1 00:00:05,519 --> 00:00:07,720 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Business of Tech, the podcast where we 2 00:00:07,800 --> 00:00:12,000 Speaker 1: explore the thinkers and doers reshaping New Zealand's tech and 3 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:16,520 Speaker 1: innovation landscape. I'm Peter Griffin, and today we're heading to Roliston, 4 00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:20,640 Speaker 1: just south of christ Church, where a food technology startup 5 00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:24,799 Speaker 1: is tackling one of the biggest challenges in sustainable nutrition, 6 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:29,200 Speaker 1: how to feed a growing global population with fewer emissions 7 00:00:29,440 --> 00:00:34,520 Speaker 1: and less land. Leafed food has developed a groundbreaking way 8 00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:39,200 Speaker 1: to extract and process RuBisCO, a protein found in every 9 00:00:39,240 --> 00:00:43,440 Speaker 1: green leaf on the planet. It's been called a utopia 10 00:00:43,520 --> 00:00:48,360 Speaker 1: protein for its exceptional nutritional value and potential to transform 11 00:00:48,479 --> 00:00:52,280 Speaker 1: both human diets and animal feed systems. The company's work 12 00:00:52,320 --> 00:00:55,440 Speaker 1: doesn't just promise a new kind of plant based protein, 13 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:59,840 Speaker 1: it could redefine what productive sustainable farming looks like, and 14 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:02,920 Speaker 1: boy do we need that in New Zealand. Behind it 15 00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:07,440 Speaker 1: all is Ross Milne, Leift's CEO, who left a promising 16 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:10,600 Speaker 1: career as a process engineer working for some of the 17 00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:15,200 Speaker 1: world's largest food companies to build something uniquely kiwi and 18 00:01:15,280 --> 00:01:21,000 Speaker 1: globally significant. With backing from famed Silicon Valley investor Venard Kosla, 19 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:24,800 Speaker 1: Leift is positioning itself at the cutting edge of agri 20 00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:29,240 Speaker 1: food innovation. In this episode, Ross shares the journey from 21 00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:33,720 Speaker 1: concept to commercialization off RuBisCO and what it takes to 22 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:36,800 Speaker 1: turn a simple idea rooted in plant science into a 23 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:50,320 Speaker 1: global food revolution. Here's my interview with Ross Milne. Ross, 24 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:52,400 Speaker 1: Welcome to the business of tech. How are you doing? 25 00:01:52,600 --> 00:01:55,120 Speaker 2: Very good? Thank you, Very happy to be here with 26 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:56,040 Speaker 2: you this afternoon. 27 00:01:56,120 --> 00:01:59,280 Speaker 1: Really looking forward to this chat about high value, low 28 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:03,960 Speaker 1: emissions food ingredients that you've been working on with Leaft Foods. 29 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:07,720 Speaker 1: You're based in christ Church and Ross, you're a chemical 30 00:02:07,720 --> 00:02:12,600 Speaker 1: and process engineer sort of turned agrifood entrepreneur with RuBisCO. 31 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:16,040 Speaker 1: How you're sort of commercializing that and turning that plant 32 00:02:16,040 --> 00:02:20,040 Speaker 1: protein into something really valuable both for our farmers as 33 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:23,160 Speaker 1: well as a nutritional product. So we're going to get 34 00:02:23,160 --> 00:02:26,239 Speaker 1: into that. But really interested in your origin story as 35 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:30,160 Speaker 1: a chemical engineer setting up factories really all over the 36 00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:34,200 Speaker 1: Asia Pacific region and then getting to Leaf meeting John 37 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:37,800 Speaker 1: Penno and his wife John obviously of sin Lay fame 38 00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:41,480 Speaker 1: and getting into Leaf. But yeah, tell us sort of 39 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:46,280 Speaker 1: where you came from and your career as a chemical engineer. 40 00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:49,200 Speaker 2: Perfect I mean even before being a chemical engineer. I 41 00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:51,280 Speaker 2: come from a farming background, so I grew up on 42 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:54,000 Speaker 2: sheep and beef, worked on a dairy farm to pay 43 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:57,519 Speaker 2: my way through university, the sort of classic ki We 44 00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:00,959 Speaker 2: kids story. Learned how to work really hard, as you said, 45 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:03,760 Speaker 2: when it become a chemical engineer, short version of that. 46 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:06,840 Speaker 2: Has had the opportunity to build really large food manufacturing 47 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:10,959 Speaker 2: facilities for all sorts of amazing companies, some of the 48 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:14,160 Speaker 2: biggest food manufacturers in the world to known Freezing, Camping 49 00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:16,120 Speaker 2: and Glambia. A lot of time in infant formula, a 50 00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:19,120 Speaker 2: lot of time working with dairy companies, a little bit 51 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:21,799 Speaker 2: of time with pharmaceutical companies as well. I was based 52 00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:25,000 Speaker 2: in Europe for about eight years, so yeah, well that's 53 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:29,960 Speaker 2: given me an incredibly strong foundation in how to design 54 00:03:30,040 --> 00:03:34,200 Speaker 2: processes food process is predominantly, and then how to build 55 00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:37,000 Speaker 2: big projects and how to execute them properly. Yeah. 56 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:39,480 Speaker 1: Look, it's something that there's a bit of spotlight on 57 00:03:39,560 --> 00:03:41,880 Speaker 1: really in New Zealand at the moment food processing. We've 58 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:45,960 Speaker 1: had a couple of frozen food processes shut down, so 59 00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:48,320 Speaker 1: it's I guess it's one thing to have a state 60 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:52,800 Speaker 1: of the art food processing operations. We're facing really interesting 61 00:03:52,960 --> 00:03:55,720 Speaker 1: economic pressures at the moment and our manufacturing aren't we. 62 00:03:55,800 --> 00:03:58,800 Speaker 2: Yeah, we are. It's really sad to see, particularly for 63 00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:03,360 Speaker 2: New Zealand, and sort of goes to some of the 64 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:07,520 Speaker 2: reasons I came home, came back to New Zealand and 65 00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:10,200 Speaker 2: as you said, teamed up with John and Morey and 66 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:12,920 Speaker 2: trying to figure out, you know, what would the future 67 00:04:12,920 --> 00:04:14,760 Speaker 2: look like, what would the future of food look like. 68 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:17,839 Speaker 2: How could we develop a system that produced far more 69 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:21,480 Speaker 2: protein perjector of land at a much lower environmental impact, 70 00:04:21,520 --> 00:04:25,080 Speaker 2: and can we weave those things together into a business, 71 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:28,120 Speaker 2: which is what we have done. Has taken us some time. 72 00:04:28,200 --> 00:04:30,160 Speaker 2: You know, it's been a six six and a bit 73 00:04:30,240 --> 00:04:33,320 Speaker 2: year journey now, so it's definitely not for the faint hearted, 74 00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:36,160 Speaker 2: but yeah, that's what we've been that's all been working on. Well. 75 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:38,440 Speaker 1: That seems to be the pattern for some of our 76 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:40,640 Speaker 1: most successful startus. If you think a rocket labor it 77 00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:44,080 Speaker 1: really took ten years before Peter Beck