Speaker 1: You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and
Speaker 1: Bloomberg Quick Takes Tim Stenovich on Bloomberg Radio. Yeah, so
Speaker 1: we're going to talk about growing, specifically agriculture. A little
Speaker 1: bit of background everybody. Our Bloomberg New Economy team, they
Speaker 1: drawn insights from global leaders innovators along five editorial pillars Finance, Commerce, sustainability,
Speaker 1: resilience and security. They hold annual events around the world.
Speaker 1: They're just looking to get to the heart of our
Speaker 1: most important issues. And in keeping with that, they have
Speaker 1: the Catalyst program that they established in twenty twenty one.
Speaker 1: And this is a simple goal finding people whose innovation's
Speaker 1: efforts and objectives have a genuine shot at changing the
Speaker 1: world for better. So they are scientists, they're entrepreneurs, their
Speaker 1: policymakers from all walks of life, but they all demand recognition.
Speaker 1: Including our next guest, who is a member of the
Speaker 1: Bloomberg New Economy Catalyst Class of twenty twenty two, doctor
Speaker 1: Annasasia Volkova. She is CEO and co founder of Regrow.
Speaker 1: She's also included in Fast Companies list of the world's
Speaker 1: fifty most innovative companies of twenty twenty three. A twenty
Speaker 1: twenty MIT thirty five hundred thirty five Innovator when a
Speaker 1: BBC's Top one hundred Women. She's given two TEDx talks
Speaker 1: about egg technology, remote sensing and sustainable farming. I had
Speaker 1: to lay it out here because you are just a
Speaker 1: rock star. She's here in our Bloomberg Interactive Brokers Broker's studio. Welcome, Welcome,
Speaker 1: delighted to have you, Carol. You got me blushing cringing
Speaker 1: so hard during that it was amazing. I know, I know,
Speaker 1: I'm really sorry, but I think it's important to lay
Speaker 1: it out because you're getting noticed because of the work
Speaker 1: you're doing. First of all, welcome and thank you for
Speaker 1: coming in than you having me and I am a
Speaker 1: little subjective. You are a blue Catalyst, but they choose
Speaker 1: really well and really smartly. UM, tell us about regrow
Speaker 1: and what you are doing. So you know how we
Speaker 1: have a climate crisis. Yeah, I've heard good agriculture unfortunately
Speaker 1: has something to do with it. Opposed to be in
Speaker 1: an industry that can heal the planet. That seems very odd,
Speaker 1: isn't it. It's the industry that really works on the
Speaker 1: land and therefore should probably be good for a climate
Speaker 1: but in post World War two era, we decided we
Speaker 1: just need to feed everyone at all costs. We needed
Speaker 1: to produce so that people would go hungry so wouldn't
Speaker 1: get another war. And that was the optimization that we
Speaker 1: were running, so production right whatever, at all costs production,
Speaker 1: and we probably did not take the full cost accounting
Speaker 1: of the planet resources that we were drawing on. And
Speaker 1: now agriculture contributes about a quarter of all greenhouse gases.
Speaker 1: Pretty stagrain, isn't it. That's pretty staggering, it is, And
Speaker 1: I mean, there's so much negative that we could talk
Speaker 1: about with the climate crisis. The way you put it
Speaker 1: before when we were talking is that it's the eleventh
Speaker 1: hour for humanity, which really struck me. We'll go there.
Speaker 1: Why why is it the eleventh hour? Well, we are
Speaker 1: in a bit of a vicious cycle between agriculture contributing
Speaker 1: to emissions and emissions making climate more volatile, which makes
Speaker 1: agriculture more uncertain, and the agricultural production more volatile, and
Speaker 1: it continues on. So we need to step out of
Speaker 1: that cycle and truly change the incentives away from profitability
Speaker 1: or simply production at old cost and production at a
Speaker 1: true cost, accounting for the planet. Forgive me anastasia. I
Speaker 1: feel like people are gonna be like, I go to
Speaker 1: my grocery store. There's plenty of stuff there. I have
Speaker 1: no problem with this. So help us understand because you're
Speaker 1: to me saying crisis right, and I've had We've had
Speaker 1: others who come on and talk about this same thing.
