RCS - Agronomics Limited - Food Fermentation Europe launches

AgronomicsAnnouncement

16/03/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 1275T  Agronomics Limited  16 March 2023

16 March 2023

Agronomics Limited

("Agronomics" or the "Company")

Food Fermentation Europe launches, calling on EU to speed up in global race on
sustainable food innovation

Agronomics (ANIC:LSE), the leading listed company focused on the field of
cellular agriculture, is pleased to announce that two of its portfolio
companies, precision fermentation egg producer Onego Bio and precision
fermentation dairy producer Formo, have joined other European leaders in this
category in the formation of Food Fermentation Europe ("FFE"). The alliance
will work with policymakers and stakeholders to create the right market and
regulatory conditions to embrace fermentation as one of the most sustainable
pathways for the agri-food sector in Europe.

The full announcement is set out below without any material changes.

Food Fermentation Europe launches, calling on EU to speed up in global race on
sustainable food innovation

 

With Europe in the midst of severe drought and food security at risk again, it
is clear that a more resilient and sustainable food production system is
needed. Precision Fermentation is a key technology to enable this. Leading
precision fermentation players have come together to establish a new alliance,
Food Fermentation Europe (FFE). FFE will work towards a forward looking
regulatory environment that can help bring more sustainable animal-free foods
and ingredients to the European market and enable a resilient and sustainable
food system in Europe.

 

Better Dairy, Formo, Imagindairy, Onego Bio and Those Vegan Cowboys have
joined forces to establish Food Fermentation Europe.

 

Precision Fermentation as key to a sustainable food framework

FFE's founding members use the centuries-old technique of fermentation,
evolved to a high-tech form called precision fermentation, to produce specific
animal-free products such as proteins or fats leading to high quality
alternatives for milk, eggs, cheese and other products. The technology,
already used for decades in enzyme and additive production, can deliver a
major positive impact on emissions, biodiversity and water use. Our food
production technologies - all developed in Europe - can help to mitigate the
climate crisis Europe is witnessing.

 

Opportunity for Europe to step up on sustainable food innovation

This alliance forms at a time when:

● The EU is looking to develop a new Sustainable Food Systems Framework for
how we produce and consume food in Europe.

● Demand for tasty and nutritious animal-free, sustainable foods options is
rising rapidly among people.

● Despite this, the policy objectives of the Green New Deal and the
regulatory process for Novel Foods (which includes food made via precision
fermentation) are not aligned.

● The current regulatory processes are far too lengthy and opaque and
changes are urgently needed to facilitate market access.

 

It's clear that the EU needs to enable innovative solutions to come to market
sooner rather than later, or risks falling behind in the global race on
sustainable food innovation.

 

Towards a new blend of the EU food system

Food Fermentation Europe's vision is a new blend within the EU's food system,
which combines sustainable tradition and technology. FFE looks forward to
working with policymakers and stakeholders to create the right market and
regulatory conditions to embrace fermentation as one of the most sustainable
pathways for the agri-food sector, secure the EU's competitiveness in food
innovation and create a sustainable food framework which is aligned with the
Green New Deal.

 

Christian Poppe, Spokesperson for Food Fermentation Europe and Director Global
Public Affairs at Formo: "This is a critical time for the EU's agri-food
sector. Not only do we need to become more sustainable, but we also need to
ensure that new innovations can break through and come to market to make sure
the EU remains competitive globally. Food fermentation products can meet both
of these challenges by providing great new animal-free products for people,
with drastically less environmental footprint than their alternatives. Now is
the right time for our Alliance and we are committed to working with EU
decision makers and stakeholders to identify the policies needed to facilitate
the food system transition."

 

What's next:

 

Food Fermentation Europe will hold its launch event this summer in Brussels.
Other companies across the fermentation sector are encouraged to reach out to
the alliance. To keep track of all developments, visit the website:
www.foodfermentation.eu (http://www.foodfermentation.eu)

 

About Food Fermentation Europe

Food Fermentation Europe is the industry alliance representing the
transformative fermentation food and food ingredient sector. Founded by Better
Dairy, Formo, Imagindairy, Onego Bio and Those Vegan Cowboys, our alliance
works to raise awareness and build a supportive, forward-looking policy
framework to enable the rollout of innovative fermentation technology and
products in Europe. We are committed to working with additional stakeholders
to ensure a smooth transition to more sustainable food systems.

 

----------------------------------------

 

Founding member CEOs

 

Jevan Nagarajah, CEO of Better Dairy:

"Our supply chains are being tested to the extreme by a range of issues
including the climate crisis, war in Ukraine and diseases such as bird flu.
Europe's population, as is the right of every population, deserves to be
food-secure in a world where droughts are expected to rise in both frequency
and intensity. Precision Fermentation is a powerful means to creating a
resilient food system, and our alliance is ready to engage with the
stakeholder ecosystem on much needed policy changes and attitudes towards this
technology."

