6.9. Molecular honey and building a biotech startup 🐝 - monoculture honey production & replacing it at the molecular level - plant-based honey alternatives with Melibio CEO Darko Madrich

We lack bees, we lack insects and it's a severe issue for biodiversity. Because flowers are dependent on insects and vice versa, right?

So if you eat traditional honey, are you promoting bee health? No, large-scale monoculture is an issue in crop agriculture and beekeeping.

Hear from Darko Madrich, the co-founder and CEO of Melibio. I got to try their plant-based honey in Switzerland last year. And it tasted so similar I wondered whether they had just poured some natural honey into the bottle.

By the way, whenever I meet Darko, I feel his spirit animal would be a giant bumblebee. He has that vibe.

Anyway, Instead of using something like rice syrup, Melibio uses the compounds found in honey. Re-building it from the ground up.

In the future, they want to use precision fermentation to add a few compounds that are hard to replace. But is that necessary?

LINKS

Check out our supporter of this season ProVeg Incubator and their 12-month incubator program:

https://provegincubator.com/

More info and links to resources on https://redtogreen.solutions/  

Connect with Marina Schmidt https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/

Check out our supporter of this season, FoodLabs, and their Climate Program:

https://www.foodlabs.com/

For sponsorships, collaborations or feedback write Marina at [email protected]

Hashtags for this episode

problems with honey

honey production

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honey alternatives

vegan honey

animal-free products

animal-free honey

Hashtags for this season

Biotechnology in food

What is biotechnology food

Food biotechnology examples

Food biotechnology startups

Biotechnology food companies

Biotech food in usa

Food biotechnology examples

Editor's note: on 17.02. a 1,5-minute partnership message was added at minute 7.