Speaker 1: But again, Mattie and I are going to go and
Speaker 1: we can buy probably whatever we want tonight for now
Speaker 1: because we're here in the US. Not everyone is as
Speaker 1: privileged as we are. And every year there's at least
Speaker 1: two major production regions, whether it's Ukraine or Brazil or Australia,
Speaker 1: that are experiencing just catastrophic of other events, floods, dry
Speaker 1: out altogether. That is what, in a way is driving
Speaker 1: the cost of food up. So clearly everyone's notice we're
Speaker 1: paying more even if you can get it now. Because
Speaker 1: this is one of the biggest economies in the world,
Speaker 1: it will be driving this demand supply towards us. It
Speaker 1: may be that we're currently doing it at a bit
Speaker 1: of an expense of a global sealth. Well, that's such
Speaker 1: an important piece because even if we do have access
Speaker 1: to fresh produce, for example, in the US, we're all
Speaker 1: feeling the financial impact that climate change is having on
Speaker 1: our food supply chains and groceries. Friendly is frankly is
Speaker 1: not what you judge it by because groceries you can
Speaker 1: have local supply chains and whether it's vertical farms, whether
Speaker 1: it's someone shipping it across the country. But it's truly
Speaker 1: the cost of substantial commodities like wheat or availability of
Speaker 1: sunflower oil. Post Ukrainian crisis has become a major topic
Speaker 1: in the industry. How are we shipping the production? What
Speaker 1: are we going to do about it? Unpacked that somewhere
Speaker 1: because I do feel like the Ukrainian or the Russian
Speaker 1: war invasion of Ukraine, which you are Ukrainian, So just
Speaker 1: because we want to talk to you you a little bit
Speaker 1: about that, but I think a year ago, all of
Speaker 1: a sudden, we're like, whoa, we had no idea. What
Speaker 1: would we call it? The bread basket? Right, and to
Speaker 1: understand how much was in production? Talked to us a
Speaker 1: little bit more about that and the thinking of that.
Speaker 1: Like you said, it's not necessarily the stuff we go
Speaker 1: into the grocery stores. It's stuff like that the heart, Yeah,
Speaker 1: the massive brands that you buy in a grocery store.
Speaker 1: They all were sourcing from Ukraine, one commodity or the other.
Speaker 1: Eighty percent of the world sunflower, one of the main
Speaker 1: drivers behind vegetable oils, is produced in Ukraine. Eleven to
Speaker 1: fifteen percent of wheat. It's feeding not just Europe that
Speaker 1: does not have that production region, but also Africa, other
Speaker 1: areas in the world. And when you start clogging up
Speaker 1: the food web that has been very resilient uple until
Speaker 1: that moment when you start to closing ports or weaponizing food,
Speaker 1: you really start feeling the impact of how important that
Speaker 1: production was for us to be In this fluid, ever
Speaker 1: balancing cycle of what fell resilient. It's going to get
Speaker 1: more out of hand with climate crisis really kicking in
Speaker 1: and wiping out harvests. And looking into your background as
Speaker 1: someone from Ukraine who had family there as well, can
Speaker 1: you talk a little bit about how that, combined with
Speaker 1: your expertise on the climate, has changed your perspective on certainly,
Speaker 1: And it's definitely a privilege to be sitting with you
Speaker 1: here and telling the story and drawing the attention to
Speaker 1: the Russian war on Ukraine. No one expected it, no
Speaker 1: one knew it was coming. Yes, it was invasion eight
Speaker 1: years ago, but it wasn't a full scale invasion, and
Speaker 1: Ukraine is the definition of resilience amongst nations right now,
Speaker 1: and hopefully everyone can see that they continue to farm,
Speaker 1: They continue to literally pick minds and drones out of
Speaker 1: the fields, to continue to plant or harvest or fertilize
Speaker 1: crops or whatever they need to do, because they know
Speaker 1: that's their responsibility for themselves as well as the world.
