The food system needs to change. For this, we need changemakers. Dive into the lives of food system entrepreneurs, the visions they chase, and the challenges they face.
This series comes from Fresh Ventures Program 2023. In this program, 25 entrepreneurs from 15 countries worked for 3 months in the Netherlands to build systemic ventures.
Leva Konaté: Forging a Path between Two Continents
In this episode, Molly offers the mic to her co-host, Leva Konaté, a young Dutch-Malian entrepreneur and founder of Freggie. We capture a moment in time in the Summer of 2023 and talked about things that still hold true today.
Have a listen to hear a story about
Our outlooks being shaped by the people around us, especially family
The positive creativity that can come from a multi-cultural identity
How working in Burkino Faso sparked an interest in agriculture
And of course, finding out what is the meaning of life!
Leva is now continuing his impact mission working in circular plastic. Check this and his other ventures out on Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/levakonate/)
For more information about becoming an entrepreneur driven to change the food system, check out Fresh Ventures Programme (https://freshventures.eu/#program) .
1 Dec 2023
Georgios Kargas: How the (Mis)Use of EU Subsidies Fuel Greek Corruption
Georgios Kargas is a founder in residence at Fresh Ventures, a farmer, an agricultural engineer, and a farm equipment mechanic.
In this episode, Leva steps into the world of Georgios (George). George comes from a Greek farming family and has over 10+ years of experience in the cultivation of Peas, Spinach, Corn, Cotton, and wheat.
Hold on tight for this engaged conversation where we address Greek corruption, the (mis)use of EU subsidies, the obstacles to changing his conventional family farm and carrying the burden of generational problems.
Follow George on Linkedin:
- LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgioskargas/)
For more information about becoming an entrepreneur driven to change the food system, check out Fresh Ventures (https://freshventures.eu/).
25 Nov 2023
Monique Wisse: Passion for Growth, Inspired by Nature
Monique Wisse is a founder in residence at Fresh Ventures and founder of beNature.
In this episode, Leva steps into the world of Monique. Monique's entrepreneurial journey began with DOT, bridging the international and growth ambitions between clients and partners in the Netherlands and the Philippines.
A couple of years ago, Monique started her regeneration transformation. We dive into the experiences during her vision quest: fasting and wild camping for 5-days to come closer to your pure nature.
We delve deeper into a new world perspective shifting from dualism → non-dualism and we further unravel the essence of a regenerative mindset
Learn more about beNature and follow Monique's regeneration path here:
- beNature (https://www.linkedin.com/company/benature/)
- LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/moniquewisse/)
For more information about becoming an entrepreneur driven to change the food system, check out Fresh Ventures (https://freshventures.eu/).
17 Nov 2023
Melchior Huijts: How an Aerospace Engineer entered Sustainable Food Processing
If you are thinking about taking the leap into food system entrepreneurship, especially from engineering, this is the episode for you.
Why? In this episode, Molly steps into the world of Melchior, a Dutch aerospace engineer who took the leap to start a business in the circular economy. After three months in the Fresh Ventures Programme, Melchior is now a co-founder of Nimble Processing, with Nita Van Dam and Karol Keane.
In our the conversation, we cover the general rollercoaster of starting a business and the specifics of moving careers, why a food processing business can have systemic change, and the unexpected benefits of a training in theatre.
(https://www.linkedin.com/company/overstory-ventures/)Nimble Processing (https://www.linkedin.com/company/nimble-processing/) creates organic precut vegetables bags with seasonal recipes to make good food convenient, delicious and accessible to everyone.
Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/melchior-huijts/)
(https://www.linkedin.com/company/overstory-ventures/)Nimble Processing (https://www.linkedin.com/company/nimble-processing/)
For more information about becoming an entrepreneur driven to change the food system, check out Fresh Ventures Programme (https://freshventures.eu/#program) .
