November 14, 2018

This article will be featured along with other articles addressing investment opportunities in European agriculture in Volume 5, Issue 4 of the GAI Gazette, which will be distributed in conjunction with Global AgInvesting Europe 2018, held in London on 4-5 December 2018. Join us in London to hear valuable insight and best practices for investment strategy from the expert speaking faculty. Learn more and register.

By Lynda Kiernan, GAI Media

The supermarket is no longer a one-size-fits-all establishment, and consumers are no longer passive players in the food supply chain. As health and wellness continue to emerge as leading consumer concerns, the connection between people and their food choices has taken on a deeper significance.

For decades, nutritional studies and guidelines have repeatedly offered contradictory information. The stalwart-but-vague food pyramid that had been the backbone of dietary recommendations for years has since been maligned as a lie.¹ Eggs have been labeled as horrible, or good for you depending on the source, with David Spence, a neurology professor at the University of Western Ontario, going so far as to state that eggs are nearly as harmful² to human health as smoking. Wine has been both good for your heart, and, in turn, contributing to health problems, as has chocolate. Butter has also landed on both sides of the debate, as have numerous other foods that consumers are told at one point are beneficial, and then conversely, are harmful.

All the while, the general physical condition of the population has worsened. An updated survey released last year by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) states that 38.2 percent of the U.S. population aged 15 and above is now obese.³ Furthermore, global obesity rates are expected to continue to climb ever higher with an astounding 47 percent of the U.S. population, 39 percent of the Mexican population, and 35 percent of the British population qualifying as obese by 2030.⁴

“Personalisation is about consumers ‘taking back control’,” according to Julian Mellentin, director of New Nutrition Business and author of the report 10 Key Trends in Food, Nutrition and Health 2017.⁵ “They want to feel more empowered and confident to create their own healthy eating patterns.”

As consumers begin to shift their concept of health from treatment to one of prevention, many are making a connection between their food choices and their overall quality of life. And in this era of rapidly evolving and developing biotechnology, personalized nutrition is emerging as an intriguing opportunity for both consumers and investors in the food tech space.

To Each Their Own

So what exactly is personalized nutrition? Personalized nutrition conceptually aligns with personalized medicine, and is the intersection of wellness, technology, and food.

Building upon the foundation laid down for years by nutritionists, personalized nutrition,⁶ raises the idea to a new level by examining and analyzing a person’s genetic profile, sleep patterns, dietary habits, activity levels and patterns, and even their gut biome and metabolome⁷ to create individualized dietary plans that are best suited to each person’s ability to improve their health and lower their risks associated with certain preventable conditions such as heart disease, blood sugar spikes, and type 2 diabetes through the foods they eat.

Although there is admittedly still much we don’t know about the connection and interaction between our genes and the foods we eat, personalized nutrition, and by proxy, functional foods and beverages, have been noted as being some of the key drivers⁸ in the evolution of the food industry for 2018.

A development that perhaps reflects and reinforces the growing credibility of personalized nutrition is the number of hospitals across the U.S. that are incorporating food⁹ into their patients’ protocols for both preventing and treating illnesses. Some even establishing their own food pantries or farmer’s markets where patients can fill a “prescription” from their doctor for functional foods.

This practice not only improves the patient/doctor experience by prompting doctors to treat the whole patient and not simply a single ailment, but is also cost effective for the facility, according to Dr. Lisa Harris, CEO of Eskenazi Health, a public health system in Indianapolis, who told the Wall Street Journal, “It is much less expensive to help people be well than to address the effects of chronic disease.”¹⁰

Flags are Flying

Despite being named a key food trend for this year, as is often the case, there is an education and adoption gap between the point a food technology reaches the market, and its broad commercialization and full realization of its potential. However, there are an increasing number of startups led by science-driven innovators that are emerging and planting their flags on this new frontier.

Possibly one of the leaders in the nascent category is San Francisco-based Habit – a startup that compiles a nutritional action plan based on an individual’s unique biology, metabolism, and personal goals.

