Each day at 5 p.m. we collect the five top food and supplement headlines of the day, making it easy for you to catch up on today's most important natural products industry news.

February 21, 2017

2 Min Read
5@5: More investors eye seafood, aquaculture tech | How one beverage startup leverages data
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A guide to seafood and aquaculture technology: Startups raise $193M in 2016 but more innovation needed

Seafood and aquaculture technology saw a 271 percent increase in investment dollars in 2016, according to data from AgFunder, which counted 28 deals in the space that boosted companies doing everything from farming insects to use as feed, to building aquaculture systems. Demand for seafood has shot up, while other aquatic organisms like seaweed and algae are also catching on as ingredients. Meanwhile, nearly one-third of commercial fish stocks are overfished. Environmental impact, sustainability and traceability will be key priorities for innovation moving forward. Read more at AgFunder News...

 

How the founders of Happy Tree are using data to grow their brand

Maple water company Happy Tree was cofounded by a pair of brothers--one of which used to be a strategy consultant at McKinsey. He's using his experience to incorporate data into unlikely parts of the startup's business, from demos to merchandising to coupons. Read more at Circle Up...

 

Hospitals target nutrition, other social needs to boost health

The Geisinger Health System in Pennsylvania is planning to expand its pilot program "Geisinger’s Fresh Food Pharmacy," which gives free healthy groceries to its sickest and highest-cost diabetes patients. Efforts are also underway at Kaiser Permanente, where 1 percent of members incur nearly a quarter of the group's total health care spending, to make sure that high-costs patients' basic needs are being met. Read more at USA Today...

 

As California's organic farming pioneers age, a younger generation steps in

As it comes time for pioneers of the organic farming movement to pass the baton, not all are having an easy time finding successors. Some are leasing their farms to organizations, while others are passing them down to their children. Read more at NPR...

 

American food science is broken

"If the United States would like a say in the future of food, the government and the people need to start paying attention to our food scientists," says writer Ryan Mandelbaum. While some elements of food science have been getting a lot of attention--think food safety and sustainability--some say that interdisciplinary research using physics, chemistry and engineering to look at food at the molecular level and create solutions for the future is suffering. A lack of funding, and a lack of a shared goal among public and private-industry scientists, is impeding progress, they say. Read more at Gizmodo...

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