9 Nov 2023
Jéronimo Romero: The Launch of an Argentinian Outdoor Venture and Disrupting the Grain Industry
Jéronimo Romero is a founder in residence at Fresh Ventures, a serial entrepreneur, and co-founder of Manto.
In this episode, Leva steps into the world of Jéro. He grew up on a large Argentinian monoculture farm (>700HA) and has a dream to, one day, take over his family farm. Now with regenerative practices.
This conversation starts with his first outdoor sports venture in Buenos Aires, how he brought it to market, and eventually sold it. He shares his lessons learned through trial and error and looks back on his time as a venture capitalist.
We finish the conversation with his new venture "Manto Co" and how buying their products increases soil health.
Follow Jéro on his entrepreneurial journey:
- LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeronimoromero/)
- Manto (https://www.mantofoods.com/)
For more information about becoming an entrepreneur driven to change the food system, check out Fresh Ventures (https://freshventures.eu/).
30 Oct 2023
Carolina Donoso: Perennials, Parenting and the Power to Change.
In this episode, Molly steps into the world of Carolina, a Brazilian food scientist, mother and entrepreneur.
As we delve into the conversation, we learn about the different levers of change: perennial crops* in the field and venture studios in the market. We see how the drive to change the world can start with our children and are introduced to Overstory Ventures.
*Perennial crops - unlike annual crops - are crops that do not need to be replanted every year.
Overstory Ventures (https://www.linkedin.com/company/overstory-ventures/) is a venture studio that aligns the talent, funding, structure, and resources to take new crops to market that can advance regenerative agriculture. In partnering with Fresh Ventures, Overstory also creates a values-aligned venture-building bridge between the agricultural innovation hotspots of Minnesota in the US and Netherlands in the EU.
To follow Carolina's journey, check these out:
Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolina-donoso-ba959816/)
Overstory Ventures (https://www.linkedin.com/company/overstory-ventures/)
For more information about becoming an food system change entrepreneur, check out Fresh Ventures Programme (https://freshventures.eu/#program).
20 Oct 2023
Eise van Maanen: Starting a Regenerative Vineyard as a City Dweller
Eise van Maanen is a founder in residence at Fresh Ventures and co-founder of Wijntuin Ronja.
In this episode, Leva steps into the world of Eise. Eise runs a regenerative vineyard on the outskirts of Amsterdam. Eise's curiosity about money and economics led him to create an innovative, risk-sharing business model where people invest pre-harvest in their wine by becoming members of the farm.
He looks at entrepreneurship as a bottom-up way to innovation. We further explore his entrepreneurial adventure with East Africa. Here he founded Jerry, a water drinking filter company for households that don’t have access to clean drinking water. We extract the lessons learned from this experience and take a peak into his next business idea.
Wijntuin Ronja is a Dutch nature-inclusive vineyard, run by its members. To know more about his project:
- Wijntuin Ronja (https://wijntuinronja.nl/bij-ons/)
- LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/eise-van-maanen/)
For more information about becoming an entrepreneur driven to change the food system, check out Fresh Ventures (https://freshventures.eu/).
12 Oct 2023
Sarah Whaley: How To Reverse Ecological and Social Degradation
Sarah Whaley is a founder in residence at Fresh Ventures and a Farm Advisor with extensive knowledge in Regenerative Agriculture.
In this episode, Leva steps into the world of Sarah, a Zimbabwean entrepreneur. She has a profound passion for farmers and is ignited by the pressing need for climate change action in agriculture.
This conversation brings you to her idyllic upbringing on a Zimbabwean farm which was taken away from her family by the Land Reform Act and set her on a quest for access to land, combined with her passion for creating resilient farms and rural communities. Sarah explains her vision for the need to change the way we grow our food and the role of meat in our society.
Follow Sarah on her regenerative path and projects:
- LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/whaleysarah/)
For more information about becoming an entrepreneur driven to change the food system, check out Fresh Ventures (https://freshventures.eu/).
6 Oct 2023
Bruna San Roman: What It Takes to Work Deeply with Nature.
