Food System Innovators Steal the Show at Rabobank’s Farm2Fork Summit

Last week I had the opportunity to serve as a judge for the first international FoodBytes! event at the Rabobank Farm2Fork Summit. The whole event was amazing, from the ferry ride to Cockatoo Island, to a speech by the King of the Netherlands and Australia’s Deputy PM and Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources, Barnaby Joyce.

But my favorite part by far was the startups. The former prison/shipyard was filled with around 50 FoodTech and AgTech startups showcasing their products and technologies throughout the day. Eight finalists kicked off the whole conference with five-minute pitches to a packed audience of over a thousand people.

Showcasing Australian Agri-innovation is key if it’s to become the next $100 billion industry, and all 8 companies did a fantastic job at what is not an easy task.

It was exciting to see that the finalists, and the companies with booths in the innovation garden, represent a range of subsectors in the food and Agri landscape. From CPG companies (thanks for the samples!), to new technologies for the supply chain and the farm, to startups hoping to disrupt the feed industry, it was a microcosm of the types of food system innovation we’re seeing around the world.

The audience and judges did not have an easy decision when it came time to vote. AgriWebb, providers of farm management software for the livestock industry, took home the audience choice award. Sprout Kitchens, a marketplace for kitchen space that lowers the barriers to entry for aspiring food companies by connecting them with unused commercial kitchen space, won over the judges.

A big congrats to both of these companies, and a big thanks to Rabobank and FoodBytes! for a great event. Hopefully this is just the first in what will be many opportunities to get Aussie food system innovators in front of an audience of farmers and on a big stage.

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