In October 2016, Campbell Soup Company became a sole investor in the company, committing $32 million¹¹ to the startup prior to the launch of its beta test program, under which customers are sent an at-home test kit that measures more than 70 biomarkers including DNA variations. Once the results are analyzed, the company uses the data to build a personalized diet plan that will be created and made available to each user.

At the time, Habit Founder Neil Grimmer explained how the company was founded on personal experience.¹²

“I did genetic tests. I did blood work,” explained Grimmer. “I analyzed how my body processed all kinds of foods,” explains Grimmer. “With the help of physicians and nutritionists, I started tuning into my body’s signals that had been picked up from all the tests I had done.”

Another is DayTwo. With a basis build upon five years of research conducted by Professors Eran Segal and Eran Elinav from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, DayTwo evaluates customers’ gut biomes through the collection of a stool sample, and also asks for the submission of blood tests and responses to a questionnaire. After sequencing each person’s DNA, the company uses a scoring system to rate thousands of different foods and food combinations based on each person’s biometrics, microbiome analysis results, questionnaire answers, and lifestyle, and provides personalized diet recommendations via a nutrition app.

Johnson & Johnson took note of the potential in such a platform, and the two companies announced a collaboration¹³ in February of last year to generate personalized nutrition solutions that can ameliorate gestational and type 2 diabetes.

Another is DnaNudge, a UK-based startup that believes “one of the keys to unlocking the optimal diet is in our DNA.” With the goal of helping consumers adjust their food purchases to better suit their genetic profile, users submit a DNA sample from a mouth swab and load it onto their own disposable DnaCartridge. The analysis performed by this cartridge can then be downloaded into a small portable NudgeBox, or loaded onto their mobile phone or a wearable called a DnaBand. At the market, the user can scan each food choice, and the DnaNudge App responds with either a thumbs up, meaning the choice aligns with their genetics, or a thumbs down, with recommendations for alternate choices.

Yet another example, born out of the University of Toronto, is Nutrigenomix, a startup looking to provide health care providers and their patients with new ways to incorporate personalized nutrition into improving health. Similar to other companies, test kits are provided that give doctors and health care providers insights that allow them to counsel their patients on dietary choices that best suit their genetic makeup.

Further, in July of this year, Royal DSM, a global sustainable nutrition and health company, became the largest shareholder in Massachusetts-based personalized nutrition startup Mixfit, holding approximately 50 percent of the company.¹⁴ Indeed, DSM is so confident in the future growth of the sector, that it has created a new position titled, “global head of personalized nutrition”.

“Consumers want to take control of their lives,” Chris Halliday, named to the position, told New Hope,¹⁵ in September of this year. “I think there’s confusion about nutrition in traditional channels. So they’re looking for simplicity.”

A Dedicated Fund

What could signify personalized nutrition’s validity, not only as a trend to watch but as an investment class, than the launch of a dedicated fund?

In September of this year, Ruti Alon, former senior life sciences partner with Pitango Venture Capital, and Ilanit Kabessa-Cohen, a 20-year veteran in the consumer food sector, announced the official launch of Medstrada,¹⁶ Israel’s first venture capital fund targeting personalized nutrition and food tech.

Given Alon’s deep experience in the life sciences space, and Kabessa-Cohen’s background in the food industry, they are aware of the role that food plays in a healthy life and the prevention or delay of the onset of diseases, but also in the general well-being of consumers.

“The food industry is one of the world’s largest industries, with an $8 billion turnover, compared with $2 billion for the pharma industry and $1 billion for medical devices,” Kabessa-Cohen told Globes.¹⁷ “These are also giant industries, but in order to make substantial profits in this industry, you need something special, and this something is usually supported by technology.”

As our understanding of food, technology, and ourselves continues to expand, we also will gain insight into how the three interact. This knowledge has the potential to re-write decades of nutritional and dietary guidelines, and will also undoubtedly open new and exciting windows of opportunity for investment in the category.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lynda Kiernan is Editor with GAI Media and daily contributor to GAI News. She can be reached at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.

