Hub will identify and nurture innovative technologiesto develop the next generation of food and beverages as interest in the sectorin Israel grows
The Israel Innovation Authority is planning to set up anew food technology incubator in the north of Israel, close to the city ofSafed, with an investment of over NIS 100 million ($28 million) over eightyears. The authority, in charge of setting out the nation’sinnovation policies and supporting its tech sector, issued a tender forcandidates to run the incubator, which will support the establishment offoodtech startups and will get benefits that the authority gives to incubatorsin the country’s geographical periphery, including an annual operating budgetof NIS 600,000 and a NIS 5 million grant to every company in the incubator. Theproject’s goal will be to identify and nurture innovative technologies in avariety of fields and activities, including developing the next generation offood and beverages; converting agricultural land used for animal food andhusbandry to food production for humans; optimize the food-growing process in asustainable manner; shortening and optimizing the supply chain and supplymethods to preserve food safety and freshness and prevent surplus productionand waste; and growing healthier food and adapting it to consumer tastes. Theincubator will help establish companies in these fields in Israel, connect themwith local players, and penetrate international target markets, the statementsaid. The initiative is part of a government push to transform Israel’s northinto a hub for agriculture and food technology companies. In July, EconomyMinister Eli Cohen said the state would allocate NIS 110 million in the coming year for foodtech ventures in the UpperGalilee and in Kiryat Shmona, Israel’s northernmost city. Foodtech — the art of using technologies to makehealthier food or streamline distribution and developing the next generation offood and beverages — is a growing trend around the world. According to thedatabase of Start-Up Nation Central, a non-profit that tracks the tech industryin Israel, there are some 266 active startups working in the field. Recentexits of Israeli companies in the food segment have raised Israel’s profile inthis sector. PepsiCo said in August it would buy SodaStream for $3.2 billion in cash, whilethe US firm International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) said in May it will purchase Israel’s Frutarom, a maker of flavors and fragrances foruse in food, beverages and pharmaceuticals, for $7.1 billion, in the secondlargest deal ever for an Israeli firm. Meanwhile, in July, Dutch Takeaway.comsigned an accord to buy online food marketplace 10bis for $157 million. “The global focus on Food Tech is motivated by projectionssuggesting that there will be 9.6 billion mouths to feed by 2050,” said AharonAharon, CEO of the Israel Innovation Authority, in the statement. “It isextremely important to develop solutions to this growing challenge, and one ofour responses is the establishment of the new Food Tech incubator in Safed.” The new incubator will join 18 existing incubatorssupported by the Israel Innovation Authority’s incubator program. Anya Eldan, VP at the StartUp Division of the InnovationAuthority, said that the incubators “have already proven themselves as animportant tool of establishing innovative companies based on academic knowledgein a variety of fields.” Among the 18 incubators run by the authority, just TheKitchen FoodTech Hub in Ashdod owned by the Strauss Group focuses oninvestments in the field of food and beverages, she said. The Israel Innovation Authority “sees great importance inbringing additional innovative companies into this field in order to help themget established, develop and become global leaders,” Eldan said.
From The Times of Israel
