Innovate UK Future Worlds Event - Living World – John Whittall

1. Sustainable Agriculture & Food
Innovation Platform
Opportunities for Innovation in AgriFood
March 2015
John Whittall
Lead Technologist, Sustainable Agriculture & Food

2. 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:

3. John Beddington’s
“Perfect Storm”
(2008)
2008 2015
Royal Society –
Science and the
sustainable intensification
of global agriculture (2009)
Cross-Government
Strategy for Food
Research and Innovation
Launch of SAF-IP
(2010)
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Global Food Security
Programme – strategic
plan 2011-16
Foresight report (2011)
Agri-tech strategy
Feeding the future
report
FDF report
(2013)
2014/15

4. 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.

5. •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

6. • Aligns with other
Innovate I-Prog teams-
• Biosciences
• Resource efficiency
• Energy
• Aligns with other
Innovate I-Prog teams-
• Biosciences
• Synthetic biology
• Health and Care
• Aligns with other
Innovate I-Prog teams-
• Health and Care
• Biosciences
• HVM
• Aligns with other Innovate
I-Prog teams-
• Space applications
• Robotics and Autonomous
Systems, Transport
• Digital economy
• Advanced Manufacturing
• Electronics, sensors and
photonics
• Built environment
• ICT
Advanced /
Precision
Engineering
Enhanced
Food
Quality
Resource
Efficiency
Value Chains
Optimising
Food
Production
Systems
Enhancing Potential of AgriFood Supply Chain

7. Identifying UK expertise within sub-sectors

8. Advanced /
Precision
Engineering
Enhanced
Food
Quality
Resource
Efficiency
Value Chains
Optimising
Food
Production
Systems
Enhancing Potential of AgriFood Supply Chain
• 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

9. Advanced /
Precision
Engineering
Enhanced
Food
Quality
Resource
Efficiency
Value Chains
Optimising
Food
Production
Systems
Enhancing Potential of AgriFood Supply Chain
• 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)

10. Advanced /
Precision
Engineering
Enhanced
Food
Quality
Resource
Efficiency
Value Chains
Optimising
Food
Production
Systems
Enhancing Potential of AgriFood Supply Chain
• 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

11. Advanced /
Precision
Engineering
Enhanced
Food
Quality
Resource
Efficiency
Value Chains
Optimising
Food
Production
Systems
Enhancing Potential of AgriFood Supply Chain
• £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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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.

15. 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

17. ktn-uk.org @KTNUK
Serena Broadway
Opportunities for innovation within
the food sector
serena.broadway@ktn-uk.org
Knowledge Transfer Manager (Food Sector)

18. ktn-uk.org @KTNUK
UK Food and Drink Sector
The UK’s largest manufacturing sector

19. ktn-uk.org @KTNUK
UK Food and Drink Sector
The UK’s largest manufacturing sector

20. ktn-uk.org @KTNUK
UK Food and Drink Sector
Innovation
Source: Food and Drink Federation Ingredients for Success
SMEs account for 30% of
employment and 26% of
turnover.

21. ktn-uk.org @KTNUK

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Challenges
Waste
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

23. ktn-uk.org @KTNUK
Challenges
Traceability and Authenticity
— Consumer demands for assurance of what they are
buying
— Consumer safety
— Near or on-line, non-invasive detection of quality
characteristics

24. ktn-uk.org @KTNUK
Challenges
Choosing 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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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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32. Thank you
ktn-uk.org @KTNUK
Serena Broadway
serena.broadway@ktn-uk.org
07826 505756
0131 651 7331