launched a rocket 78 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:48,680 Speaker 1: commercially viable rocket, and some of the others. Halter even 79 00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:50,279 Speaker 1: you know, I've been on that journey as well. You know, 80 00:04:50,320 --> 00:04:51,919 Speaker 1: the best part of a decade for a lot of 81 00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:54,880 Speaker 1: these companies. So that seems reasonable. We do need a 82 00:04:54,960 --> 00:04:58,760 Speaker 1: protein revolution in New Zealand. We've been told that there 83 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:01,520 Speaker 1: are limits to growth ins of how we grow protein 84 00:05:01,640 --> 00:05:04,599 Speaker 1: and then ship it off shore. We're very productive, but 85 00:05:04,839 --> 00:05:07,919 Speaker 1: there are environmental limits to that. So you know this 86 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:13,159 Speaker 1: sounds really promising. You met John Penno in twenty nineteen 87 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:16,400 Speaker 1: I think it was, and his wife Maury as well, 88 00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:20,720 Speaker 1: and we're recruited by them to basically commercialize this idea 89 00:05:20,920 --> 00:05:26,440 Speaker 1: about RuBisCO extraction. Set up leafed foods now if you can, 90 00:05:26,240 --> 00:05:29,240 Speaker 1: in lay terms, sort of give us the pitch here 91 00:05:29,240 --> 00:05:31,120 Speaker 1: of the sign and a bit of the science as 92 00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:34,800 Speaker 1: well about what RuBisCO is. People probably haven't heard of it, 93 00:05:34,839 --> 00:05:37,760 Speaker 1: and just how big an opportunity this plant protein is. 94 00:05:37,839 --> 00:05:40,200 Speaker 2: It's a little bit of an oxymoron, right, because this 95 00:05:40,360 --> 00:05:43,640 Speaker 2: is the most plentiful protein on the planet. So actually, 96 00:05:44,839 --> 00:05:47,640 Speaker 2: you know, the average adult consumes I was looking this 97 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:50,080 Speaker 2: up the other day, two point four grams of RuBisCO 98 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:53,240 Speaker 2: protein every day. Every time you eat a green leaf, 99 00:05:53,880 --> 00:05:57,080 Speaker 2: the predominant protein inside that green leaf is going to 100 00:05:57,120 --> 00:06:00,720 Speaker 2: be RuBisCO or is RuBisCO. This is a protein that 101 00:06:00,839 --> 00:06:04,760 Speaker 2: sits inside every plant cell. It has a job. Its 102 00:06:04,839 --> 00:06:07,479 Speaker 2: job is to as part of the FOS. It's a cycle. 103 00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:10,720 Speaker 2: It pulls carbon dioxide out the atmosphere and it turns 104 00:06:10,720 --> 00:06:12,599 Speaker 2: it into energy for the plant to grow and so 105 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:17,280 Speaker 2: on one hand, as human beings were incredibly familiar with 106 00:06:17,400 --> 00:06:22,520 Speaker 2: this protein, and it's worth noting that this is not 107 00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:25,640 Speaker 2: a new idea. This idea of wow, there's a lot 108 00:06:25,680 --> 00:06:28,000 Speaker 2: of protein inside green leaves, if we could isolate it 109 00:06:28,040 --> 00:06:30,320 Speaker 2: and using it to use it for human nutrition, That 110 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:34,080 Speaker 2: idea has been around for about one hundred years and 111 00:06:34,120 --> 00:06:39,359 Speaker 2: there's been many, many attempts, including some thorough attempts to 112 00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:43,800 Speaker 2: isolate that protein, even here in New zut The reason 113 00:06:43,880 --> 00:06:47,159 Speaker 2: for this is just how much protein you could produce 114 00:06:47,200 --> 00:06:51,240 Speaker 2: per hector of land. It starts there, and the ability 115 00:06:51,279 --> 00:06:54,320 Speaker 2: to produce far more than other protein production systems that 116 00:06:54,320 --> 00:06:56,919 Speaker 2: we're familiar with in the food industry. And at the 117 00:06:56,960 --> 00:07:00,320 Speaker 2: other end of it, the studies that had been done 118 00:07:01,080 --> 00:07:03,640 Speaker 2: up until that point highlight its benefits from a nutrition 119 00:07:03,720 --> 00:07:06,320 Speaker 2: point of view. This is a utopia protein. You can 120 00:07:06,360 --> 00:07:08,320 Speaker 2: read all the literature and it's often referred to as 121 00:07:08,400 --> 00:07:12,200 Speaker 2: the utopia protein for human nutrition. This is a truly 122 00:07:12,760 --> 00:07:15,520 Speaker 2: amazing protein. If we want to dive down into the 123 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:20,560 Speaker 2: nitty gritty detail of essential amino acids digestibility. What this 124 00:07:20,640 --> 00:07:23,480 Speaker 2: means from a human performance point of view, Then this 125 00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:26,520 Speaker 2: is the utopia protein. But we have this big gap 126 00:07:26,520 --> 00:07:29,520 Speaker 2: in the middle, which is no company has figured out 127 00:07:29,560 --> 00:07:34,840 Speaker 2: how to actually isolate it in an economically viable way 128 00:07:34,960 --> 00:07:37,880 Speaker 2: or a scalable way. And that's that's what we've achieved 129 00:07:37,920 --> 00:07:40,160 Speaker 2: over the last six years, is actually developing a process 130 00:07:40,160 --> 00:07:40,520 Speaker 2: to do that. 131 00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:53,320 Speaker 1: Rubiscos is literally in every sort of leaf species in 132 00:07:53,360 --> 00:07:55,560 Speaker 1: the world, But what are the sorts of crops are 133 00:07:55,600 --> 00:07:57,800 Speaker 1: we talking about? Sort of forage crops here that might 134 00:07:57,840 --> 00:08:01,000 Speaker 1: be a farmer might have on their land that isn't 135 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:04,280 Speaker 1: necessarily being consumed every day by cows. But you've got 136 00:08:04,280 --> 00:08:08,440 Speaker 1: something over there which basically has this in reasonable quantities 137 00:08:08,440 --> 00:08:09,800 Speaker 1: that you're able to then harvest. 138 00:08:09,880 --> 00:08:11,320 Speaker 2: We can, as you said, we can work with just 139 00:08:11,320 --> 00:08:14,320 Speaker 2: about any green leaf. So it actually becomes a question 140 00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:18,080 Speaker 2: of what fits within the existing agricultural system really well. 141 00:08:18,360 --> 00:08:20,480 Speaker 2: We work with our falfa. That's the crop that we 142 00:08:20,680 --> 00:08:23,680 Speaker 2: really focus on. Hair it leaft. Our falfa is a 143 00:08:23,680 --> 00:08:26,400 Speaker 2: crop that's grown widely in the agricultural system. We've got 144 00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:28,320 Speaker 2: a lot of experience growing at Hair in New Zealand, 145 00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:32,080 Speaker 2: but it's also grown all around the world. Today. People 146 00:08:32,120 --> 00:08:36,120 Speaker 2: grow that crop, they let the crop grow out to 147 00:08:36,160 --> 00:08:38,920 Speaker 2: full maturity, they harvest it and then they feed it 148 00:08:38,920 --> 00:08:42,199 Speaker 2: to a cow. That's predominantly what it is used for. 149 00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:45,480 Speaker 2: What we do differently is we come along when it's 150 00:08:45,480 --> 00:08:49,720 Speaker 2: in that green vegetative state, so it's about twenty centimeters high, lush, 151 00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:52,480 Speaker 2: green leafy. If you're sort of drive past it, you'll 152 00:08:52,520 --> 00:08:56,240 Speaker 2: notice it in the paddocks stands out. We harvest it 153 00:08:56,280 --> 00:08:58,320 Speaker 2: at that point in time, and then we go through 154 00:08:58,360 --> 00:09:02,520 Speaker 2: our processing steps to ultimately the isolate out the protein portion. 155 00:09:02,880 --> 00:09:04,959 Speaker 2: The interesting thing about that from a grower point of 156 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:08,160 Speaker 2: view is it regrows straight away, so about six weeks later, 157 00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:11,120 Speaker 2: for example, we're back in that same padic harvesting it again, 158 00:09:11,280 --> 00:09:14,120 Speaker 2: and we just constantly do that. It's a perennial which 159 00:09:14,120 --> 00:09:17,160 Speaker 2: stays in the ground for multiple years. It's a legume, 160 00:09:17,200 --> 00:09:20,920 Speaker 2: so it fixes its own nitrogen, particularly important at this 161 00:09:21,040 --> 00:09:25,520 Speaker 2: point in time where the price of nitrogen fertilizer is skyrocketing, 162 00:09:25,520 --> 00:09:28,480 Speaker 2: so we don't require any nitrogen fertilizer. It's a plant 163 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:30,840 Speaker 2: that has a really deep tap root, has a high 164 00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:34,760 Speaker 2: water efficiency. So when we interact with growers's and they 165 00:09:34,880 --> 00:09:38,720 Speaker 2: understand what we're doing and how we're doing it, it's 166 00:09:38,760 --> 00:09:42,480 Speaker 2: something that really clicks for them. It's that security from 167 00:09:42,480 --> 00:09:45,880 Speaker 2: a revenue point of view, but it's also just fundamentally 168 00:09:46,440 --> 00:09:49,600 Speaker 2: makes sense, something that is actually quite simple and easy 169 00:09:49,600 --> 00:09:50,160 Speaker 2: to understand. 