Designing Better Plant-Based and Alternative Proteins with Sonalie Figueiras
- S1E13
- 50:03
- February 7th 2023
How might we design plant-based, cultivated meat, and precision fermented alternative proteins in the most people and planet friendly ways?
In our second design episode, we speak with Sonalie Figueiras, a Hong Kong-based social entrepreneur and founder and the Editor in Chief of Green Queen, a sustainability and impact media platform that educates millions of readers on the connection between health, sustainability and the environment and showcases future solutions from Asia and across the globe. She is also the co-founder and CEO of organic sourcing platform Ekowarehouse and climate tech SaaS Source Green, which helps consumer brands quit plastic packaging thanks to proprietary plastic reduction software. And she’s an advisor to multiple mission-driven startups and NGOs, and a venture partner to several VC funds.
In this episode, we discuss:
- The complexity of designing people and planet friendly products
- Sonalie’s 5 product design principles
- The good and the bad of plant-based products
- Sonalie’s take on slowing plant-based sales
- Why plant-based companies need to focus on the human ethics of their supply chain
- How biotech companies might think about designing people and planet friendly products
- Why governments need to invest in cultivated meat and precision fermentation technology
Show Notes
- Green Queen: https://www.greenqueen.com.hk/
- Source Green: www.sourcegreen.co
- Design Episode with Julia Collins
- Natural Fiber Welding: https://www.naturalfiberwelding.com/
- Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF) Circular Economy & Big Food Redesign: https://ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/topics/food/overview
- UNLIMEAT: https://unlimeat.co/
- What Questions Should We Be Asking About Cell-Based Meats? https://www.forbes.com/sites/errolschweizer/2021/05/06/what-questions-should-we-be-asking-about-cell-based-meats/
- What Consumers Should Ask About Precision Fermentation: https://www.forbes.com/sites/errolschweizer/2022/03/02/what-should-consumers-be-asking-about-precision-fermentation/
- Asia Pacific Cultivated Protein Alliance: https://www.apac-sca.org/
*Giveaway Details*
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This series is sponsored by Foodshot Global & New Hope Network
New Hope Network
New Hope Network is a media, events and business intelligence company, covering natural products trends, industry insights and marketplace data that educate the industry about key issues, like regenerative agriculture, sustainability, responsible sourcing and more. Visit newhope.com.
FoodShot Global
FoodShot leverages resources from investors around the world to provide non-dilutive, equity, and post-investment capacities to innovators. Find out more at foodshot.org.
Production: Cam Gray, Cofruition
Audio Editing: Tevin Sudi
Original Music: Rodrigo Barbera
New Food Order
New Food Order is a podcast exploring the business of tackling our climate and social crises through food and agriculture from AgFunder and Food+Tech Connect.
Through nuanced conversation and debate, its hosts Danielle Gould and Louisa Burwood-Taylor are embarking on a learning and unlearning journey to unearth how we might design business and finance to have maximum positive impact for people and our planet.
Join us as we speak with leading farmers, entrepreneurs, executives, investors, and other stewards on key topics like:
- Will plant-based, lab-grown meat, and regenerative agriculture save the world?
- Is carbon neutral enough?
- What are the most people and planet friendly business and finance models?
- How might we best honor and learn from indigenous communities?
- What are the unintended consequences of new innovation, and how might we avoid them?
Danielle Gould is an entrepreneur and activist. She is the Founder and CEO of Food Tech Connect, the first community for food innovation as well as the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Alpha Food Labs, a consultancy where she works with some of the world’s largest companies to create products and innovation strategies that are better for people and our planet. She hopes that ultimately, her work helps unite and catalyze a movement of earth guardians.
A journalist and editor, Louisa is the head of media & research for AgFunder and chief editor of its news site AFN, focused on the foodtech and agtech industry. With 10 years of agriculture reporting behind her, Louisa started her career in other financial markets working for publications like the Financial Times, Euromoney and Private Equity International, where she launched the first-ever publication dedicated to agriculture investment.