a winegrower in France.  11:30 What creates great taste across the supply chain 19:30 Paying farmer's a fair price  24:00 Direct trade and opening up the books for transparency 33:00 Creating a market for specialty coffee 50:30 Going carbon neutral by 2022 Episode Transcript Related Links Tim Wendelboe on optimizing coffee’s taste K Group on the struggle to communicate sustainability initiatives Maersk on using blockchain to stop food waste Ocean Harvest gets communi

Regenerative ocean farming has been identified as a key solution to climate change. It’s the practice of growing seaweed along with several kinds of shellfish like oysters and mussels not just to feed people, but also to heal the oceans. HavHøst or OceanHarvest is an NGO helping communities throughout the Nordics get set up with toolkits to grow, harvest, and eat from the sea without harming nature or existing underwater ecosystems. In this episode, Joachim Hjerl shares how a crazy idea of growing 20 oysters in Copenhagen's central harbor became a movement of blue community gardens.  7:30 An intro to regenerative ocean farming  14:30 Growing a network of community-supported farms 23:00 Working with policymakers to enable solutions  36:00 Creating a market to support supply 43:00 Cultural acceptance around new foods  If you liked this episode, check out this podcast with Hatch from Norway on innovations within aquaculture (farming in water). For more conversations, join our community on Instagram or check o

Björn Öste founded Oatly with his brother Rickard in 1994. Fast forward to today and Oatly IPOed in May 2021 at a value of $10 billion. But how did this startup from Lund, Sweden become the world's leading alt-milk brand? In today’s episode, we cover Oatly’s startup journey from the early academic days focused on lactose intolerance to the development of their famous barista strategy. We also cover the brothers' other entrepreneurial endeavors to develop food with clear health benefits.  5:00 How Oatly started 18:00 Nailing branding and product-market fit 41:00 Tips for entering the US market 47:00 Aventure and developing science-backed ventures 57:00 The story of Good Idea - sparkling water that reduces blood sugar  Episode Transcript  Related Links and Episodes More Nordic startup stories Chr. Hansen on using microbes to stop food waste How Nick’s developed high-tech, good for you sweets Vivino’s Founder on creating the world’s biggest wine marketplace How Arla is using blockchain to track their milk Mor

Diego Prado is the Head of R&D at Alchemist Explore - the research and development arm of restaurant Alchemist focused on making new dishes and conducting scientific research on products and techniques that create future building blocks for gastronomy. Alchemist was founded in 2015 by Rasmus Munk and introduced a new approach to gastronomy called Holistic Cuisine, which looks at the whole instead of the parts. In this episode, we explore how the Alchemist brings artists, designers, engineers, researchers and chefs together to challenge food as we know it. 10:20 An intro to Holistic Cuisine 14:40 Restaurant Alchemist vs the R&D Test Kitchen 22:30 Academic papers as a foundation for new dishes 28:30 What food will look like in space 38:30 Eating invasive species from jellyfish to butterflies For more conversations, join our community on Instagram or check out other episodes on www.nordicfoodtech.io.

Carlsberg’s Together Towards Zero program consists of four major ambitions - ZERO carbon footprint, ZERO water waste, ZERO irresponsible drinking, and a ZERO accidents culture. Tenna Skov Thorsted leads Carlsberg Denmark’s sustainability efforts. Her job is to ensure that these targets are met and that they create value. Join us as Tenna shares how sustainability at Carlsberg works in practice and how they collaborate to get there. 4:00 The organizational structure of sustainability 6:30 The Together Towards Zero campaign 12:00 Where ideas come from 16:00 Examples around water and packaging 35:00 Carlsberg Research Laboratory For more conversations, join our community on Instagram or check out other episodes on www.nordicfoodtech.io. Your host, Analisa Winther, always appreciates hearing your feedback, thoughts, and key takeaways!

The Nordic FoodTech Podcast spotlights individuals and organizations who are creating the future through food. In this episode, the Host and Creator of the podcast Analisa Winther is interviewed by radio and podcast personality Andreas Graulund. Listen in as Analisa explains how and why the show started, her background, common themes, how guests are chosen, and so much more. 8:10 How the podcast got started 12:00 The purpose of the show 16:00 How guests are chosen 22:30 Fostering collaboration and breaking down silos 30:00 Why every asked is asked the same 4 questions To get in touch with Analisa, connect on Instagram or LinkedIn. Like the show? Help keep the Nordic FoodTech Podcast running by becoming a subscriber here.