170 00:09:50,280 --> 00:09:52,320 Speaker 1: Yeah, look, I think you've claimed you're getting up to 171 00:09:52,440 --> 00:09:55,720 Speaker 1: in some cases up to five times more protein per 172 00:09:55,760 --> 00:10:00,560 Speaker 1: hectare than traditional dairy farms for instance. Yeah, so that's 173 00:10:00,600 --> 00:10:04,760 Speaker 1: a huge productivity boost. And maybe talk us through exactly 174 00:10:04,800 --> 00:10:08,720 Speaker 1: how you get that additional yield and therefore more security 175 00:10:08,920 --> 00:10:11,920 Speaker 1: of income. What is it fundamentally about that crop in 176 00:10:11,920 --> 00:10:15,000 Speaker 1: the way that you process it that is boosting productivity 177 00:10:15,040 --> 00:10:15,480 Speaker 1: like that. 178 00:10:15,480 --> 00:10:19,040 Speaker 2: It's maybe helpful to think about the sort of food 179 00:10:19,040 --> 00:10:21,959 Speaker 2: production system today. So in the food production system today, 180 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:24,600 Speaker 2: we grow green leafy crop. You either feed that to 181 00:10:24,679 --> 00:10:27,280 Speaker 2: a beef animal and then you get meat obviously, or 182 00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:30,440 Speaker 2: you feed that green leafy crop to dairy cow produce 183 00:10:30,480 --> 00:10:33,960 Speaker 2: milk and obviously make a whole lot of fractionated products 184 00:10:33,960 --> 00:10:37,600 Speaker 2: from the milk stream. Or you can let that plant 185 00:10:37,640 --> 00:10:40,800 Speaker 2: go out to seed. The seeds are harvested, their mild 186 00:10:40,880 --> 00:10:43,960 Speaker 2: and then you isolate proteins out of there. That's like 187 00:10:44,080 --> 00:10:48,800 Speaker 2: sixty five percent of the global protein system right there. 188 00:10:49,040 --> 00:10:51,960 Speaker 2: And one hand, it's very very simplistic, and all we're 189 00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:54,520 Speaker 2: doing is going to the source. We're skipping out the 190 00:10:54,520 --> 00:10:56,280 Speaker 2: middle man. When you go through each of those steps 191 00:10:56,280 --> 00:10:59,480 Speaker 2: I described, be it a beef cow, beit dairy cow 192 00:10:59,520 --> 00:11:02,520 Speaker 2: into milk, orbeit going letting the plant go to seed 193 00:11:02,520 --> 00:11:05,960 Speaker 2: and harvesting the seeds, there is an efficiency loss on 194 00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:08,599 Speaker 2: each of those processes. Quite simply, we're skipping out the 195 00:11:08,600 --> 00:11:10,360 Speaker 2: middle man and going directly to the source. And when 196 00:11:10,360 --> 00:11:13,640 Speaker 2: we do that, we get significantly more protein. You think 197 00:11:13,679 --> 00:11:16,320 Speaker 2: those protein building box are there at the beginning each 198 00:11:16,360 --> 00:11:19,200 Speaker 2: of those processes I described. You know, you have to 199 00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:22,000 Speaker 2: use some of that protein to grow the cow. There's 200 00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:24,520 Speaker 2: an efficiency et cetera before you get to the ultimate 201 00:11:24,679 --> 00:11:27,040 Speaker 2: number that ends up in the milk string. Just as 202 00:11:27,080 --> 00:11:30,080 Speaker 2: one example, we can use the same logic for meat 203 00:11:30,080 --> 00:11:33,040 Speaker 2: production or seed production. And so this is why we 204 00:11:33,559 --> 00:11:38,559 Speaker 2: can generate more protein per hecta of land than any 205 00:11:38,600 --> 00:11:41,280 Speaker 2: of those systems. And it's not about getting up to 206 00:11:41,320 --> 00:11:43,920 Speaker 2: those numbers. Those are the numbers that we do day 207 00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:47,320 Speaker 2: in day out here in canterbory with our technology at 208 00:11:47,360 --> 00:11:50,559 Speaker 2: the moment. And so that's the first, as you said, 209 00:11:51,040 --> 00:11:54,800 Speaker 2: economic advantage, just the pure ability to use an incredibly 210 00:11:54,880 --> 00:11:59,359 Speaker 2: low input system to produce more protein per hecta of land. 211 00:11:59,280 --> 00:12:01,439 Speaker 1: And then that is fed back to the cows as 212 00:12:01,440 --> 00:12:02,040 Speaker 1: a supplement. 213 00:12:02,280 --> 00:12:06,560 Speaker 2: So then when we take the green leafy material, what 214 00:12:06,640 --> 00:12:10,120 Speaker 2: we do is we go through a cold press juicing operation. 215 00:12:10,679 --> 00:12:12,640 Speaker 2: So at home in the kitchen, you could just think 216 00:12:12,679 --> 00:12:14,840 Speaker 2: about this as you know, you grab some spinach leaves, 217 00:12:14,880 --> 00:12:16,959 Speaker 2: you put them in your nutribleet, you blend them all up. 218 00:12:17,200 --> 00:12:20,160 Speaker 2: What we are interested from a human nutrition point of 219 00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:23,280 Speaker 2: view is the soluble protein. So this is in the 220 00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:26,280 Speaker 2: liquid phase. This is what's really interesting and exciting for 221 00:12:26,360 --> 00:12:29,920 Speaker 2: human nutrition. This is where the rabisco protein lives. There's 222 00:12:29,960 --> 00:12:32,600 Speaker 2: also a whole lot of fiber, so you've got you know, 223 00:12:32,640 --> 00:12:34,880 Speaker 2: the stalk of the plant. You can also imagine all 224 00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:39,440 Speaker 2: the sour wall membranes. They're not really that exciting or 225 00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:42,960 Speaker 2: interesting for human nutrition, but they are really exciting for 226 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:46,840 Speaker 2: ruminants for a cow with four stomachs. So we separate 227 00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:51,040 Speaker 2: out that fiber stream and we feed that back into livestock. So, 228 00:12:51,080 --> 00:12:53,520 Speaker 2: for example, if we feedback back into a dairy cow. 229 00:12:54,040 --> 00:12:57,199 Speaker 2: What we then see is an increase in productivity. This 230 00:12:57,240 --> 00:13:00,440 Speaker 2: is a highly macerated feed. You feed it out just 231 00:13:00,480 --> 00:13:02,840 Speaker 2: like you feed out sidlas today in the agricultural system, 232 00:13:02,880 --> 00:13:06,640 Speaker 2: exactly the same format, but it has been premacerated. That 233 00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:09,480 Speaker 2: leads to an increase in productivity. If it's a dairy cow, 234 00:13:09,520 --> 00:13:12,800 Speaker 2: that's an increase in milk solids production. But it also 235 00:13:13,080 --> 00:13:15,719 Speaker 2: leads to a decrease in emissions. And the emissions I'm 236 00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:19,680 Speaker 2: talking about here are the nitrogen emissions. So protein is 237 00:13:19,679 --> 00:13:22,280 Speaker 2: a whole lot of building blocks of nitrogen when we feed. 238 00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:24,920 Speaker 2: So if we feed soluble protein to a dairy cow, 239 00:13:25,360 --> 00:13:28,720 Speaker 2: she doesn't actually utilize it. It takes a metabolic toll 240 00:13:28,880 --> 00:13:31,360 Speaker 2: to break that down into nitrogen. It comes out in 241 00:13:31,400 --> 00:13:33,640 Speaker 2: the urine stream. It either ends up as in terms 242 00:13:33,640 --> 00:13:37,800 Speaker 2: of wasted as nitrates in groundwater which is contamination of groundwater, 243 00:13:38,160 --> 00:13:41,160 Speaker 2: or nitrous oxide up into the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas. 244 00:13:41,480 --> 00:13:45,000 Speaker 2: So we can solve that problem. And everything I just 245 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:47,720 Speaker 2: described about the feed side of the business that's already 246 00:13:47,880 --> 00:13:51,719 Speaker 2: been proven, that was already known. We didn't invent that. 247 00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:54,360 Speaker 2: That research had been completed multiple times over in New 248 00:13:54,440 --> 00:13:57,400 Speaker 2: Zealand and in places like Denmark, so we're really tapping 249 00:13:57,440 --> 00:14:01,559 Speaker 2: into that existing knowledge there. We think about this as 250 00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:08,280 Speaker 2: kind of fundamentally, how do we best utilize a green leaf? 251 00:14:08,760 --> 00:14:11,040 Speaker 2: Today in the agricultural world, you just feed it all 252 00:14:11,080 --> 00:14:12,800 Speaker 2: into a dairy cow. But if you or you know 253 00:14:13,280 --> 00:14:16,240 Speaker 2: another downstream process a meat coal or a dairy cow. 254 00:14:17,160 --> 00:14:19,160 Speaker 2: But we think about if you could rewrite the book 255 00:14:19,160 --> 00:14:20,800 Speaker 2: on that, how would you do it with all of 256 00:14:20,840 --> 00:14:24,720 Speaker 2: the knowledge and technology that we have available to us today. 