Speaker 1: And I hope that the world will take on a
Speaker 1: little bit of responsibility for the security of such an
Speaker 1: important country. What do you think the world is missing
Speaker 1: when it comes to the war in Ukraine. I guess
Speaker 1: there's just a lot of misconceptions around. Oh maybe if
Speaker 1: we empower Ukraine then they will be also able to
Speaker 1: take back some more territories. They're fighting for their lives,
Speaker 1: and I think Europe is very vocal about it internally,
Speaker 1: but there's certainly not yet a critical mass to say,
Speaker 1: how do we put a stop to it? President Zelenski
Speaker 1: tell us, how do we put a stop to it?
Speaker 1: We will support that plan. Let's go and execute against
Speaker 1: that plan. Rather than trickling the support in we just
Speaker 1: results in frankly, more dead children, in Ukraine right now. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I just think so much about the ptsdps as well. Like,
Speaker 1: even if let's say the war ended right now, it's
Speaker 1: not like everything would go back to normal overnight and
Speaker 1: the wheat supply would suddenly be back to normal, or
Speaker 1: the buildings would resurrect themselves, right and people could just
Speaker 1: easily just go back to the way it was completely
Speaker 1: And I think even with agricultural crisis land or into
Speaker 1: the war, and we haven't even started talking about the
Speaker 1: energy angle into it. Because agriculture is so connected to
Speaker 1: the supply of fertilizer that depends on the primary energy sources.
Speaker 1: It's into the cost in a big way. It feels
Speaker 1: into the cost and frankly just controls controls the nation's exports, imports,
Speaker 1: what they buy, how much food security they have. We
Speaker 1: are not going to be able to see that overnight
Speaker 1: go back. It's agriculture isn't at least an annual cycle,
Speaker 1: if not a multi year cycle. We have about a
Speaker 1: minute then we're going to come back and continue the conversation.
Speaker 1: But what do you say to people again who are like,
Speaker 1: we're fine. You know, people used to talk about too
Speaker 1: you know, the world's falling and we come back, we
Speaker 1: bounce back. We're gonna have food, We're gonna be fine.
Speaker 1: So imagine during those times of civil war in Ukraine
Speaker 1: that everyone went to school. Sorry, civil war in the
Speaker 1: US is what it feels like in Ukraine. Can you
Speaker 1: possibly imagine that the times would have turned, that there
Speaker 1: wouldn't be one country with all the states, that someone
Speaker 1: would be shooting somewhere right now, one hundred people in
Speaker 1: a minute. What would that feel like? That would feel
Speaker 1: really odd, bizarre, and you wouldn't put us up to
Speaker 1: it immediately. That's what it feels like. It's like incredible times.
Speaker 1: As we said earlier, we say, I feel like every
Speaker 1: day over and over very sobering and understandably so we
Speaker 1: want to get back to when we come back on
Speaker 1: the other side of this break. You know what your
Speaker 1: company is doing because you're working to solve the problems,
Speaker 1: and so we want to get into exactly what you're doing.
Speaker 1: You want to get back to our guest, as we mentioned,
Speaker 1: a member of the Bloomberg New Economy Catalyst Class of
Speaker 1: twenty twenty two. She is still with US. Doctor Anna
Speaker 1: Stage of Alcova, CEO and co founder of Regrow still
Speaker 1: with us in our studio. So we've been talking about
Speaker 1: your company, tell us specifically about the work you're doing
Speaker 1: and the impact you're having. Yeah, we talked about your karine.
Speaker 1: We talked about climate and how do we change the
Speaker 1: way that we manage agriculture by optimizing for what the
Speaker 1: planet needs to get from us, not only give us.