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DISCLAIMER: All views, data, opinions and declarations expressed are solely those of the author(s) and not of Global AgInvesting, GAI News, GAI Gazette, or parent company HighQuest Group.

^{1. Duquette, Jay, “That Whole Food Pyramid Thing? Yea That’s a Lie”. August 11, 2016. https://medium.com/@jayduquette/that-whole-food-pyramid-thing-yea-thats-a-lie-f06716417639 (accessed October 16, 2018).↩}

^{2. “Egg yolk consumption almost as bad as smoking when it comes to atherosclerosis”. EurekaAlert.org. August 13, 2012. https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-08/uowo-eyc081312.php (accessed October 15, 2018).↩}

^{3. “Obesity Update 2017” OECD.org http://www.oecd.org/health/obesity-update.htm (accessed October 18, 2018). ↩}

^{4. Ibid.↩}

^{5. “10 Key Trends in Food, Nutrition & Health 2018”. New Nutrition Business. November 2017. https://www.new-nutrition.com/keytrend?id=55 (accessed October 12, 2018). ↩}

^{6. Webster, Allison, “Personalized Nutrition: Ready for Prime-Time?”. Food Insight. January 31, 2018 https://www.foodinsight.org/personalized-nutrition-dna-diet (accessed October 15, 2018). ↩}

^{7. Metabolome. https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/metabolome. (accessed October 12, 2018). ↩}

^{8. “10 Key Trends in Food, Nutrition & Health 2018”.↩}

^{9. Lagnado, Lucette. “Take Two Aspirin – and a Serving of Kale”. The Wall Street Journal. October 22, 2018. https://www.wsj.com/articles/take-two-aspirinand-a-serving-of-kale-1540212952?mc_cid=d58ee2e7f4&mc_eid=28c94e97db (accessed October 15, 2018).↩}

^{10. Ibid.↩}

^{11. Kiernan, Lynda. “Campbell Soup Invests $32 Million in Personalized Nutrition Startup”. GAI News. October 26, 2016. https://www.globalaginvesting.com/campbell-soup-invests-32m-personalized-nutrition-startup-habit/ (accessed October 17, 2018)↩}

^{12. “The Personalized Nutrition Revolution Starts Now”. October 25, 2016. https://www.campbellsoupcompany.com/newsroom/news/2016/10/25/personalized-nutrition-revolution-starts-now/ (accessed October 18, 2018).↩}

^{13. Beer, Elliot. “Day Two Link with Johnson & Johnson on Personalized Microbiome Analysis for Diabetes Nutrition”. Nutraingredients.com. February 15, 2017. https://www.nutraingredients.com/Article/2017/02/15/Day-Two-link-with-Johnson-Johnson-on-personalised-microbiome-analysis-for-diabetes-nutrition (accessed October 15, 2018). ↩}

^{14. Scoggins, Gary. “DSM Buys into Personalized Nutrition with Majority Stake in Mixfit.” Nuu. July 3, 2018. http://biofuelsdigest.com/nuudigest/2018/07/03/dsm-buys-into-personalized-nutrition-with-majority-stake-in-mixfit/ (accessed October 22, 2018). ↩}

^{15. Polito, Rick. “Big Companies and Investment Firms Discover Personalized Nutrition”. New Hope Network. September 7, 2018. https://www.newhope.com/vitamins-and-supplements/big-companies-and-investment-firms-discover-personalized-nutrition (accessed October 17, 2018). ↩}

^{16. Kiernan, Lynda. “Israel’s First Food Tech and Personalized Nutrition VC Fund Launches”. GAI News. September 7, 2018. https://www.globalaginvesting.com/israels-first-food-tech-personalized-nutrition-vc-fund-launches/ (accessed October 12, 2018). ↩}

^{17. Weinreb, Gail. “Ruti Alon Unveils Food-Tech VC Fund Medstrada”. Globes. September 4, 2018. https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-ruti-alon-unveils-food-tech-vc-fund-medstrada-1001252492 (accessed October 16, 2018). ↩}