257 00:14:24,720 --> 00:14:27,400 Speaker 2: And that's essentially what we're doing at LEAFT. 258 00:14:27,800 --> 00:14:29,400 Speaker 1: I mean you talked about this was sort of the 259 00:14:29,880 --> 00:14:32,480 Speaker 1: utopia protein. It's been known about. You know, this goal 260 00:14:32,920 --> 00:14:36,920 Speaker 1: is in these leaves, but it's hard to extract in 261 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:39,080 Speaker 1: decent quantities and that so I guess at the heart 262 00:14:39,120 --> 00:14:42,960 Speaker 1: of leaf is some pretty special intellectual property around the 263 00:14:43,560 --> 00:14:46,040 Speaker 1: sort of the processing and the engineering that goes into that. 264 00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:49,720 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right. We are essentially the first company in 265 00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:53,160 Speaker 2: the world to figure out how to do this at 266 00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:55,960 Speaker 2: economically vibal Yel. It's to give you a bit of 267 00:14:56,000 --> 00:14:59,600 Speaker 2: an idea on this. About five years ago, you know, 268 00:14:59,720 --> 00:15:02,280 Speaker 2: come needs working in the space because there's a few 269 00:15:02,280 --> 00:15:05,280 Speaker 2: companies around the world as always chasing this new technology. 270 00:15:06,040 --> 00:15:09,480 Speaker 2: When we produced a kg that was deemed to be 271 00:15:09,800 --> 00:15:13,400 Speaker 2: a lot or potentially the most amount of sort of 272 00:15:13,440 --> 00:15:16,920 Speaker 2: food grade rabisco at that point in time. Now we 273 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:21,760 Speaker 2: produce metric tons per week every week and we don't 274 00:15:21,760 --> 00:15:23,520 Speaker 2: think anything of it. So that sort of speaks to 275 00:15:23,600 --> 00:15:28,720 Speaker 2: the velocity of development in this area. And yeah, at 276 00:15:28,760 --> 00:15:31,560 Speaker 2: the heart of leaftwere a technology business that has figured 277 00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:35,720 Speaker 2: out the processes and then wrapped. Of course, that's where 278 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:38,880 Speaker 2: our ipie sits. How to isolate out that protein and 279 00:15:38,920 --> 00:15:40,880 Speaker 2: how to do it at these higher yields. 280 00:15:41,080 --> 00:15:42,640 Speaker 1: How does it look like what you're doing down there 281 00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:45,560 Speaker 1: in Canterbury in terms of the processing, do you have 282 00:15:45,640 --> 00:15:48,480 Speaker 1: sort of like you've got growers obviously around it you're 283 00:15:48,520 --> 00:15:52,960 Speaker 1: partnering with You're taking the alfalfa and bring it to 284 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:56,280 Speaker 1: a central location and in processing it the envisage as 285 00:15:56,280 --> 00:15:59,240 Speaker 1: a scales up, these sorts of processing plants would be 286 00:15:59,320 --> 00:16:01,320 Speaker 1: sort of scattered around the country exactly that. 287 00:16:01,680 --> 00:16:04,840 Speaker 2: Yep. So we work with five amazing growers here on 288 00:16:04,840 --> 00:16:07,640 Speaker 2: the cannery planes. It's really exciting to be working with them. 289 00:16:08,240 --> 00:16:11,920 Speaker 2: You are correct, we have a centralized manufacturing facility. This 290 00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:15,040 Speaker 2: looks very much like a dairy factory if you walked 291 00:16:15,080 --> 00:16:19,520 Speaker 2: inside it slightly different technology, but many elements and the 292 00:16:19,600 --> 00:16:23,400 Speaker 2: sort of look and feel is very very similar. The 293 00:16:23,440 --> 00:16:27,480 Speaker 2: proximity and location to farms and the economics surrounding that 294 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:32,440 Speaker 2: mimics dairy in many ways. So following that logic, and 295 00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:34,600 Speaker 2: if we think about how this will scale out, it 296 00:16:34,600 --> 00:16:37,360 Speaker 2: will scale out in a very similar way to dairy 297 00:16:37,440 --> 00:16:42,000 Speaker 2: factories located around the country, or if we think about 298 00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:45,320 Speaker 2: it more globally, in geographical regions where there is a 299 00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:48,920 Speaker 2: high ability to grow green leafy crops more or less 300 00:16:48,920 --> 00:16:49,920 Speaker 2: all year round. 301 00:16:49,920 --> 00:16:51,920 Speaker 1: And from the farmer's point of view, they're not in 302 00:16:51,960 --> 00:16:55,200 Speaker 1: the emissions trading scheme yet, but they probably will be 303 00:16:55,240 --> 00:16:58,080 Speaker 1: at some point. The government has really focused on technologies 304 00:16:58,120 --> 00:17:01,760 Speaker 1: to help them reduce methane is a big one, but 305 00:17:01,880 --> 00:17:05,639 Speaker 1: nitrous oxide as well too, very potent greenhouse gases. So 306 00:17:05,680 --> 00:17:08,000 Speaker 1: they must be looking at this going wow, if this 307 00:17:08,040 --> 00:17:10,680 Speaker 1: can help us get there at least part of the 308 00:17:10,720 --> 00:17:15,520 Speaker 1: way on nitrous oxide. What's the response been from the 309 00:17:15,600 --> 00:17:16,360 Speaker 1: dairy industry. 310 00:17:16,480 --> 00:17:19,680 Speaker 2: You know, we're in we're in conversations with dairy companies 311 00:17:19,720 --> 00:17:22,160 Speaker 2: in that regard, so we won't go into too much detail. 312 00:17:22,600 --> 00:17:26,000 Speaker 2: But your spot on you know, the opportunity that we 313 00:17:26,080 --> 00:17:30,840 Speaker 2: have with our siled product that's going into dairy cows. 314 00:17:30,920 --> 00:17:34,240 Speaker 2: We're able to produce milk with a lower emissions intensity 315 00:17:34,600 --> 00:17:38,399 Speaker 2: associated with it, and that is a key selling point 316 00:17:39,040 --> 00:17:43,359 Speaker 2: for those For those companies, we think about how do 317 00:17:43,400 --> 00:17:45,320 Speaker 2: we ultimately scale this and at the heart of it, 318 00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:51,200 Speaker 2: how do we create diversity in our primary sector. How 319 00:17:51,240 --> 00:17:55,119 Speaker 2: do we increase revenue streams back into New Zealand If 320 00:17:55,160 --> 00:17:56,800 Speaker 2: I take a New Zealand and if you're on this 321 00:17:56,960 --> 00:17:59,879 Speaker 2: just for a moment, we're always thinking about how do 322 00:17:59,920 --> 00:18:04,200 Speaker 2: we work in a complementary nature to existing agricultural practices. 323 00:18:04,480 --> 00:18:07,920 Speaker 2: We think the more benefit we can provide to those 324 00:18:07,960 --> 00:18:12,080 Speaker 2: other organizations, the easier it is to scale this at 325 00:18:12,119 --> 00:18:13,720 Speaker 2: the speed which we have ambition for. 326 00:18:21,840 --> 00:18:24,160 Speaker 1: So you can obviously help our farmers out by creating 327 00:18:25,359 --> 00:18:28,800 Speaker 1: a more sustainable sort of feedstock for them and potentially, 328 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:32,840 Speaker 1: I guess, reduce our reliance on other sorts of stock 329 00:18:33,040 --> 00:18:37,280 Speaker 1: like palm kernel, which farmers resort to drought and that 330 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:37,719 Speaker 1: sort of thing. 331 00:18:37,840 --> 00:18:39,480 Speaker 2: Yeah, you touched on a really good point there. We 332 00:18:39,560 --> 00:18:44,640 Speaker 2: see strong interest around reducing that reliance on imported palm kernel. YEP. 333 00:18:44,760 --> 00:18:45,720 Speaker 2: That is correct. 334 00:18:45,960 --> 00:18:48,680 Speaker 1: So you've got the obviously the huge potential for our 335 00:18:49,040 --> 00:18:53,240 Speaker 1: primary sector there, but you've also got a high performance 336 00:18:53,320 --> 00:18:59,080 Speaker 1: product for humans leafed blade. This is really interesting. Can 337 00:18:59,160 --> 00:19:01,720 Speaker 1: you get your thoughts on on that. We've heard a 338 00:19:01,720 --> 00:19:04,520 Speaker 1: lot about alternative proteins in recent years. We've had some 339 00:19:04,560 --> 00:19:07,800 Speaker 1: great startups in New Zealand, the likes of Sunfeed. You know, 340 00:19:07,840 --> 00:19:11,679 Speaker 1: it did really great tasty chicken made out of peas 341 00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:14,440 Speaker 1: or something, you know. So there's been a number of 342 00:19:14,480 --> 00:19:17,040 Speaker 1: startups that have gone down that path. It's been a 343 00:19:17,080 --> 00:19:18,560 Speaker 1: hard road for a lot of them, you know, the 344 00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:21,680 Speaker 1: alternative protein market, but it is clearly the future if 345 00:19:21,720 --> 00:19:24,760 Speaker 1: you can extract it and produce it at an affordable 346 00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:29,480 Speaker 1: price in a palatable way for humans to consume. You know, 347 00:19:29,520 --> 00:19:32,040 Speaker 1: you talked about we're getting two point four grams of 348 00:19:32,160 --> 00:19:35,679 Speaker 1: RuBisCO probably in our regular diet every day. If we 349 00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:39,440 Speaker 1: can up that plant based protein and it's a nice 350 00:19:39,440 --> 00:19:42,199 Speaker 1: thing to consume, that's going to be better for our nutrition. 