Over 10 years ago, Heini Zachariassen and his co-founder Theis Søndergaard founded Vivino because they were frustrated by not knowing which wine to buy. Today, Vivino’s 50 million users can purchase nearly 13 million wines from around the world. The Vivino community has scanned over 1.6 billion wine labels, written 72 million reviews, and given 204 million ratings on 13.5 million bottles of wine. In this episode, Vivino Founder Heini Zachariassen shares the startup’s story of how they disrupted the wine industry. 6:30 How Vivino started 10:30 The first MVP - staying lean and frugal 16:15 The technology and community behind Vivino 30:30 The moment Vivino found product-market fit 40:00 Lessons in leadership  For more conversations, join our community on Instagram or check out other episodes on www.nordicfoodtech.io. Your host, Analisa Winther, always appreciates hearing your feedback, thoughts, and key takeaways!

The story of Nick's begins in 2014, when a Swedish serial entrepreneur with a background in mechanical engineering was diagnosed as pre-diabetic. Niclas Luthman had to change his diet, but he still loved and craved sweets. This led to him tinkering around in the kitchen and creating a line of "better for you" snacks and sweets that have no added sugar, gluten, or palm oil. Nick's products involve an enormous amount of R&D. enabling them to achieve new food feats like offering an ice cream with 70% fewer calories than other leading brands. Nick's recently closed $30 million in funding, launched its ice cream in 4,000 stores across the US, and has expanded into 15 European markets. Tune in for this startup's how I built this story.  9:30 How Nick's started  17:00 Building every ingredient from scratch 23:00 The power of a good team in an emerging industry 32:00 Developing innovative products from science 42:00 Advice for scaling in Sweden vs the USA Episode Transcript  Related Links  More FoodTech startup

The C40 network consists of 97 cities representing 700+ million citizens and one quarter of the global economy. The mayors of these cities are committed to delivering on the most ambitious goals of the Paris Agreement at the local level and C40 supports them in collaborating effectively, sharing knowledge and driving meaningful, measurable and sustainable action on climate change. In today’s episode, I speak with Zachary Tofias who serves as the Director of the Food and Waste Program at C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group. We discuss the ins and outs of how C40 works, the power of cities to create change, why networks matter, how to spread good ideas, and examples of how cities are taking bold climate action. 2:30 What C40 is and how it works 7:40 Why cities can have big food system impact 11:15 How good ideas spread across cities 30:00 The big opportunity around food systems 36:00 How to establish a network Share your feedback and thoughts or discover new episodes on Instagram @nordicfoodtech.

My guest today is the internationally renowned love matchmaker Lemarc Thomas who is based in Stockholm. A life-long student of psychology, Lemarc learned through his studies and interactions that love is at the core of human behavior, and that helping someone become aware of how they love not only improves that individual’s life, but transforms many, if not all relationships connected to that person. In today’s conversation, we focus on the lessons that can be learned from love matchmaking when it comes to building stronger relationships and collaborations throughout the food system.  6:00 The blurred line between our professional and personal selves 7:00 Values and needs as predictors of long term relationships 22:20 The 3 layers of being in a relationship 40:00 What it means to do business with love Share your thoughts with us on Instagram @lemarcthomas and @nordicfoodtech

In 2016, Peter Juul Regnersgaard and his co-founders realized that most gum is made with a plastic core. This launched a hobby project, which turned into a business to see if a plastic-free gum could be made. It took the founders 472 prototypes until they finally perfected the recipe in their home kitchens and launched True Gum, which is now sold all across Europe. In this episode, Peter shares the company’s startup story from going up against industry conglomerates to building a brand and setting up a factory with no prior startup or food production experience. This is a story you won’t want to miss! 2:30 Why gum is an environmental problem  17:50 Why True Gum set up their own factory 39:00 Finding product-market fit 37:20 Sourcing and making plastic-free gum For more conversations, join our community on Instagram or check out other episodes on www.nordicfoodtech.io. Your host, Analisa Winther, always appreciates hearing your feedback, thoughts, and key takeaways!

