NuFrontiers is Nutreco’s corporate venturing arm, actively developing technology partnerships to shape tomorrow's sustainable protein value chains. The team invests in new technologies that are strategically relevant to Nutreco, can fuel Trouw Nutrition's (Nutreco’s livestock and pets business line) and Skretting's (Nutreco’s aquaculture business line) innovation pipeline and can help us achieve our sustainability ambitions and our purpose of Feeding the Future.
Looking beyond tomorrow towards new frontiers
“We partner with external technology businesses, often start-ups, and then serve as an accelerator, an enabler and a collaborator, getting projects to market as quickly as possible,” said Maarten-Yan Wierenga, Nutreco's Director of Venturing. The team’s investments fall under five key pillars – nutrition; health; digital and precision farming; alternative farming; and alternative proteins – and its long-term mindset means sustainability is an important part of every project.
Special forces team puts the future high on the agenda
“Why are we here? To help the business look beyond today, where the operational business focuses, and tomorrow, where R&D and innovation focus, towards the new frontiers of the industry, and what we need to do to get there,” said Maarten-Yan. “We’re like a special forces team that gets the future higher on the company’s agenda.”
Focus on sustainability
With this long-term focus, it’s no surprise that NuFrontiers’ projects are closely linked to sustainability. “If you’re looking 10-15 years ahead, there is no room for anything that does not contribute to sustainability,” said Maarten-Yan.
NuFrontiers Investment Manager Christiaan Lensvelt agrees. “For example, many of our projects relate to optimised nutrition, which translates into more efficient production and a lower footprint. We also explore alternative, more sustainable raw materials.”
Their focus on health and functional ingredients has resulted in investments in companies such as ViAqua Therapeutics and Proteon Pharmaceuticals, which are co-developing solutions with Skretting to strengthen shrimp health. “Through our precision farming pillar, we are also working with companies like Eruvaka, StellApps and Fodjan to help farmers use their resources more efficiently and reduce waste in the value chain,” said Maarten-Yan.
The team has also partnered with land-based aquaculture farms that reduce aquaculture's need for water and space through recirculating water technology, and slash the food miles between farm and fork. "And we have partnered with alternative protein start-ups, such as Mosa Meats, BlueNalu and Rosling Technologies to maximise the protein sources available to help us feed the future," added Christiaan.
Eruvaka makes shrimp-feeding more efficient and less wasteful
One example of a NuFrontiers partnership that impacts both the climate and circularity and the health and welfare pillars of Nutreco's sustainability strategy is Eruvaka. The business began as an Indian start-up developing a system of feeding shrimp that combined hydrophones – underwater microphones – and auto feeders.
“The hydrophones analyse vibrations made by the shrimp to determine when the shrimp are ready to be fed. Then they open the auto feeders for feeding,” said Maarten-Yan. The system is designed to bring more precision to shrimp farming. “By giving shrimp exactly what they need – no more and no less – we ensure optimal growth and survival. And because feed waste is reduced, there is little to no rotting feed, which leads to better water quality and a healthy pond bottom. All of this contributes to sustainability,” he added. The numbers prove its effectiveness: using the system increases weekly growth by 20-25%, increases survival rates by 10-15%, reduces production by 15-26%, and reduces GHG emissions by 10-30%.
When Nutreco first invested in the start-up, the two partners agreed that Eruvaka would focus on developing and producing the technology, while Nutreco would use our relationships in Ecuador to install, maintain and integrate it into our digital system. Ever since, the partnership has thrived, expanding to industrial scale.
Looking ahead to the next frontier
Since the NuFrontiers team was set up in 2017, it has added 19 companies to its portfolio, learning along the way about how best to manage the relationships between external innovators and internal partners. Now they are prepping for a next wave of partnerships.
“There is a prioritisation process underway that looks, per species and per business line, at what are the top things we need to fix in the value chain with a long-term horizon,” said Christiaan. “And then we will start scouting again for the innovations that can carry us to those challenges.”
If you're an innovator with a solution that will make protein production more sustainable, please get in touch!
Sustainable Development Goals
