Green Spot Tech

What is the issue addressed?

The problem Green Spot is tackling is the CO₂ (CO₂eq) emissions of our food system, which account for 8% of the planet’s total emissions. Within the food system, 60% of emissions come from food ingredients — in fact, ingredients generate far more emissions than transport or packaging. To reduce these emissions, even as the future will require feeding a growing global population, the main lever lies in food loss. Indeed, today, 30% of all food produced is never consumed (source: FAO). These losses represent “emissions for nothing” — and even generate additional CO₂ as they decompose. In the first stages of food processing, many co-products such as skins, seeds, and pulps from fruits, vegetables, and grains are underused, poorly used, or not used at all. They are excluded from the human food chain, even though they can account for up to 90% of the food’s biomass. Green Spot has developed a new way to use these co-products — particularly those from staple fruits, vegetables, and grains such as apples, barley, tomatoes, beets, and grapes — by transforming them into food ingredients through an innovative fermentation process.

How is the problem solved?

The problem is addressed by Green Spot through a robust technology built on more than five years of world-class public research, followed by three years of industrial development. Green Spot is thus able to transform these co-products at scale, correct their functional or nutritional shortcomings, and unlock their latent potential through a natural, age-old process — fermentation — in which nature does the work itself. The benefits for the food system and consumers are threefold. First, Green Spot avoids the need for additional production by upcycling co-products that were previously lost to human consumption. Second, it prevents these same co-products from generating CO₂ through inefficient disposal methods (such as anaerobic digestion, etc.). Finally, through substitution, Green Spot’s ingredients replace much more carbon-intensive ingredients in recipes. At Green Spot, we have therefore developed “net zero” products achieved through the avoidance of CO₂ emissions. For example, we created a chocolate-colored, hazelnut-flavored cookie similar to those found on the market today — but made without cocoa and carbon-neutral (CO₂e), using fermented brewery co-products. This new cookie formulation provides a major environmental benefit, since cocoa is one of the most carbon-intensive mainstream ingredients, with an emission factor of 9 kg CO₂e per kg (Cargill report).

What is the customer target?

Agri-food industry players, particularly those in the segments of meat substitutes, dairy alternatives, bakery and pastry, and snacks.

How is this solution different?

The innovative nature of Green Spot’s technology lies in an elegant combination of extreme precision and simplicity. Green Spot merges breakthrough industrial process and biotechnology innovations with an age-old natural process — fermentation. As a result, the company produces ingredients that are not only beneficial for consumers and useful for food manufacturers but also good for the planet. The technology first brings organoleptic and nutritional functionalities to co-products, turning them into attractive food ingredients that can be incorporated into a wide range of food applications — from breads and cookies to sauces and meat alternatives. The other dimension of Green Spot’s added value lies in its production process and the raw materials used (co-products). The patented solid-state fermentation process minimizes environmental impact through eco-design. It requires very little water, energy, or land, which not only ensures a very low CO₂e footprint but also allows the resulting ingredients to be offered at competitive prices for the food industry.