My guest today is Ramon Escobar, the founder of Chufly Imports, which curates, imports, and markets a portfolio of premium wine and spirits from the world's lesser-developed countries. Their mission is to drive transformative socio-economic development in local economies by expanding market access, promoting social mobility, and fostering economic diversification. During our episode today, we’ll talk about how Ramon arrived at this business model from his background in diplomacy, economics and international affairs. We will particularly focus on Bolivia’s five-century old wine-making tradition. This is a friendly warning that this episode will likely give you very strong wanderlust and is best enjoyed while drinking a glass of wine. 9:10 The impossibility of Bolivia making wine 20:30 How drinking wine from developing nations leads to economic development and prosperity 25:00 Ramon’s vision for the future of food 29:00 How to check if your business model is having a positive impact For more conversations, jo

My guest today is Marika King who is the Head of PINC, Paulig Group’s corporate venture capital arm, which is focused on investing in the future of taste. Paulig is a house of brands with a presence in 13 European countries, a turnover of almost 1 billion euros, and around 2,000 employees. Headquartered in Finland, its portfolio consists of Santa Maria, Risenta, Gold & Green, and PocoLoco along with Paulig coffee. PINC stands for Paulig Incubator and was launched in 2018. In this episode, we discuss how PINC is helping Paulig to invest in future innovations while contributing to a tastier, healthier, and more sustainable planet. 6:10 How Paulig’s corporate venture capital arm works 10:00 The future of taste and how PINC looks at radical innovation 13:30 Due diligence and what PINC expects to see from startups 33:00 Vision for the future of food in 10-15 years 48:00 Tips for fundraising and valuating your company This month, we are hosting a feedback competition. If you fill out this form, you will be en

The Norrsken Impact Accelerator is based in Stockholm. This year, the program is focused on accepting startups who are addressing big challenges related to our global good system. The accelerator has created quite a buzz for the incredible network of unicorn founders behind companies like Soundcloud, Klarna, Meltwater, Acne Studios, etc who will be advising the selected applicants. Today, I am joined by Funda Sezgi who is the Co-founder and Managing Director of the Norrsken Impact Accelerator. I also have Anna Ottosson, a FoodTech investor at Trellis Road and a Venture Partner of the program. 15:00 How the accelerator works and perks 22:00 How will startups be able to tap these unicorn founders? 28:00 What do we need more of in the Nordics to build our ecosystem? 37:20 What does it mean to scale impact? 42:00 What's the best place to start a food startup globally? This month, we are hosting a feedback competition. If you fill out this form, you will be entered in a lottery to win a $200 gift certificate

Matt Homewood better known as @anurbanharvester on Instagram is a food waste activist. He is part of a community of urban harvesters who have taken to social media to document their dumpster diving finds. Matt is particularly interested in raising awareness around supermarket food waste and is working towards finding solutions for the electronics to kilos of meat that he sees thrown out. In this episode, we talk about Matt’s journey to becoming a food waste activist, how to dumpster dive, the economics behind why this is happening, and what needs to change.  5:00 What is dumpster diving?  9:50 How do you use social media to spread the word?  23:55 What are the solutions to this problem? 30:45 How does someone start urban harvesting?  This month, we are hosting a feedback competition. If you fill out this form, you will be entered in a lottery to win a $200 gift certificate to the bar or restaurant OR an hour of coaching / consulting with your host. To enter fill out this form here. 

Julien Biolley heads up the Marketing and Business Development activities for Chr. Hansen’s Food Cultures & Enzymes in North America. Chr. Hansen is a bioscience company that develops natural ingredient solutions for the food, nutritional, pharmaceutical, and agricultural industries. Chr. Hansen's product innovation is based on their microbial platform, which consists of about 40,000 microbial strains or what they call "good bacteria," which can be used to solve global challenges such as food waste, global health, and the overuse of antibiotics and pesticides. In this episode, we discuss their 2025 strategy, how they are partnering with different stakeholders in the food ecosystem from Noma's former Head of Fermentation David Zilber to startups, and the many potential applications and innovations surrounding microbes and fermentation.  3:10 What is good bacteria? 13:00 How do startup partnerships happen? 20:30 What is your 2025 strategy? 28:00 How do you do new product development? 40:00 How does Chr. Ha