Last year during the Asia-Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Summit, nine exciting Asia-based startups pitched their sustainable technologies aimed at building up our food system’s resilience to crises in the post-pandemic world.
Without further ado, below is a round-up of the startups hailing from all over Asia who are slated to pitch at the Summit next month and the disruptive technologies that they’re bringing to the table.
1. Augmentus (Singapore)
Founding date: 2019
Headquarters: Singapore
Founders: Yong Shin Leong & Daryl Lim
Mission: Augmentus is a Singapore startup that has developed a full-stack code-free robotic automation platform to enable any user, including those without any robotic experience such as urban farmers, to develop robotic systems. This solution means reduced time, lowered costs and skill barriers for robotic automation.
2. AuroraFood (Singapore)
Founding date: 2019
Headquarters: Singapore
Founders: Jing Gao & Xiaoxuan Jin
Mission: Created by scientists at the National University of Singapore (NUS), Aurora Food is a patent-pending food tech platform offering a glycemic index (GI) lowering technology that enables the production of baked goods and desserts with a slow sugar release without the use of any sugar alternatives. The company hopes to make sweet indulgences healthier and more diabetic-friendly via a B2B model with foodservice chains. Their first product is a baking mix that enables a slower sugar release without any sugar alternatives.
3. Chilibeli (Indonesia)
Founding date: 2019
Headquarters: Jakarta, Indonesia
Founders: Alex Feng, Damon Yue & Matt Li
Mission: Jakarta-based Chilibeli is an online shopping platform for fresh products such as fruit, vegetables and other daily household items, but with an added “social commerce” aspect whereby users can interact and buy and sell with other members of the community. Through this social commerce concept, Chilibeli hopes to facilitate micro-entrepreneurship through its Mitra Chilibeli, or Chilibeli for Partners program, in the process empowering Indonesian women.
4. GreenPod Labs (India)
Founding date: 2019
Headquarters: Chennai, India
Founder: Deepak Rajmohan
Mission: GreenPod Labs is an agri-biotech firm creating sustainable solutions to combat food waste in India. It’s flagship technology is a nano-tech active packaging that can extend the shelf life of fresh produce like fruit and vegetables across the supply chain. It works by using plant phenolic compounds to slow down the ethylene biosynthesis process, as well as activating an acquired resistance of the product to help it retain its fresh quality.
5. Senzagro (Sri Lanka)
Founding date: 2017
Headquarters: Colombo, Sri Lanka
Founders: Miller Alexander Rajendran, Anton Crises John Nirajh & Tharmakulasingam Jeyjenthan
Mission: Senzagro is an agriculture company that has created the world’s most advanced smart irrigation service, which automates optimal irrigation and adaptation to increase crop yields for farmers, while providing water and energy cost savings too. It’s IoT technology collects information about all environmental conditions that affect agriculture, from weather to moisture and soil fertility, which in turn is used to provide the data to automate the drips and sprinklers, providing exactly what farms need.
To read more and discover further start ups in the area of ethical food production, follow the link below:
https://www.greenqueen.com.hk/sustainable-food-startups/
There are plenty of ways to approach food ethics and various reasons for making ethical food choices. Some make the change for moral reasons, while others do it for their health. No matter why you’re making this choice, ethical eating requires knowing where your food comes from as well as the impact it has on other people, animals, and the environment.
Reduce the Amount of (Red) Meat You Eat
Meat products, beef, in particular, have become a very unethical food choice. Producing meat takes a far greater toll on the environment than vegetables. Not just in things like animal-feed production and water use but also in transportation, packaging, and energy.
Increase the Amount of (Raw) Plants You Eat
To continue on the theme of balance, increasing the amount of plant-based foods in your diet is an ethical food choice that is good for all. To stay healthy, the human body requires a good deal of nutrition, much of which can be found in plants. Meals should consist of small portions of animal produce (otherwise, e.g., vitamin B12 supplementation becomes vital), with the rest of our plate space going to fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes
Support Local Farms and Shop at Farmers’ Markets
One of the most impactful ethical eating choices you can make is to buy food from the local farmers in your area. The farm may sell its products through your local grocery or sell from the farms themselves. Some even allow the public to come harvest crops for themselves or even sell you animals to have butchered.
Look for Fair Trade Foods
Issues surrounding workers’ rights are prevalent throughout the global agricultural industry. Many foods, including oranges, strawberries, chocolate, and coffee, are often picked by enslaved workers.
Always Read the Ingredient Lists
Food packaging is virtually always deceiving and foods are made to look better than they are. Often, pictures of the food on the packaging looks better than the actual product inside, and there are plenty of companies that claim their food to be healthier than they are via misleading statements and the like.
To find out more ways to become a sustainable consumer, follow a link to the original blog:
https://impactful.ninja/make-ethical-food-choices/
The European E-learning Institute (EUEI) is committed to providing high-quality learning experiences and innovative educational programmes which engage learners from a range of sectors and socio-economic backgrounds. EUEI is committed to promoting social cohesion, inclusion, and sustainability across Europe, making them a perfect fit for the EFE Project.
Our experienced team of trainers, researchers and technical experts are uniquely placed to guide educators from VET, HEI, Adult and Youth sectors to harness the opportunities that innovative and collaborative e-learning and digital tools offer for learners.
We specialise in the delivering of high quality, responsive and innovative projects to educators and learners in the topics of pedagogic approaches, entrepreneurial competences, digital skills, inclusion, and sustainability.
Meet our the EUEI team working on the EFE project
Canice Hamill- Managing Director
Canice has worked in the field of lifelong education for over 20 years and is recognised as an expert in instructional design and the development of e-learning solutions for education and training. A former trainer and lecturer, Canice utilises a holistic approach to creating innovative, interactive learning environments and works closely with tutors, trainers, and development teams, emphasising the importance of empathy and user experience in every learning solution.
Our Logician -Innovative Inventors with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge
Catherine Neill- European Project Manager
An experienced EU project manager, Catherine is an integral member of our team. She is an effective communicator and has a strong background in areas of Inclusion. The oldest of 5 children Catherine quickly learned how to lead the pack, utilising organisational skills alongside her passion for helping others, she is committed to making the world a more accessible, sustainable, and friendly place.
Our Protagonist -Charismatic and inspiring leaders, able to mesmerise their listeners.
Aine Hamill- European Project Officer
Aine plays an important role in the learning design and subsequently in evaluating the effectiveness of our eLearning products on completion. Aine is always keen to engage with her creative side and implement the newest digital tools, pedagogies, and trends into our e-learning solutions. She is passionate about finding effective and relevant ways to engage learners from all walks of life.
Our Defender-dedicated and warm protectors, able to implement ideas and “create order from chaos”.
Including our key role in the initiation of the Ethical food Entrepreneurs project we will also work tirelessly alongside our project partners to deliver the highest quality project results as possible. Within the project EUEI will develop the project website and be responsible for the technical realisation of the materials.
Learn more about EUEI here:www.euei.dk