Speaker 1: That is a question of information and insights and do
Speaker 1: the right people who are making decisions do they see
Speaker 1: the true cost accounting? Do they see how farming is
Speaker 1: taking or giving to the environment. And Regro does just that.
Speaker 1: We provide insights to large companies all across the agriculture
Speaker 1: and food supply chain to help them see their so
Speaker 1: called Scope three emissions or the emissions on the farm
Speaker 1: and help lower them so they can be part of
Speaker 1: creating the better future today. Is it to eat to
Speaker 1: some extent as stage to have to think about Okay,
Speaker 1: so you're doing something you need to think about there's
Speaker 1: actually a dollar value on the cost of how we
Speaker 1: impact our climate. That's exactly about it that way, that's
Speaker 1: exactly it like incorporating that cost of externality. So for example,
Speaker 1: if we're treating soil poorly and we till it a lot.
Speaker 1: We actually are reducing its resiliency and we are not
Speaker 1: going to capture as much water the next time we
Speaker 1: have a flush, flood rain event, anything, and we see
Speaker 1: the effects on that and for example, Central California, Central
Speaker 1: Valley compared to if we were actually putting the investment
Speaker 1: for the long term, we would see the resilience and
Speaker 1: it would pay off and we would not have the
Speaker 1: shocks to the yield and agricultural system in the worst
Speaker 1: years and the best years. Where are you seeing the
Speaker 1: most buy in for change from like the farmer all
Speaker 1: the way to the CEOs of big banks. Yeah, everyone
Speaker 1: actually is aligned on the mission of this is one
Speaker 1: planet in Nobody in agriculture and food industry will literally
Speaker 1: have any businesses if we don't invest in this. What
Speaker 1: do you say you mean everyone is aligned? They are aligned.
Speaker 1: Actually they Yes, we need the future, we need resilience,
Speaker 1: We need it now. So farmers, the big food companies,
Speaker 1: farmers their most important agenda is to pass the land
Speaker 1: and the next generation the company's perpetual planet profits. How
Speaker 1: are they going to get into that world if they
Speaker 1: don't invest in it now? Banks alike in a little bit,
Speaker 1: but they're trying to catch up, but the industry that
Speaker 1: so clearly has experienced the shocks is working on it together.
Speaker 1: Can we tell you got an award today? Yes, of course,
Speaker 1: a UBS award, Yes, for being a global visionary. Okay,
Speaker 1: so there you are UBS, big Bank. What kind of
Speaker 1: conversations were they having in their thoughts because money makes
Speaker 1: things happen, Yes, and they want to guide their customers,
Speaker 1: their clients to invest more sustainably, to invest in the
Speaker 1: solutions to the future that will build the resilience in
Speaker 1: the portfolio of their customers, in the portfolio of these industries.
Speaker 1: Massive industries where now rewiring to be optimizing for the
Speaker 1: future of the planet, not just profit both. And we
Speaker 1: were talking about the difference between short term profitability and
Speaker 1: long term Have you found that discussion to get easier
Speaker 1: over time getting people? Yeah? Tell us the breakdown of
Speaker 1: all right, Okay, those who are watching a YouTube and
Speaker 1: Blueberg originals can see I think her face on the
Speaker 1: stage's face, or maybe they didn't butt she was like,
Speaker 1: a yeah, a little bit skeptical. Skeptical that's a good word. Um, Yes,
Speaker 1: I think the long term discussion it's very hard to
Speaker 1: quantify the benefits of long term value of resilience. That
Speaker 1: is where they sticking point is how about a word
Speaker 1: for you existence m okay, sorry, yes, yes, yes, that
Speaker 1: is truly the award the ability for them to continue
Speaker 1: to exist. But I think in our in the corporate mentalities,
Speaker 1: what we're seeing is you often need to show this
Speaker 1: is the cost benefit. The benefits will come in later
Speaker 1: on years, in the years to come, decades to come.