351 00:19:42,320 --> 00:19:44,760 Speaker 1: So talk us through your approach to leafed blade and 352 00:19:44,760 --> 00:19:46,000 Speaker 1: how you're approaching that market. 353 00:19:46,040 --> 00:19:48,600 Speaker 2: You're right, there's been a lot of talk and focus 354 00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:53,000 Speaker 2: on alternative proteins recently, especially over the last five six years, 355 00:19:53,080 --> 00:19:57,560 Speaker 2: there's been a large concern globally that supply is not 356 00:19:57,600 --> 00:19:59,560 Speaker 2: going to be able to keep up with demand on protein. 357 00:19:59,600 --> 00:20:03,200 Speaker 2: That's why we fundamentally see the increase in protein price 358 00:20:03,280 --> 00:20:07,000 Speaker 2: points globally. This has long been a concerns, particularly if 359 00:20:07,080 --> 00:20:11,359 Speaker 2: the big food multinationals. People have therefore put a lot 360 00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:15,080 Speaker 2: of money in to try to find alternative protein solutions. 361 00:20:15,680 --> 00:20:18,760 Speaker 2: But it's worth just reflecting back and realizing that there 362 00:20:18,800 --> 00:20:22,560 Speaker 2: are not many truly alternative proteins in terms of proteins 363 00:20:22,600 --> 00:20:26,040 Speaker 2: that we use in across the food industry. We can 364 00:20:26,080 --> 00:20:28,400 Speaker 2: talk about our dairy proteins that we're all very familiar 365 00:20:28,480 --> 00:20:31,439 Speaker 2: with soy protein you mentioned on Sunfair, but they're just 366 00:20:31,600 --> 00:20:34,840 Speaker 2: using not just but they were using soy protein. Soy 367 00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:37,120 Speaker 2: protein has been around since the nineteen fifties. So Oi 368 00:20:37,160 --> 00:20:40,520 Speaker 2: protein is not a new protein. It was in TVP 369 00:20:40,600 --> 00:20:43,680 Speaker 2: in the nineteen fifties, we produced isolates. Maybe in the seventies. 370 00:20:44,240 --> 00:20:47,160 Speaker 2: Pea protein was using exactly the same technology as soy 371 00:20:47,800 --> 00:20:51,680 Speaker 2: in the nineteen nineties. There hasn't really been any new, 372 00:20:51,920 --> 00:20:55,359 Speaker 2: fundamentally new proteins that are used across the industry, and 373 00:20:55,400 --> 00:20:58,719 Speaker 2: I think that's a point that's often missed or lost 374 00:20:58,880 --> 00:21:02,080 Speaker 2: in the story here. And when there are new proteins, 375 00:21:02,200 --> 00:21:04,600 Speaker 2: you know, it's probably taken them about twenty years to 376 00:21:04,880 --> 00:21:07,439 Speaker 2: really reach the scale that we're familiar with. It's a 377 00:21:07,440 --> 00:21:09,760 Speaker 2: handful of them globally. You know, if you're to make 378 00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:12,360 Speaker 2: a new food product today, you have only a handful 379 00:21:12,400 --> 00:21:15,199 Speaker 2: of proteins that you can really choose from. I think 380 00:21:15,200 --> 00:21:18,440 Speaker 2: that's always worth just pointing out. With that in mind, 381 00:21:19,280 --> 00:21:23,520 Speaker 2: then we're a technology company at the heart. We've developed 382 00:21:23,520 --> 00:21:24,639 Speaker 2: were the first in the world to figure out how 383 00:21:24,640 --> 00:21:26,200 Speaker 2: to isolate ribisco. What do we do with it now? 384 00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:27,760 Speaker 2: You know, now we have it in our hand, how 385 00:21:27,800 --> 00:21:32,760 Speaker 2: do we introduce it to the world? And our consumer 386 00:21:32,840 --> 00:21:36,200 Speaker 2: product is really the mechanism for us to introduce this 387 00:21:36,359 --> 00:21:40,840 Speaker 2: new protein to the world. Some advantages you why have 388 00:21:40,920 --> 00:21:44,480 Speaker 2: we done this? And some of the basic reasons are, 389 00:21:44,760 --> 00:21:47,520 Speaker 2: we're very much in control of our own destiny. We 390 00:21:47,560 --> 00:21:50,520 Speaker 2: can present it in the way that makes sense for us. 391 00:21:50,800 --> 00:21:54,040 Speaker 2: We can do this in an incredibly capital light way, 392 00:21:54,200 --> 00:21:56,359 Speaker 2: and also very quickly. We've been able to take that 393 00:21:56,880 --> 00:22:00,800 Speaker 2: product into market incredibly quickly. It's quite a sighting. We 394 00:22:00,880 --> 00:22:06,200 Speaker 2: get to provide our leaf blade product to users. We 395 00:22:06,240 --> 00:22:11,199 Speaker 2: get to here directly the benefits that they feel, you know, 396 00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:15,199 Speaker 2: after a week of using this product, and you know 397 00:22:15,240 --> 00:22:21,280 Speaker 2: that's that generates excitement, adrenaline and builds culture inside the company. 398 00:22:21,520 --> 00:22:25,680 Speaker 2: Our strategy over a longer horizon is to have Rabisco 399 00:22:25,880 --> 00:22:29,840 Speaker 2: going into a wide range of food applications. And therefore, 400 00:22:29,960 --> 00:22:34,040 Speaker 2: you know, you also hear us announcing partnerships with companies 401 00:22:34,040 --> 00:22:36,760 Speaker 2: in the Japanese market where we're selling our ribisco as 402 00:22:36,760 --> 00:22:41,880 Speaker 2: an ingredient into bakery, into dairy applications, into yogurt applications, 403 00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:45,160 Speaker 2: So you hear that where it is really us working 404 00:22:45,440 --> 00:22:49,600 Speaker 2: to deliver this at scale. But the consumer product is 405 00:22:49,600 --> 00:22:53,000 Speaker 2: what enables us to go quickly in the early days. 406 00:22:52,920 --> 00:22:55,600 Speaker 1: Right, and this is you know, the process you put 407 00:22:55,600 --> 00:22:59,720 Speaker 1: it through. It's basically neutral tasting. It's just a protein 408 00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:03,800 Speaker 1: power essentially that bakers can put into bread or you 409 00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:06,959 Speaker 1: can put into leafed blade as a supplement in this 410 00:23:07,040 --> 00:23:11,000 Speaker 1: case targeting high performance athletes and people who want to 411 00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:15,040 Speaker 1: get a decent hit of protein into their diet. 412 00:23:15,119 --> 00:23:19,239 Speaker 2: Yeah, the positioning is for the blade consumer product and 413 00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:21,960 Speaker 2: the ingredient is slightly different. So exactly what you said 414 00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:24,960 Speaker 2: in terms of the ingredient. It's a more refined product, 415 00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:27,639 Speaker 2: it's white, it's incredibly neutral and taste. We can go 416 00:23:27,720 --> 00:23:30,840 Speaker 2: into a baked product replacing all of the egg and 417 00:23:30,920 --> 00:23:34,239 Speaker 2: you wouldn't know any different. In fact, there's a very 418 00:23:34,320 --> 00:23:36,679 Speaker 2: high probability that you would prefer the one that is 419 00:23:36,760 --> 00:23:39,600 Speaker 2: rabisco versus the egg one that you're used to in 420 00:23:39,640 --> 00:23:43,000 Speaker 2: a blind taste test. So that's really exciting. It has 421 00:23:43,119 --> 00:23:46,520 Speaker 2: better functionality, so we can even replace eggs at lower 422 00:23:46,520 --> 00:23:49,399 Speaker 2: inclusion rates. So like just from a technical point of 423 00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:52,280 Speaker 2: view and sort of nerding out on that, that's what 424 00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:56,640 Speaker 2: gets me really excite. On the consumer product, the leaf blade, 425 00:23:57,000 --> 00:23:59,960 Speaker 2: this is blending two things together. It's blending this amazing 426 00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:03,080 Speaker 2: rabisco protein that beats every other protein from a nutrition 427 00:24:03,160 --> 00:24:06,160 Speaker 2: point of view, we talk about essential amino acids. Come 428 00:24:06,200 --> 00:24:09,200 Speaker 2: from years of working in infant formula in the dairy industry, 429 00:24:09,200 --> 00:24:10,919 Speaker 2: I didn't think it was possible that there was this 430 00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:14,200 Speaker 2: protein that sits insides green leaves that has a better 431 00:24:14,200 --> 00:24:17,760 Speaker 2: amino acid profile for human beings than you know, some 432 00:24:17,800 --> 00:24:19,800 Speaker 2: of the dairy proteins that we use. You know, that 433 00:24:19,800 --> 00:24:21,760 Speaker 2: blew my mind on this journey, and I was just 434 00:24:21,880 --> 00:24:25,680 Speaker 2: you know, so now we get to showcase that two users, 435 00:24:26,200 --> 00:24:28,560 Speaker 2: but in that leaf blade product, we also