Bruna San Roman is a founder-in-residence at Fresh Ventures and co-founder of De BosBoerderij.
In this episode, Molly and Bruna discuss food forests, career changes, the potential personal transformations of living consciously in community, and why the best thing we could do now is plant trees.
De BosBoerderij is a syntropic agroforestry (agriculture + forestry) project that validates a promising nature-restoring method, and builds the future workforce for syntropic farming in the Netherlands. To learn more about Bruna and this project :
- De BosBoerderij (https://www.linkedin.com/company/debosboerderij/)
- LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/brunasanroman/)
For more information about becoming an entrepreneur driven to change the food system, check out Fresh Ventures (https://freshventures.eu/).
29 Sept 2023
Raj Chakraborty: Exploring Change, Identity, and Value Creation
Raj Chakraborty is a founder in residence at Fresh Ventures and founder of Big Pot.
In this episode, Leva steps into the world of Raj. Raj was born and raised in Ukraine growing up in an Indian household. He always had a drawer full of business ideas and this year he took the leap of faith to start one.
We discover how change is a constant in his life and gives him perspective. His vision is to start a business as a space of value creation and a skill that he wants to master. Because of his familiarity with moving around in his life, we discuss the meaning and the role of a national identity.
Big Pot is a Rotterdam-based startup. They describe themselves as the simplest way for businesses to arrange a shared recurring warm meal for their employees at the office. To know more about this project :
- BigPot (https://bigpot.nl/)
- LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajarshichakraborty1/)
For more information about becoming an entrepreneur driven to change the food system, check out Fresh Ventures (https://freshventures.eu/).
22 Sept 2023
Andreina Romero: The Transformative Potential of Regenerative Viticulture
Andreina Romero is a chemical engineer fueling the transition to regenerative viticulture (wine farming!) and the founder of Almosto, the world's first regenerative drinks collective.
In this episode, Molly sits down with Andreina. We talk about the importance of using the juicy details to motivate large-scale change, advocating for the producers that are doing the hard work, expanding the vision, oenotourism (wine tourism), and drunken fruit flies.
Andreina shares insights about her start-up journey, tough choices, and her time standing up for diversity, equity and inclusion.
Almosto, the world's first regenerative drinks collective, is on a mission to make regenerative viticulture the lighthouse of regenerative products. Follow the journey:
- ALMOSTO (https://www.linkedin.com/company/almosto/)
- Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/aromero-mba)
For more information about becoming an systemic entrepreneur working in the food system, check out Fresh Ventures (https://www.freshventures.eu/).
1 Sept 2023
Darwin Wu: The Journey to Food Systems Change through Start-Ups
Darwin Wu is a founder in residence at Fresh Ventures and co-founder of Nomos in France.
In this episode, Leva steps into the world of Darwin, a Parisien entrepreneur. He has a profound vision ignited by the pressing need for climate change action in agriculture.
As we delve into the conversation, we'll uncover the essence of systemic change – a puzzle of leverage, strategy, and tipping points. Darwin shares insights from his startup journey, where the path to influence and leverage starts from humble beginnings, gradually building toward impactful change.
Nomos is a French startup focused on disrupting the usage of synthetic fertilizers. To know more about its project :
- Nomos (https://www.nomos.bio)
- LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/darwin-wu-35aab658/)
For more information about becoming an entrepreneur driven to change the food system, check out Fresh Ventures (https://freshventures.eu).
31 Aug 2023
Introduction Overnight Oats
This is the podcast that happened in between the venture building at Fresh Ventures 2023, the heart of start-ups for food systems change in the Netherlands.
In this series, you will hear the stories of entrepreneurs who want to do good for the people and planet. Can a venture be part of systems change? What drives them? And what is systemic entrepreneurship?
If you are curious about any of this, let’s go!
For more information about becoming an entrepreneur driven to change the food system, check out Fresh Ventures (https://freshventures.eu).
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