 

Raffael Wohlgensinger, CEO of Formo:

"Establishing Food Fermentation Europe is a timely and much needed step
towards giving fermentation-enabled food technologies a voice in key policy
arenas and debates. We are excited to launch this with our industry peers and
can't wait to engage with everyone who shares our vision of creating an
innovation-friendly policy framework that enables the emergence of a
sustainable, equitable and resilient agri-food system. Europe still has a
chance to become an accelerator of helping the bioeconomy to be a catalyst for
safe, sustainable and animal-free fermentation foods - but it needs to take
radical policy action immediately."

 

Dr. Eyal Afergan, CEO of Imagindairy:

"Emissions reduction is an urgent global challenge, but it also presents a
unique opportunity for the agri-food sector to embrace new sustainable
practices. Precision fermentation holds multiple environmental benefits,
including a low carbon footprint and thus offers a promising solution for
reducing emissions while creating new opportunities for farmers and
entrepreneurs to innovate and contribute to a more sustainable food system. It
is our mission as an alliance to explore and build these opportunities
together with all relevant stakeholders."

 

Maija Itkonen, CEO of Onego Bio:

"As Food Fermentation Europe we will advocate for a predictable and more
efficient market approval process. Regulations and policies need to be aligned
with the legislative framework for Sustainable Food Systems if Europe wants to
stay globally competitive with regard to sustainable food innovation. The
members of Food Fermentation Europe all have excellent science-based products
with high market traction and great sustainable impact potential. Contrary to
the assumption of the EU, we are well funded and know how to make money out of
science. The question is, how can the EU improve its market approval process
for sustainable food innovation?"

 

Jaap Korteweg, Organic Farmer, CEO Those Vegan Cowboys, founder The Vegetarian
Butcher:

"If we're smart about fermentation, 8 billion people can eat well, off just
40% of the farmland in use today. Circular, organic, plant-based and in
balance. Freeing the animal from our food system relieves our farmers from the
societal burdens they've come to bear - they can reclaim their role as true
herders of the land. The faster we can make this happen, the better, and this
alliance will definitely make a difference."

 

For media inquiries please contact: media@foodfermentation.eu
(mailto:media@foodfermentation.eu)

 

 

About Agronomics

Agronomics is a leading listed alternative proteins company with a focus on
cellular agriculture and cultivated meat. The Company has established a
portfolio of over 20 companies in this rapidly advancing sector. It seeks to
secure minority stakes in companies owning technologies with defensible
intellectual property that offer new ways of producing food and materials with
a focus on products historically derived from animals. These technologies are
driving a major disruption in agriculture, offering solutions to improve
sustainability, as well as addressing human health, animal welfare and
environmental damage. This disruption will decouple supply chains from the
environment and animals and be fundamental to feeding the world's expanding
population. A full list of Agronomics' portfolio companies is available at
https://agronomics.im/ (https://agronomics.im/) .

 

 

 

About Cellular Agriculture

 

Cellular Agriculture is the production of agriculture products directly from
cells, as opposed to raising an animal for slaughter or growing crops. This
encompasses cell culture to produce cultivated meat and materials, and
fermentation processes that harness a combination of molecular biology,
synthetic biology, tissue engineering and biotechnology to massively simplify
production methods in a sustainable manner.

Over the coming decades, the source of the world's food supply traditionally
derived from conventional agriculture is going to change dramatically. We have
already witnessed the first wave of this shift with the consumer adoption of
plant-based alternative proteins but today, we are on the cusp of an even
bigger wave of change. This is being facilitated by advances in cellular
agriculture. This change is necessary, given scientists' claims that if we
maintain existing animal protein consumption patterns, then we will not meet
the Paris Agreement's goal of limiting warming to 1.5℃.

AT Kearney, a global consultancy firm projects that cultivated meat's market
share will reach 35% by 2040. This combined with the Good Food Institute's
estimate that a US $1.8 trillion investment will be required in order to
produce just 10% of the world's protein using this technology, means that we
are on the cusp of a multi-decade flow of capital to build out manufacturing
facilities. Funding in the field of cellular agriculture is accelerating,
however, still, less than US$ 5 billion has been invested worldwide since the
industry's inception in 2016.

 

For further information please contact:

 

 Agronomics           Beaumont              Canaccord              Cenkos                Peterhouse Capital

 Limited              Cornish Limited       Genuity Limited        Securities Plc        Limited               TB Cardew
 The Company          Nomad                 Joint Broker           Joint Broker          Joint Broker          Public Relations
 Richard Reed         Roland Cornish        Andrew Potts           Giles Balleny         Lucy Williams          Ed Orlebar

 Denham Eke           James Biddle          Harry Rees             Max Gould             Charles Goodfellow    Alistair Walker

                                            Alex Aylen             Michael Johnson

                                            (Head of Equities)
 +44 (0) 1624 639396  +44 (0) 207 628 3396                         +44 (0) 207 397 8900  +44 (0) 207 469 0936  +44 (0) 20 7930 0777

 info@agronomics.im                         +44 (0) 207 523 8000                                               +44 (0) 7738 724 630

                                                                                                               agronomics@tbcardew.com

 

 

 

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