innovate uk future worlds event - living world – john whittall

Sustainable Agriculture & Food Innovation Platform

Opportunities for Innovation in AgriFood

March 2015

John Whittall

Lead Technologist, Sustainable Agriculture & Food

Sustainable Agriculture & Food Innovation Platform

A £90m+ programme of investment over 5 years from 2010–

14

Objective: to help UK businesses develop innovative

technologies, production systems and supply chain solutions

that will sustainably increase the productivity of the UK Agri-

food sector, whilst reducing its environmental impact.

co-funded by:

John Beddington’s“Perfect Storm”

(2008)

2008 2015

Royal Society –Science and the sustainable intensificationof global agriculture (2009)

Cross-Government Strategy for Food Research and InnovationLaunch of SAF-IP

(2010)

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Global Food Security Programme – strategic plan 2011-16Foresight report (2011)

Agri-tech strategy

Feeding the future report

FDF report (2013)

2014/15

AgriFood Strategy (work in progress)

• “To drive the sustainable intensification of food production taking a whole-chain approach to maximise wealth creation in support of a circular economy “

Where a sustainable food system is defined as –

• Persistent: Having the capacity to continue to deliver over long periods.

• Resilient: Being able to absorb and/or utilise shocks and stresses.

• Responsive: Producing desired outputs from applied inputs

• Benevolent: Sustains the ecosystem & does not deplete natural capital –implying a high degree of resource efficiency.

• Profitable: Delivering consumer value but ensuring that companies have the incentive to bring products and services to the market.

•Creating new value chains

•Feedstock development & co-cropping

•Resource recovery & waste reduction

•Development of new co-products & by-products

•Replenishing Natural Capital

•Food Safety

•Authenticity & Traceability

•New & smarter ingredients

•Enhancing nutritional value

•Reducing Sugar, salt & fat

•Protein development

•Smarter packaging

• Robotics/autonomous systems

• Satellite, sensors, photonics

• Big Data

• Crop, livestock & aquaculture farm design

• Modern methods of food manufacturing

• Engineered treatments (e.g. UV) & cold-chain technologies

• Novel plant & livestock breeding

• The application of advanced ‘omics’ & synthetic biology

• Combating antimicrobial & agro-chemical resistance

• Enhanced resilience against biotic & abiotic stress

• Individualise livestock/aquaculture healthcare, & next generation vaccines

Advanced / Precision Engineering

Enhanced Food

Quality

Resource Efficiency

Value Chains

Optimising Food Production Systems

Enhancing Potential of AgriFood Supply Chain

• Aligns with other Innovate I-Prog teams-

• Biosciences

• Resource efficiency

• Energy


• Biosciences

• Synthetic biology

• Health and Care


• Health and Care

• Biosciences

• HVM


• Space applications

• Robotics and Autonomous Systems, Transport

• Digital economy

• Advanced Manufacturing

• Electronics, sensors and photonics

• Built environment

• ICT


Enhanced Food

Quality

Resource Efficiency

Value Chains



Identifying UK expertise within sub-sectors


Enhanced Food

Quality

Resource Efficiency

Value Chains



• Precision Ag. growing at 15% CAGR•£2b global market & UK 8% share•Emergence of UK service sector with USPs in data, telemetry & remote sensing•Downstream processing technologies more mature, UK operating in a global market worth >£130b p.a. and growing at 2% CAGR


Enhanced Food

Quality

Resource Efficiency

Value Chains



• Mature global markets up to 10% GAGR depending upon segment• e.g. Global Crop protection market alone is worth £34 bn pa• ...animal health & nutrition market is worth £244 bn p.a.•Exciting niche opportunities such as ‘biopesticides’ (27% CAGR)


Enhanced Food

Quality

Resource Efficiency

Value Chains



• Food safety products market was £8.9 billion globally in 2013, & CAGR at 7 to 9%• Global markets for naturally healthy beverages and packaged food anticipated combined sales value of ~£250 billion by 2019• 5-10% CAGR depending upon segment•Consumer demanding safe, nutritious food of known provenance