leave a 436 00:24:28,560 --> 00:24:30,160 Speaker 2: lot of the goodies that are in a green leaf. 437 00:24:30,320 --> 00:24:33,800 Speaker 2: So this is a super greens product blended with a 438 00:24:34,400 --> 00:24:37,760 Speaker 2: high quality, high purity protein. So this is what we 439 00:24:37,840 --> 00:24:42,680 Speaker 2: call it is protein rich nutrition and really blending two 440 00:24:42,720 --> 00:24:45,239 Speaker 2: things together, which hasn't We don't see that it's been 441 00:24:45,280 --> 00:24:47,840 Speaker 2: done before. We don't see that anyone has blended those 442 00:24:47,880 --> 00:24:51,240 Speaker 2: two trends together into one product. The benefit of doing 443 00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:53,840 Speaker 2: it is that as a user, as a person, as 444 00:24:53,840 --> 00:24:57,400 Speaker 2: a human being, you actually feel a difference after our 445 00:24:57,480 --> 00:25:00,400 Speaker 2: using our product. And that's the piece that it gets 446 00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:04,199 Speaker 2: me genuinely excited. And the fact that you feel a 447 00:25:04,240 --> 00:25:07,359 Speaker 2: difference has an economic aspect to it, of course, because 448 00:25:07,359 --> 00:25:09,760 Speaker 2: it means that you will use this product every single day. 449 00:25:09,840 --> 00:25:13,679 Speaker 2: Our users, on average, across our whole portfolio, use this 450 00:25:13,760 --> 00:25:16,240 Speaker 2: product daily. Every single day. They'll wake up and have 451 00:25:16,280 --> 00:25:19,160 Speaker 2: a blade. Now, some users are using five a day, 452 00:25:19,240 --> 00:25:22,879 Speaker 2: which is at the extreme end, but yeah, on average, 453 00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:25,600 Speaker 2: everyone's using it once a day, and they only do 454 00:25:25,680 --> 00:25:28,600 Speaker 2: that because they feel a difference. Maybe they feel more energy, 455 00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:33,680 Speaker 2: they feel that they recover quicker, they feel the benefits 456 00:25:33,680 --> 00:25:37,280 Speaker 2: associated with those antioxidants in terms of reduced inflammation. And 457 00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:40,080 Speaker 2: this is very much different for each individual as we 458 00:25:40,119 --> 00:25:44,600 Speaker 2: are all different human beings. But that gets me excited. 459 00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:47,160 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's interesting because you know a lot of gym 460 00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:50,119 Speaker 1: goers in that who want to bulk up and you know, 461 00:25:51,280 --> 00:25:53,400 Speaker 1: are working out a lot. They might be using sort 462 00:25:53,400 --> 00:25:55,879 Speaker 1: of shake the shakes, typical shake powders that might be 463 00:25:55,920 --> 00:25:59,760 Speaker 1: milk based, yeah, and have other nutrients in that put 464 00:25:59,800 --> 00:26:03,320 Speaker 1: in them. So this intoplay between you're helping our dairy 465 00:26:03,320 --> 00:26:06,719 Speaker 1: farmers be more productive so that and competitive so that 466 00:26:06,720 --> 00:26:09,760 Speaker 1: they can meet the demand in those overseas markets, which 467 00:26:09,760 --> 00:26:14,560 Speaker 1: increasingly is about how sustainable is your production, But you're 468 00:26:14,600 --> 00:26:17,320 Speaker 1: also capturing this movement which has been a bit stop 469 00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:21,000 Speaker 1: start but is obviously the way forward, which is alternative 470 00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:23,679 Speaker 1: plant based protein. So it's sort of a dual strategy 471 00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:30,480 Speaker 1: helping our dairy farmers shift protein from cows, but identifying 472 00:26:30,480 --> 00:26:33,760 Speaker 1: this area where this is gold literally in terms of protein, 473 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:37,200 Speaker 1: and this can help our nutrition across the board, from 474 00:26:37,480 --> 00:26:40,600 Speaker 1: high performance athletes to people just grabbing a loaf of 475 00:26:40,640 --> 00:26:41,760 Speaker 1: bread and a dairy. 476 00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:43,920 Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly, And we don't think of it as plant 477 00:26:43,960 --> 00:26:46,920 Speaker 2: based at that end of the that end of the business. 478 00:26:46,920 --> 00:26:50,040 Speaker 2: This is not whether it's plant based or not plant based. 479 00:26:50,080 --> 00:26:54,920 Speaker 2: This is literally us delivering the best products we possibly can, 480 00:26:55,359 --> 00:26:57,400 Speaker 2: and our leaf Blade product, we just deliver the best 481 00:26:57,440 --> 00:27:00,920 Speaker 2: nutrition we can. We're delivering a product that has eighteen 482 00:27:01,040 --> 00:27:04,280 Speaker 2: grams in our one hundred mili sashet. This is about 483 00:27:04,359 --> 00:27:08,159 Speaker 2: two x any other product on the retail shelf today 484 00:27:08,359 --> 00:27:11,440 Speaker 2: from protein density point of view, and so therefore we're 485 00:27:11,440 --> 00:27:17,760 Speaker 2: delivering a convenient way of getting a significant amount of 486 00:27:17,840 --> 00:27:21,719 Speaker 2: nutrition into you. That product, Like I said, eighteen percent protein. 487 00:27:21,800 --> 00:27:25,240 Speaker 2: It has fifty eight percent of your recommended daily intake 488 00:27:25,280 --> 00:27:28,359 Speaker 2: of iron in that product, and that's naturally occurring ion. 489 00:27:28,359 --> 00:27:31,000 Speaker 2: We have not fortified or added anything in. It's got 490 00:27:31,040 --> 00:27:34,280 Speaker 2: vitamin K, it has all the B vitamins, all naturally occurring, 491 00:27:34,320 --> 00:27:37,440 Speaker 2: all of those goodies from green leaves left in there, 492 00:27:37,680 --> 00:27:39,879 Speaker 2: so we get that benefit of the super greens with 493 00:27:40,040 --> 00:27:44,359 Speaker 2: the protein and nutrition is complex, and I think historically we, 494 00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:47,560 Speaker 2: you know, the industry has always tried to simplify it. 495 00:27:47,640 --> 00:27:50,479 Speaker 2: This is your just your protein take you know, your 496 00:27:50,520 --> 00:27:53,640 Speaker 2: protein in a shaker, like you said, And that answer 497 00:27:53,640 --> 00:27:55,440 Speaker 2: is part of the problem. And there's a big push 498 00:27:55,440 --> 00:27:58,320 Speaker 2: in the marketplace right now for more protein. But I 499 00:27:58,359 --> 00:28:01,239 Speaker 2: do firmly believe nutrition is a more complex than that, 500 00:28:01,560 --> 00:28:03,520 Speaker 2: and we have to think about it and trying to 501 00:28:03,560 --> 00:28:07,240 Speaker 2: deliver people complete nutrition, and the Blade product is about 502 00:28:07,320 --> 00:28:11,240 Speaker 2: doing that in a very condensed, almost very extreme way. 503 00:28:11,320 --> 00:28:13,760 Speaker 2: This is a heck of a lot of nutrition packed 504 00:28:13,800 --> 00:28:17,480 Speaker 2: into an incredibly small, convenient pouch format and it plays 505 00:28:17,480 --> 00:28:19,880 Speaker 2: into some big global trends in terms of GLP one 506 00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:21,960 Speaker 2: use as well, if you start to think about more 507 00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:23,040 Speaker 2: mainstream in the US. 508 00:28:23,160 --> 00:28:26,320 Speaker 1: Yeah, and looks at the sciences as well. Established, the 509 00:28:26,359 --> 00:28:30,199 Speaker 1: process that you've come up with is obviously working, So 510 00:28:30,320 --> 00:28:31,679 Speaker 1: how do you sort of scale this up? 511 00:28:31,720 --> 00:28:31,840 Speaker 2: Now? 512 00:28:31,880 --> 00:28:33,960 Speaker 1: What's your sort of vision over the next sort of 513 00:28:34,000 --> 00:28:37,399 Speaker 1: five years, obviously growing production, working with growers in New 514 00:28:37,480 --> 00:28:40,760 Speaker 1: Zealand to get the raw materials to process. Do you 515 00:28:40,800 --> 00:28:44,000 Speaker 1: see work yourselves working with growers increasingly all over the world. 516 00:28:44,120 --> 00:28:47,480 Speaker 2: Yeah, there's sort of no doubt in my mind that 517 00:28:48,120 --> 00:28:51,400 Speaker 2: we will see now that rabisco is one of the pillars, 518 00:28:51,440 --> 00:28:54,360 Speaker 2: one of the protein pillars globally like that is how 519 00:28:54,360 --> 00:28:56,880 Speaker 2: it will develop now over the next you know, gosh, 520 00:28:56,920 --> 00:28:59,520 Speaker 2: five ten year period of time or we're working on 521 00:28:59,560 --> 00:29:02,400 Speaker 2: hard to make sure that we've got a competitive mote 522 00:29:02,400 --> 00:29:05,480 Speaker 2: from a business point of view, to ensure that we 523 00:29:05,360 --> 00:29:07,360 Speaker 2: know we're a front runner in that and we take 524 00:29:07,400 --> 00:29:10,800 Speaker 2: a large market share. More so than that, I do 525 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:13,160 Speaker 2: genuinely believe that New Zone can be a leader in 526 00:29:13,200 --> 00:29:18,280 Speaker 2: this space. It's leaning into the natural climatic advantages that 527 00:29:18,320 --> 00:29:20,720 Speaker 2: we have in New Zone. The ability to grow lots 528 00:29:20,720 --> 00:29:23,480 Speaker 2: of green leafy crop more or less all year round 529 00:29:23,880 --> 00:29:26,200 Speaker 2: is a natural advantage that we have in this country. 