Mexico – AgReads®

FoodTech startup, Heartbest, raised US$2 million in Series A funding

Heartbest Foods, the foodtech startup from Mexico has secured an investment of US$2 million from venture capital fund Blue Horizon Ventures. The company has been working with ingredients like amaranth, quinoa, and peas to develop vegan dairy products like milk and cheese. Heartbest Foods, founded in 2017, can currently be found in retailers like Soriana, Chedraui and Costco throughout Mexico.

Heartbest Foods seek to empower people to make a positive impact on their health and the environment in a delicious and effortless way thanks to our products. They start with little questions for great answers:

Why do we need animals to create any kind of food?
Why can’t we build foods that have the same texture and flavor from plants and be part of solutions aimed at health and climate change?
How can we generate a healthier and more sustainable industry?

It is estimated that 900 gallons of water are required to produce 1 lb of cheese and 17.6 pounds of CO2 needed to produce one gallon of milk. Heartbest foods claim to produce same amount of Cheese with 10 times less water and milk with 60% less emissions. Heartbest managed to significantly impact four of the main problems attributed to intensive livestock farming and consumption: people’s well-being, climate change, efficient use of resources and eliminate animal abuse.

Blue Horizon Ventures, the venture fund backing Heartbest, is a food technology-focused venture capital fund founded in 2018 by serial entrepreneurs and investors Roger Lienhard and Michael Kleindl. The fund aims to support the movement towards a more sustainable food system through innovation, technology and entrepreneurship. Plant based proteins and cellular agriculture (clean meat) are the main focus areas.

The existing food system is broken. It needs massive and quick change to enable the planet to feed its ever growing population over the next decades and to stop the devastating environmental impact of animal agriculture. More and more entrepreneurs are tackling these issues starting very promising companies with a need for financing and thus creating fantastic investment opportunities for investors and so Blue Horizon Ventures.
Investment Thesis, Blue Horizon Ventures.

The closing of these investments in the midst of Covid-19 indicates that the movement towards a more sustainable world at large, and specifically in the food system, is only accelerating and confirms the need to act now.

Read more at Just-Food.

Latin America Biopesticides Market Overview

As demand for healthier foods increases, so does organic farming, and the government actively supports the use of biological pesticides by purchasing from suppliers and selling to farmers at a lower price. On a global scale, the United States remains the leading participant in the global biopesticide market, with 35% of total sales, being followed by China at a distance with just over 11%. Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico are enjoying a steady growth rate, reaching ranges of between 2% and 3% of total global sales. Overall, the global biopesticides market is projected to grow at a CAGR of just under 10% over the next five years, reaching nearly USD 3 billion by 2024.

The factors behind the increase in biopesticides demand are the restrictions on chemical pesticides, the need for residue-free products, and an increase in environmental awareness. In Chile, for instance, the benefits are related to the prospect of exporting products to foreign markets. Fruits and wines are susceptible to strict control of chemical traces, and the use of biopesticides is the best opportunity to export them without risking the protection and assurance of bio-production.