Enhanced Food

Quality

Resource Efficiency

Value Chains



• £22 trillion bio-economy•Moving the whole of food production into a circular economy•Seeking cross-sector opportunities for added-value co-products and bi-products•Supporting the development of novel feedstocks and agronomic practice necessary to bring these new products to market

The convening power of public money can support:

• Cross-sector working e.g. Space and Food, SynBio, robotics, sensors

• Changing perceptions that food companies are ‘part of the problem’

• Connecting research to industry (food claims)

• Authenticity and Traceability

• Supporting a transition from chemical to biological control

• Addressing the large societal challenges

– Resource depletion

– Climate Change

– Antimicrobial resistance

– Raised blood pressure, obesity, raised cholesterol, raised blood glucose

• UK firms targeting global opportunities e.g. 60% more food by 2050

• Confidence in the investment landscape for the sector

Partners: Exosect Ltd, Sylvan Spawn Limited, Santia Pest Prevention Limited, Fera, CABI, Check Services Limited.

(New approaches to crop protection - £0.5m total; £0.25m grant)

• A novel bio-control agent will come to market by 2018. A regulatory submission has been made and IP patented.

• After 5 years Exosect hopes to be generating sales revenue estimated at c.a. £4m p.a. with market penetration in the EU and US.

•This development will help UK farmers maintain pest control against the pressure of EU pesticide regulations and will lead to a reduction of toxic residues in the food chain.

•Our support has been vital in de-risking this long-term development and maintaining the confidence of the firm’s VC investors during development period.

Bio-control of grain storage insect pests

AnimaL Electronic Recording, Transmission and Synthesis (ALERTS)

Partners: Silent Herdsman Limited, National Milk Records PLC, Well Cow Limited, SRUC, University of Strathclyde, Harbro Limited, WM Morrisons Supermarkets

(sustainable protein production - £1.1m total; £0.6m grant)

• Developed collar product, and cloud –based live data service.

• Company growth and new markets; e.g. USA projected to grow up to £5M p.a. in the next two years.

• 6 new FTE’s in Silent Herdsman to support product development and sales growth.

• Drives improvements in carbon footprint and animal welfare of industry.

Attractiveness of the sector to investors

• Product development cycles of up to 10 years are out of step with corporate and VC investment models.

• However, some serious investors realise that sustainability & food security will radically change the food commodity market.

• E.g. Wheatsheaf – Duke of Westminster Grosvenor estate is investing in a portfolio of sustainable Agri. businesses

ktn-uk.org @KTNUK

Serena Broadway

Opportunities for innovation within

the food sector

[email protected]

Knowledge Transfer Manager (Food Sector)

ktn-uk.org @KTNUK

UK Food and Drink SectorThe UK’s largest manufacturing sector

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UK Food and Drink SectorInnovation

Source: Food and Drink Federation Ingredients for Success

SMEs account for 30% of

employment and 26% of

turnover.

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ChallengesWaste

Household, 7

Other, 3

Wholesale, 0.02

Grocery Retail, 0.4

Manfacturing, 3.9

Hospitality, 0.9

Source: Handy Facts and Figures on Waste in

the UK, WRAP 2013 and Household Food and

Drink Waste in the UK, WRAP 2012

UK food and drink waste through the food

chain (million tonnes) 2011-12

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ChallengesTraceability and Authenticity

— Consumer demands for assurance of what they are

buying

— Consumer safety

— Near or on-line, non-invasive detection of quality

characteristics

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ChallengesChoosing and producing healthy, nutritious and sustainable food.

— Obesity and other population diet‐related health issues

— Obesity estimated to cost the UK economy £47bn p.a.

(McKinsey report, 2014)

— Impact of food resource shortages

— Growing populations

— Changes in dietary habits in non‐Western countries

— The consequences of global warming

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Limiting factors

— Can be resistant to change

— Due to operational pressures

— Getting buy-in from the required parts of the

business

— Large companies can be difficult to navigate

— Don’t know what is available from other sectors

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KTN Case Study

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Precompetitive Vision for UK Food and Drink

Industries

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Campden BRI Innovation needs

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Thank you

ktn-uk.org @KTNUK

Serena Broadway

[email protected]

07826 505756

0131 651 7331

mailto:[email protected]

innovate uk future worlds event - living world – john whittall

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