530 00:29:26,480 --> 00:29:29,760 Speaker 2: Combined with the fact that we're well recognized and trusted 531 00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:33,600 Speaker 2: for producing food, it's a very logical place to build 532 00:29:33,640 --> 00:29:36,280 Speaker 2: this business out from. And we could build a substantially 533 00:29:36,360 --> 00:29:38,800 Speaker 2: sized business just here in Canterary their loan New Zone 534 00:29:38,840 --> 00:29:40,760 Speaker 2: because of the efficiencies of the system. You know, we 535 00:29:40,760 --> 00:29:44,040 Speaker 2: can build a business with over a billion top line 536 00:29:44,880 --> 00:29:49,360 Speaker 2: with only fifteen thousand hectares on the Canary Plane. It's 537 00:29:49,400 --> 00:29:53,600 Speaker 2: you know, fifteen thousand. The Canary Planes currently has five 538 00:29:53,800 --> 00:29:57,760 Speaker 2: hundred thousand hectares under irrigation, so that gives you know, 539 00:29:57,960 --> 00:29:59,800 Speaker 2: that sort of turns it a little bit more into 540 00:29:59,840 --> 00:30:02,200 Speaker 2: re That's a drop in the ocean in terms of 541 00:30:02,280 --> 00:30:05,920 Speaker 2: land use, but already a significantly sized business. 542 00:30:06,160 --> 00:30:09,280 Speaker 1: And you know, where they're considering in places like that. Controversially, 543 00:30:09,320 --> 00:30:11,520 Speaker 1: you know, you know Mackenzie and that putting in feed 544 00:30:11,560 --> 00:30:15,800 Speaker 1: lots or more dairy and irrigation and the impact on 545 00:30:16,880 --> 00:30:20,520 Speaker 1: the ecosystem. There quite a nice alternative to be able 546 00:30:20,560 --> 00:30:23,240 Speaker 1: to go, let's grow alfalfa and get a high yield 547 00:30:23,240 --> 00:30:25,600 Speaker 1: crop here and a good price for it to sell 548 00:30:25,640 --> 00:30:28,560 Speaker 1: plant protein for products like what leaf does make you 549 00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:34,120 Speaker 1: exactly are we exploiting this opportunity as a nation to 550 00:30:34,160 --> 00:30:37,320 Speaker 1: the extent we could be in terms of our research 551 00:30:37,360 --> 00:30:40,640 Speaker 1: and development? You know, are there other companies like leaft 552 00:30:40,720 --> 00:30:44,280 Speaker 1: in this ecosystem doing really innovative things with plant proteins? 553 00:30:44,400 --> 00:30:47,560 Speaker 2: Tar as your first question, You know, no, not at all. 554 00:30:47,960 --> 00:30:50,920 Speaker 2: We build this business out of New Zone because we're 555 00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:53,000 Speaker 2: keywas and because we're passionate about the country. You know, 556 00:30:53,320 --> 00:30:55,680 Speaker 2: I think that's fair to say. I think if I 557 00:30:55,720 --> 00:31:00,760 Speaker 2: were to take that factor away, then you would obviously 558 00:31:00,760 --> 00:31:03,680 Speaker 2: build this business in other locations where the access to 559 00:31:03,760 --> 00:31:08,400 Speaker 2: capital and funding and support is far greater. And we 560 00:31:08,440 --> 00:31:11,520 Speaker 2: see that. We see that particularly at the moment, and 561 00:31:11,560 --> 00:31:14,000 Speaker 2: particularly in parts of the US and the funding that's 562 00:31:14,040 --> 00:31:16,880 Speaker 2: available there and parts of Europe. So that's obvious it's 563 00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:20,120 Speaker 2: just facts. Can't complain about that. Actually, one of the 564 00:31:20,160 --> 00:31:22,840 Speaker 2: reasons why we should be building these types of businesses 565 00:31:22,840 --> 00:31:25,880 Speaker 2: in New Zone is so that we can increase the 566 00:31:25,880 --> 00:31:28,680 Speaker 2: GDP of the country and in turn be pumping more 567 00:31:28,720 --> 00:31:32,760 Speaker 2: money into further added value out of New Zealand, you know, 568 00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:35,160 Speaker 2: further R and D. Be it from in the primary 569 00:31:35,200 --> 00:31:37,760 Speaker 2: sector or be it in the tech sector. Either or 570 00:31:38,200 --> 00:31:41,320 Speaker 2: But that's why New Zone needs to have these companies. 571 00:31:41,360 --> 00:31:44,760 Speaker 2: You mentioned companies like rocket Lab, There's lanes Attech, There's 572 00:31:44,960 --> 00:31:49,280 Speaker 2: some very good examples. We just need more of them. 573 00:31:49,320 --> 00:31:52,760 Speaker 1: In my personal opinion, we do, and not just more companies, 574 00:31:52,760 --> 00:31:56,080 Speaker 1: but it's sort of a coordinated focus on where can 575 00:31:56,120 --> 00:32:00,320 Speaker 1: we add value and what is our strategy and those 576 00:32:00,360 --> 00:32:02,000 Speaker 1: You know, we now have a space sector thanks to 577 00:32:02,720 --> 00:32:05,360 Speaker 1: rocket Lab, We have a Space Minister, we have Judith 578 00:32:05,400 --> 00:32:09,719 Speaker 1: Collins who is very passionate about that. Sure, we have 579 00:32:10,240 --> 00:32:13,160 Speaker 1: leaders and we have politicians who are passionate about the 580 00:32:13,160 --> 00:32:16,360 Speaker 1: primary sector. But where are the emerging opportunities within that 581 00:32:16,360 --> 00:32:18,880 Speaker 1: that we could double down on. It seems like this 582 00:32:19,040 --> 00:32:22,360 Speaker 1: is one, but I'm not hearing much about it in 583 00:32:22,440 --> 00:32:23,960 Speaker 1: terms of you know, when I go and talk to 584 00:32:24,640 --> 00:32:27,280 Speaker 1: people about where the tech of the future is. It's 585 00:32:27,280 --> 00:32:32,440 Speaker 1: things about artificial intelligence, it's quantum, it's space tech and aerospace. 586 00:32:33,280 --> 00:32:35,360 Speaker 1: I sort of primary sector seems to be overlooked. 587 00:32:35,440 --> 00:32:38,480 Speaker 2: But who hardly agree with that? And I think we've 588 00:32:38,480 --> 00:32:40,680 Speaker 2: got something really special here. I know we've got something 589 00:32:40,720 --> 00:32:42,920 Speaker 2: special and from a company point of view, we depically 590 00:32:42,960 --> 00:32:44,719 Speaker 2: want to keep this here in New zup. I know 591 00:32:44,800 --> 00:32:47,480 Speaker 2: that's a that's a big driver for all of us 592 00:32:47,520 --> 00:32:50,040 Speaker 2: involved in the in the company, and so trying to 593 00:32:50,040 --> 00:32:52,800 Speaker 2: figure out how we do that frankly. 594 00:32:52,560 --> 00:32:55,640 Speaker 1: And look, you've had some great investors, you know cosal 595 00:32:55,640 --> 00:32:59,120 Speaker 1: of Ventures who backed rocket Lab and lands at Tech 596 00:32:59,240 --> 00:33:01,480 Speaker 1: came on board five years ago in your series A 597 00:33:01,640 --> 00:33:06,280 Speaker 1: round fifteen million US and some great Notaho was in 598 00:33:06,320 --> 00:33:09,000 Speaker 1: there as well, some great local investors. So where are 599 00:33:09,040 --> 00:33:12,480 Speaker 1: you at now in your capital journey? What's required to 600 00:33:12,480 --> 00:33:13,520 Speaker 1: get you to the next level? 601 00:33:13,760 --> 00:33:16,760 Speaker 2: We have some amazing investors been able to blend both 602 00:33:16,800 --> 00:33:23,000 Speaker 2: that international aspect. kV Coastal Adventures are just sensational to 603 00:33:23,040 --> 00:33:27,120 Speaker 2: work with. They understand the impact that this could have globally, 604 00:33:27,320 --> 00:33:29,880 Speaker 2: the importance of it. They have a track record of 605 00:33:29,960 --> 00:33:33,720 Speaker 2: a supporting New Zone companies, but also b supporting technologies 606 00:33:34,280 --> 00:33:37,920 Speaker 2: that are ultimately going to take a considerable amount of 607 00:33:37,920 --> 00:33:40,640 Speaker 2: time to bring to market. Just worth noting that they 608 00:33:40,640 --> 00:33:43,360 Speaker 2: were the Series A investor into open Ai. We're now 609 00:33:43,720 --> 00:33:47,200 Speaker 2: very familiar with chat GBT their products, but there is 610 00:33:47,240 --> 00:33:50,920 Speaker 2: always a long development that you see before these technologies 611 00:33:51,920 --> 00:33:56,240 Speaker 2: are really ready to scale, So that wisdom that comes 612 00:33:56,280 --> 00:33:59,560 Speaker 2: along with that is immensely valuable to LEAFT. And then 613 00:34:00,160 --> 00:34:03,520 Speaker 2: ending that with local New Zealand investors that understand the 614 00:34:03,520 --> 00:34:06,480 Speaker 2: ecosystem here and have the passion for building this our 615 00:34:06,560 --> 00:34:09,160 Speaker 2: New Zealanders is what I think we've done an incredibly 616 00:34:09,200 --> 00:34:11,160 Speaker 2: good job off and then what we just strive to 617 00:34:11,239 --> 00:34:14,040 Speaker 2: continue to do. We're going to be raising more capital. 618 00:34:14,320 --> 00:34:17,120 Speaker 2: These types of businesses are not for the fainthearted. There's 619 00:34:17,160 --> 00:34:19,839 Speaker 2: no hiding away from that. This is real tech. We're 620 00:34:19,880 --> 00:34:24,320 Speaker 2: making real products. It requires stainless steel, it requires capital. 