With Cleantech Discussion board Asia 2025 simply across the nook, it’s an opportune time to revisit among the insights shared eventually yr’s occasion in Singapore.
Town-state is Southeast Asia’s agri-food tech hub; with that in thoughts, we hosted two panel discussions eventually yr’s Discussion board centered on completely different areas of cleantech within the agriculture and meals worth chain. In at this time’s weblog put up we’ll revisit the primary of these classes, which checked out novel approaches to valorizing waste and aspect streams from the agri-food worth chain.
About 6% of world emissions are linked to agri-food waste particularly; double the quantity popping out of the aviation sector. When that waste results in landfills it decomposes and generates methane and may trigger toxicity in soil and water by leaching. And these are simply the ecological impacts of meals loss and waste. In a world with a rising inhabitants and a shrinking quantity of accessible land to develop crops, decreasing pre-consumer losses is extra pressing than ever to strengthen world meals safety.
Innovation within the Agri-Meals Chain
Desire is one firm that’s aiming to unravel this drawback, whereas additionally tackling the carefully interrelated problems with danger and carbon depth in one of the fragile agricultural provide chains there may be: espresso.
The Singapore-based start-up is upcycling agri-food byproducts like soy pulp from tofu and soymilk manufacturing, spent grain from beer brewing, and surplus bread from bakeries. It ferments these feedstocks to emphasise taste compounds just like these present in bean-derived espresso. The ultimate product is a floor espresso different that Desire sells to foodservice institutions, in addition to ready espresso merchandise that it distributes itself.
Talking on a panel discussing agri-food waste valorization, Desire co-founder and CTO DJ Tan defined that espresso is often extra emissions-intensive, by way of carbon dioxide emitted per kilogram of produce, than dairy merchandise, hen, fish, or pork.
“Agriculture can be undermining itself, as local weather change reduces espresso yields,” he stated. “Our course of emits considerably much less carbon. By our estimates, we’re about 10 instances extra sustainable than conventional espresso.”
Becoming a member of Tan on the panel was Kai-Ning Chua, co-founder and CMO at Insectta. Beginning out as a black soldier fly farm in 2018, the Singaporean firm later pivoted away from farming operations to focus on extraction and manufacturing applied sciences that may maximize the worth of the waste being recycled by the bugs.
“Whereas most individuals affiliate insect farming with animal feed or fertilizer, we give attention to prescription drugs, cosmetics, and natural electronics,” Chua informed attendees.
At the moment, Insectta companions with farm operators to extract two high-value compounds from the black soldier fly: chitosan, which can be sourced from crustaceans, and is utilized in numerous industries from healthcare and packaging to agriculture and water therapy; and melanin, which has functions in electronics and regenerative drugs.
“Our insect-sourced model has no heavy metals and better purity [and] we are able to produce it at a a lot decrease price and make it water soluble, which is an trade first,” Chua stated.
Funding in Meals Waste Innovation
Nevertheless, regardless of the obvious promise of those improvements, meals waste upcycling start-ups like Insectta and Desire proceed to face challenges in terms of convincing would-be traders.
Some nonetheless “assume we’re an insect farm,” stated Chua. “Many traders know that insect farming is a low-margin, scale-driven enterprise. We have to make clear that we’re in biomaterials, not farming. As soon as we do, we clarify that we add financial worth by producing high-purity, purposeful elements that assist sustainable manufacturing.”
For Tan, too, making the financial case as clear as potential is what will get traders over the road.
“As soon as they see we’re addressing an actual ache level – rising espresso costs and provide chain points – they get it. Our answer is market-driven,” he stated.
That method helped the corporate shut a $2M Seed spherical just some months earlier than Cleantech Discussion board Asia 2024, with participation from traders together with 500 International, Higher Chunk Ventures, Sopoong, Seeds Capital, and Entrepreneur First, amongst others.
It’s Not Simply Buyers That Want Convincing
Improvements like these developed at Desire find yourself in merchandise that buyers drink or eat; and within the case of Insectta, merchandise that buyers could also be making use of to their pores and skin, or utilizing to deal with wounds.
“We attempt to downplay the bugs,” Chua stated. “The concept of utilizing bugs in our drugs or cosmetics; there may be an emotional barrier there. So, in terms of our messaging, it’s very clear: We make chitosan and melanin for these industries that’s extra purposeful, that has extra financial viability, and sustainability is definitely within the background.”
Desire’s technique has been to intentionally keep away from mentions of ‘waste’ in its shopper branding and advertising efforts, in keeping with Tan.
“What we have now discovered is that individuals are extra keen to just accept one thing as soon as they’ve first tried it. They fight [Prefer] and say, ‘Hey, this does style like my common cup of Joe’. After which we inform them, ‘By the best way, no espresso beans had been utilized in that’. After which we see their minds shatter in entrance of us.”
For extra info on Cleantech Discussion board Asia 2025, being held 7th-8th Might in Singapore, and registration choices, please click on right here. Take part within the Powering Asian Agriculture With AI and meet among the innovators who made our 2025 APAC Cleantech 25.
