AFRICA'S NO.1 FOOD, BEVERAGE & MILLING INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

Israeli startup Demetria to use AI-tech to remove the guesswork out of quality coffee production

Mar 5, 2021Mar 7, 2021 Editor

ISRAEL – Demetria, an Israeli–Colombia-based start-up, is set to drive efficiency, transparency, and sustainability throughout the coffee value chain using its first-of-its-kind AI-powered software. The firm notes that it’s AI technology will significantly help in improving the quality of coffee at the firm level by bringing to farmers “first-of-its-kind insights” on which farming methods produce better crops. According to the startup, Cupping (which determines the quality of coffee) is inaccessible to the vast majority of the 12.5 million smallholder farmers who produce 60% of the world’s coffee beans. This means…

Aleph Farms raises bar for cell-based meat with the unveiling world’s first cell-based ribeye steak

Feb 12, 2021Feb 12, 2021 Editor

ISRAEL – Israeli cell-based meat producer Aleph Farms is yet again raising the bar for cell-based meat with the launch of what it describes as the world’s first slaughter-free ribeye steak. To develop the new cell-based meat, Aleph Farms partnered with biomedical engineering researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. Aleph Farms says that together with the Techion researchers, it used its 3D bioprinting technology that combines cell cultivation and 3D printing create the ribeye steak. The technology involves printing living cells into a shape and then incubating then to…

Israeli biotech startup Ukko secures US$40m to develop food allergy solutions

Feb 3, 2021Feb 3, 2021 Editor

ISRAEL – Israeli-based Biotech company Ukko has raised US$40 million in Series B funding to help accelerate the development of healthier food and therapies for food allergies. The round was led by Leaps by Bayer – the investment arm of Bayer – and was joined by Continental Grain Company and PeakBridge Ventures. Skyviews Life Science and Fall Line Capital, as well as existing investors Khosla Ventures, Innovation Endeavors and Time Ventures also participated in the round. The Israel-based company aims to eliminate the world’s most prevalent food allergies and sensitivities…

Future meat technologies succeeds in bringing cost of cell-based lab chicken down to US$7.50

Feb 2, 2021Feb 2, 2021 Editor

ISRAEL – The once extremely expensive lab grown chicken is finally becoming more affordable thanks to more players joining the game, scientific advancements, new plant-based growth media, and partnerships across different scientific disciplines. Most recently, Israel-based Future Meat Technologies produced a cell-based chicken breast for about US$7.50, the biggest cost reduction recorded to date. Compared to the US$325,000 spent in 2013 to produce the world’s first hamburger made from cell-based meat in 2013, the US$7.50 is a great milestone in cell-based meat industry. It is arguably the biggest step yet…

Israeli startup Better Juice partners food processing tech giant GEA to scale up sugar reduction technology

Jan 31, 2021Jan 31, 2021 Editor

ISRAEL – Better Juice, an Israeli Sugar-reduction food-tech start-up, is partnering with global food processing technology gaint GEA to scale up its technology In a statement, Better Juice said the partnership is part of its strategy to transform the global juice industry by advancing its technology to reduce all sugars in orange juices. Through the joint venture, Better Juice will have an opportunity to leverage on GEA extensive expertise in food processing and on its global reach to scale up its technology and expand its global footprint. Better Juice and…

Nili Capital Partners acquires Israeli based packaging company Stepac

Dec 7, 2020Dec 7, 2020 Editor

ISRAEL – StePac, an Israeli packaging company packaging company has been acquired by Nili Capital Partners, a private equity company also based in Israel. StePac offers a range of packaging formats for fresh produce, with modified atmosphere properties for extending the shelf life of different items. The company’s portfolio encompasses options to support different stages of the supply chain, including long-haul shipments and retail shelf storage. Under its new ownership, StePac will form the nucleus of Nili’s modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) platform, MAPfresh Holdings. MAP process involves packaging a product…

Israeli food-tech startup InnovoPro raises US$3m to fund scale up operational capabilities

Nov 2, 2020Nov 2, 2020 Editor

ISRAEL – Israeli food-tech firm InnovoPro has raised US$3 million from a number of investors to scale up operations and enable the company venture into new business development activities. The latest funding follows a US$15 million funding that the startup raised earlier this year in a series B round funding, led by Israeli VC firm Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP). The current round of funding was comprised of a number of investors including, Rabobank’s Food & Agri Innovation Fund, venture capital firm ICOS Capital, and iAngels, an Israeli Angels investment platform.…

DouxMatok partners Lantic to commercialize revolutionary sugar reduction ingredient

Nov 1, 2020Nov 1, 2020 Editor

ISRAEL – Israel-based sugar reduction ingredient company DouxMatok has unveiled a manufacturing partnership with Lantic, owned by Rogers Sugar, Canada’s largest refiner of the sweetener. The partnership will enable DouxMatok’s signature ingredient, which allows the amount of sugar in products to be reduced about 40%, to be produced in large scale and made available to U.S. food companies in 2021. Lantic has a large reach in Canada, with refineries in Montreal and Vancouver, British Columbia, as well a factory in Alberta that can produce up to 165 tons of sugar…

Equinom launches new R&D center to enhance its production ability

Oct 7, 2020Oct 7, 2020 Editor

ISRAEL – Equinom, a seed-breeding technology company, has opened a new research and development (R&D) centre in Givat Brenner, Israel, that will house all vital departments together – biochemistry, applications, sensory, and breeding and will enhance its production ability. Equinom is a tech start-up that uses computerised breeding technology to provide ‘optimised’ seeds to food and ingredient firms in the food industry. The new center will enable these departments to work and communicate synergistically throughout the course of seed breeding and development, resulting in a more efficient and more accurate…

Food colouring company Phytolon raises US$4.1m funding to commercialise its fermentation-based technology

Sep 17, 2020Sep 17, 2020 Editor

ISRAEL – Phytolon, a food and beverage company that offers a technology designed for the production of natural food colorants using bakers yeast cells as bio-factory, has raised US$4.1 million in funding to commercialise its fermentation-based technology for the production of food colours. The Israel-based company was founded in 2018 following a collaboration between The Trendlines Group and the Weizmann Institute of Science. “This round will enable us to reach the market with our healthy and sustainable food colours that offer a high-quality and cost-efficient solution to the food industry,”…