Speaker 1: The companies, frankly that are still held by families do
Speaker 1: not have any questions to this. They investing their running
Speaker 1: towards net zero. They have earlier goals twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1: The public companies are still trying to align in corral
Speaker 1: the stakeholders. But I think about like, you know, the
Speaker 1: we talked so much about semiconductors, so important to so
Speaker 1: much in our world right now. And you know, whether
Speaker 1: it's an intel in AMD at TSMC, if they're going
Speaker 1: to build a new facility, it's a lot of money.
Speaker 1: It's going to take a while to get there. I
Speaker 1: mean oil companies where you're doing drilling, a lot of money,
Speaker 1: a lot of planning. It takes a while. It's the
Speaker 1: same kind of thinking, the same mindset absolutely, So you
Speaker 1: provide data information and then what kind of what do
Speaker 1: your clients and complied possibility. First of all, we help
Speaker 1: them understand. So you have global sourcing from older regions
Speaker 1: in the world, or even local sourcing. Where are your emissions,
Speaker 1: where a farming practices so good for the planet you
Speaker 1: don't have to worry about it, and where they need
Speaker 1: some improvement, and how can you actually participate and incentifize
Speaker 1: that improvement. Whether you are a food manufacturing company, a
Speaker 1: grocery retail, whether you are a trader aggregator, whether you
Speaker 1: are a farmer yourself, whether your financial institution that's landing
Speaker 1: to that farmer or even holding the land asset, there
Speaker 1: is something you should be taken off and adding back
Speaker 1: into that margin on the farm so they can invest
Speaker 1: in sustainability. Can you give us one sweet thought as
Speaker 1: we get ready to go into a long weekend, have
Speaker 1: about a minute left of a company or institution that
Speaker 1: you worked with and what they we did with it? Yes. So,
Speaker 1: for example, m kellogg is a wonderful example. They brought
Speaker 1: sustainable rice products such as their special keys and crispies
Speaker 1: to the Wilmert shelf through investing on farm into emissions reduction,
Speaker 1: and they were able to tell that story to consumer
Speaker 1: so that that mom will be in Walmart this weekend
Speaker 1: picking something nice, can feel good about that purchase decisions
Speaker 1: good for the planet. That is such a great example
Speaker 1: and also reminds me to ask you quickly. We have
Speaker 1: like thirty seconds, not just offsets, right actually yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: definitely value chain, supply chain action together with all the
Speaker 1: partners insets, let's reduce what we currently emit. Let's not offset. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that is such a big I think. I'm so glad
Speaker 1: you brought that up because it isn't just a baud offsetting.
Speaker 1: It's actually reducing your impact. We need to work on
Speaker 1: it together if we are to exist. Come back, let
Speaker 1: us know how your work is going. Really glad, A
Speaker 1: very thoughtful conversation, very relevant in terms of some of
Speaker 1: the huge issues that are facing our world right now.
Speaker 1: And say thank you, congratulations on your award. Thank you
Speaker 1: many many awards exactly at a stage of Akova. She
Speaker 1: is co founder and chief executive officer of Regro, joining
Speaker 1: us here in our Bloomberg Interactive Brokers studio. That conversation.
Speaker 1: If you missed any of it, be sure to check
Speaker 1: out our podcast feed. Yeah, the AG space is something
Speaker 1: that I feel like it's taken a long time to
Speaker 1: bring about changes, but it's starting. Yeah, and you've been
Speaker 1: on this beat. I feel like Carol for so long.
Speaker 1: I can remember prepping for ESG panels by watching interviews
Speaker 1: that you've done with like the CEO of Ikea talking
Speaker 1: about sustainability, and it's just I know it's something you've
Speaker 1: covered a lot and done great work with care about
Speaker 1: our world. I don't want to live in the metaverse Exorry,
Speaker 1: sorry meta I'm want to live in the real world
Speaker 1: and eat real stuff. Um, you are listening in watching
Speaker 1: Bloomberg Business Week. This is Bloomberg Radio.