The Appetizer

#8: James Rogers of Apeel Sciences

James Rogers is Founder and CEO of Apeel Sciences. Over 30% of food grown in the world goes to waste. Apeel adds a layer of invisible, tasteless, odorless, plant-based protection on the surface of fruits and vegetables. This helps extend shelf life significantly, by creating a protective extra peel that seals moisture in and keeps oxygen out. But how did James come up with the idea for Apeel, and what’s next for him and his team in the coming years? Tune in for an exciting conversation!

#7: Sara Marquart of QOA

Sara Marquart is Co-Founder and CTO of QOA. The startup produces cocoa-free precision-fermented chocolate. The goal is to replace mass-market chocolate, and enable people all over the world to continue to enjoy the experience of chocolate, without the adverse impacts of cocoa production such as deforestation and child labor. Simply put, a more guilt-free chocolate. In this episode, we speak to Sara about QOA -- the technology, the journey, and the aspirations for the coming years.

#6: Nnaemeka Ikegwuonu of ColdHubs

Nnaemeka Ikegwuonu is Founder and CEO of ColdHubs. Globally, 1/3 of all food produced is wasted. ColdHubs operates 100% solar-powered walk-in cold rooms in Nigerian markets and farm clusters. The Hubs are used by smallholder farmers, retailers and wholesalers, to store and preserve fresh fruits, vegetables and other perishable foods 24/7, extending shelf life from 2 to 21 days, thus saving tens of thousands of tons of food from spoilage every year. ColdHubs serves thousands of customers using the 50+ installed cold rooms, and now plans to expand across Nigeria and the entire continent.

#5: Haven Baker of Pairwise

Haven Baker is cofounder of Pairwise. The company uses gene-editing technology CRISPR to improve the traits of fruits and vegetables -- e.g. increasing yields, making harvests easier, improving taste and convenience, and extending shelf life. Haven, and Pairwise, hopes that this can help drive consumption of fruits and vegetables, and thus improve health and environmental outcomes everywhere.

#4: Daphna Nissenbaum of TIPA

Daphna Nissenbaum co-founded TIPA in a quest to develop flexible, compostable packaging, which would have the same qualities as conventional plastics in terms of durability, transparency, barrier, sealability, printability, and shelf-life. A decade later, TIPA has come a long way in turning that vision into reality.