Idealog + Sprout
Transfarmation: How Ārepa used ingredients unique to New Zealand to create a mental clarity drink
Angus Brown is the founder of Ārepa, a caffeine-free, plant-based nootropic drink that has ingredients derived from New Zealand-sourced pine and blackcurrants and has been designed to alleviate stress. In 2012, Brown forked out for the ’10 Key Trends in F&B Report’ by New Nutrition Business to research for potential business ideas. Now, it’s New Zealand’s number one nootropic (improves cognitive function) food company and recently was part of Sprout's 2019 accelerator. Here, Brown talks the inspiration behind his business idea.
Competition
Get your future of food business idea into Idealog + Sprout Accelerator's Transfarmation competition: Extended deadline!
Do you have a brilliant business idea for the future of food? Idealog and Sprout Accelerator have teamed up to search for someone in the food production space to award a prize worth $85,000 to, which includes a place in Sprout’s accelerator in 2020, cash and tickets to the Natural Food Expo in the US in March next year and coverage in Idealog. The criteria for companies or businesses ideas we're really interested in are those who are using food waste in an inventive way, using indigenous ingredients or methods, or creating a more sustainable form of packaging. SSound like a bit of you? The deadline for entry has been extended until November 14.
Alternative foods
Not so creepy crawlies: How Tomorrow Foods is using insects to create a sustainable, everyday food line
Are New Zealanders brave enough to start incorporating insects as part of their every day diet? Matt Genefaas and Dan Craig think so. The pair previously co-founded Crawlers, a novelty gift edible insect company (think chocolate coated tarantulas and scorpion lollipops) which won Idealog's 2017 Most Creative wildcard award, in 2013. Now, they have just launched stage two of the master plan: Tomorrow Foods, which features ingredients and foods that are made sustainably using alternative ingredients, such as insect-based high protein products. This new line of alternative products, which includes cricket protein pasta, will be available in supermarkets throughout New Zealand. Genefaas shares how they got Kiwis thinking about insects through novelty gifts, and how that's led them to move into more serious products.