621 00:34:24,840 --> 00:34:27,160 Speaker 2: We will always find the most efficient ways to bring 622 00:34:27,200 --> 00:34:31,000 Speaker 2: that capital into the business, and that's what we obviously 623 00:34:31,040 --> 00:34:34,200 Speaker 2: are working on all the time. But we're also building 624 00:34:35,080 --> 00:34:40,399 Speaker 2: long term sustainable business here. We're not building something that's 625 00:34:40,400 --> 00:34:44,320 Speaker 2: a flash in the pan. We're actually building a system, 626 00:34:44,480 --> 00:34:47,560 Speaker 2: and we're building that from scratch. This is often say 627 00:34:47,560 --> 00:34:50,319 Speaker 2: to people in the team, this is essentially building the 628 00:34:50,400 --> 00:34:53,759 Speaker 2: dairy industry all over again, and all of the complexity 629 00:34:53,760 --> 00:34:55,400 Speaker 2: that goes along with that, but also all of the 630 00:34:55,440 --> 00:34:58,919 Speaker 2: opportunity that goes along with that. We're lucky we get 631 00:34:58,960 --> 00:35:04,239 Speaker 2: to look back at history and learn from the steps 632 00:35:04,239 --> 00:35:06,319 Speaker 2: from either from a technology point of view or from 633 00:35:06,320 --> 00:35:09,839 Speaker 2: a commercialization point of view off those companies, and so 634 00:35:09,960 --> 00:35:12,000 Speaker 2: that enables us to do it a lot faster than 635 00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:14,480 Speaker 2: what it took some of our predecessors. So we sort 636 00:35:14,480 --> 00:35:16,279 Speaker 2: of get to build on the shoulders of giants and 637 00:35:16,480 --> 00:35:20,720 Speaker 2: that regard. So that's a privilege. But still these journeys 638 00:35:20,800 --> 00:35:23,960 Speaker 2: take time, and you see that with great companies. You 639 00:35:24,000 --> 00:35:26,200 Speaker 2: see that with rocket Lab, you see that with Lanzattack 640 00:35:26,239 --> 00:35:26,640 Speaker 2: and others. 641 00:35:26,719 --> 00:35:28,680 Speaker 1: And what's it been like for you or us going 642 00:35:28,719 --> 00:35:31,840 Speaker 1: from being an engineer inside you know, big food companies 643 00:35:31,880 --> 00:35:35,200 Speaker 1: helping them set up their processing plants and that to 644 00:35:35,440 --> 00:35:38,160 Speaker 1: sort of being the public face off as startup you 645 00:35:38,200 --> 00:35:42,520 Speaker 1: know in one it's a sustainability, a climate solutions type startup. 646 00:35:42,800 --> 00:35:46,680 Speaker 1: How's it made you think differently, maybe about risk and 647 00:35:46,840 --> 00:35:50,080 Speaker 1: impact and a speed at which a company grows. 648 00:35:50,600 --> 00:35:52,720 Speaker 2: I truly believe I have the greatest job in the world. 649 00:35:52,760 --> 00:35:55,040 Speaker 2: I get to work on this every day and get 650 00:35:55,080 --> 00:35:58,480 Speaker 2: to you know, develop something I can be personally immensely 651 00:35:58,480 --> 00:36:01,920 Speaker 2: proud of, particularly you know, of young kids, and I 652 00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:04,560 Speaker 2: use that as a as a driver for why I 653 00:36:04,600 --> 00:36:07,319 Speaker 2: work all hours of the day. You asked about risk 654 00:36:07,360 --> 00:36:10,239 Speaker 2: and impact going from a large, established business to the 655 00:36:10,280 --> 00:36:12,480 Speaker 2: other end of the spectrum. When you're in a large company, 656 00:36:13,480 --> 00:36:17,400 Speaker 2: you are always very risk adverse. Right, you've got a 657 00:36:17,480 --> 00:36:20,040 Speaker 2: sand castle, there's something that's been built, you know. I 658 00:36:20,080 --> 00:36:22,799 Speaker 2: work for gas twenty two thousand staff. There's a lot 659 00:36:22,800 --> 00:36:24,719 Speaker 2: of checks and balances when we come up with new 660 00:36:24,760 --> 00:36:26,839 Speaker 2: ideas in a big company because we want to make 661 00:36:26,880 --> 00:36:31,040 Speaker 2: sure that we don't accidentally destroy the reputation of the company, 662 00:36:31,880 --> 00:36:34,759 Speaker 2: essentially kick over that sand castle that's been built. The 663 00:36:34,920 --> 00:36:37,719 Speaker 2: joy and the excitement of a startup is that you 664 00:36:37,760 --> 00:36:40,799 Speaker 2: haven't built anything at the very beginning. There's nothing to 665 00:36:40,880 --> 00:36:45,120 Speaker 2: really destroy. It's only opportunity. So there's that aspect of it. 666 00:36:45,360 --> 00:36:48,480 Speaker 2: But you also have a lot of risk, especially when 667 00:36:48,520 --> 00:36:51,080 Speaker 2: you start this business like this. You're starting with just 668 00:36:51,120 --> 00:36:53,759 Speaker 2: a list of assumptions. Everything is a risk, and so 669 00:36:53,880 --> 00:36:57,080 Speaker 2: the job to do is in kV the Node Coastlar 670 00:36:57,160 --> 00:36:59,719 Speaker 2: focuses on this very much is to retire the risk 671 00:36:59,760 --> 00:37:02,239 Speaker 2: as quickly as humanly possible. We can do that in 672 00:37:02,320 --> 00:37:06,600 Speaker 2: a quite sort of fail fast type mentality. We can 673 00:37:06,680 --> 00:37:09,600 Speaker 2: deploy things into market incredibly quickly. We can let them fail. 674 00:37:09,640 --> 00:37:12,000 Speaker 2: We can learn from that farlure and that overall en 675 00:37:12,000 --> 00:37:17,080 Speaker 2: they was a greater velocity, And in turn, it's how 676 00:37:17,160 --> 00:37:23,480 Speaker 2: quickly we can understand or retire those risks. Essentially, those 677 00:37:23,480 --> 00:37:27,760 Speaker 2: list of assumptions that you start off with, so quite different, 678 00:37:28,040 --> 00:37:31,839 Speaker 2: very different from an established business. I personally argue a 679 00:37:31,840 --> 00:37:34,279 Speaker 2: heck of a lot more fun. You know. This is 680 00:37:34,320 --> 00:37:37,719 Speaker 2: my happy place is building building things and building them 681 00:37:37,760 --> 00:37:40,720 Speaker 2: as quickly as we possibly can, and building great teams 682 00:37:41,880 --> 00:37:43,080 Speaker 2: to enable that to happen. 683 00:37:43,120 --> 00:37:45,719 Speaker 1: Well, it's a great company. We need more of them, 684 00:37:46,640 --> 00:37:50,279 Speaker 1: like leaft in New Zealand hopefully an ecosystem of these 685 00:37:50,280 --> 00:37:53,400 Speaker 1: companies that get the R and E support and the 686 00:37:53,760 --> 00:37:58,360 Speaker 1: support of industry as well. So congrats on the journey 687 00:37:58,400 --> 00:38:00,719 Speaker 1: so far, good luck for the next phase, and thanks 688 00:38:00,760 --> 00:38:02,279 Speaker 1: so much for coming on the Business of Tech. 689 00:38:02,600 --> 00:38:05,319 Speaker 2: Thank you very much for having me. Just all of 690 00:38:05,360 --> 00:38:09,360 Speaker 2: your listeners out there, go check out our products. Leafblade 691 00:38:09,400 --> 00:38:11,480 Speaker 2: dot com. If you want to help us in any way, 692 00:38:11,520 --> 00:38:13,600 Speaker 2: the best way to help us is buy our products, 693 00:38:13,600 --> 00:38:17,080 Speaker 2: So feel free to jump on there subscribe. We're delivering 694 00:38:17,520 --> 00:38:20,719 Speaker 2: directly from our website to the New Zealand and to 695 00:38:20,800 --> 00:38:24,560 Speaker 2: the US market as of just very recently, so that's 696 00:38:24,600 --> 00:38:25,960 Speaker 2: the way that you can be the first in the 697 00:38:25,960 --> 00:38:29,080 Speaker 2: world to get your hands on some Ribisco product. 698 00:38:33,880 --> 00:38:37,640 Speaker 1: That was Ross Milne, CEO of Leafed Foods, so really 699 00:38:37,719 --> 00:38:43,200 Speaker 1: promising detech venture taking on the global protein challenge from 700 00:38:43,239 --> 00:38:46,120 Speaker 1: the paddocks of Canterbury. I want to bring more of 701 00:38:46,120 --> 00:38:50,440 Speaker 1: these companies to your attention. Our primary sector and the 702 00:38:50,560 --> 00:38:53,640 Speaker 1: tech innovation that is going on in that space, which 703 00:38:53,680 --> 00:38:57,720 Speaker 1: we desperately need more of. As Ross outlined in that interview, 704 00:38:58,280 --> 00:39:01,560 Speaker 1: I think he feels the frustration that innovation in the 705 00:39:01,560 --> 00:39:04,560 Speaker 1: primary sector doesn't get the attention it deserves, given that 706 00:39:04,640 --> 00:39:08,279 Speaker 1: it is our biggest industry and is being forced to 707 00:39:08,440 --> 00:39:12,960 Speaker 1: change because of the sustainability challenges it faces. So there's 708 00:39:13,000 --> 00:39:15,319 Speaker 1: lots of really cool stuff going on in agro tech 709 00:39:15,719 --> 00:39:19,000 Speaker 1: and bioscience and I'll bring some of those stories to 710 00:39:19,040 --> 00:39:21,800 Speaker 1: you later this year. You've been listening to the Business 711 00:39:21,800 --> 00:39:25,000 Speaker 1: of Tech with me Peter Griffin. If you enjoyed this episode, 712 00:39:25,120 --> 00:39:28,520 Speaker 1: please follow or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and 713 00:39:28,520 --> 00:39:31,560 Speaker 1: share it with someone who's curious about the future of 714 00:39:31,640 --> 00:39:34,200 Speaker 1: food and where it's heading. Thanks so much for listening, 715 00:39:34,239 --> 00:39:36,600 Speaker 1: and join me next time as we dive into another 716 00:39:36,640 --> 00:39:44,840 Speaker 1: story of innovation shaping Altaro's tech future. Catch you next week.