To achieve real change takes the efforts of many but there are leaders who must be the true initiators of this. Ideas, support, implementation; these are all necessary parts of like-minded people who envision a better way. The title of Financial Expert or Venture Capital Associate might elicit images of expensive suits and a fixation on profits but Alexia Lingart will quickly contradict this notion. Her work with Creadev, an investment arm of the Mulliez Family, is supporting some of the most adventurous and creative companies who seek to change the food problems facing our planet. In North America, and Europe, Ms. Lingart investigates which new and aspiring companies can recalibrate food production and food waste. Along with medical advances, this may be the most important work for humans and our environment. Recent times have heightened interest and support in real changes as Alexia states, “COVID has hit the food supply chain encouraging significant investments to support innovation and disruption in consumption habits, at a faster pace. This frenetic pace has enabled quicker adoption from consumers to digital native brands, encouraged people to shift diet towards more plant-based food, and finally accelerated considerably the adoption for certain new tech, such as on-demand food business; thus, driving rounds and valuations significantly upwards.”
Capturing the attention of someone like Alexia takes real creative innovation. Speaking about U.S. based Everytable, Lingart declares, “They turned a challenge, Covid, into a strength, then invested in its team, infrastructure and processes to be able to scale up. We’ve been impressed since the beginning on multiple fronts by Everytable’s capacity to successfully pivot and deliver during a pandemic time where from one day to the next all of its storefronts had to close. Not only did it reinvent its business, but it also successfully delivered on huge governmental contracts which needed not only a fully dedicated and hard-working team but also production and logistic capacity exceeding anything they had done so far.” Everytable is a venture-backed company, supported by mission-driven investors such as Creadev International, Gullspang Re:Food, Kaiser Permanente Ventures, and the Libra Foundation, among several others. It completed a $55 million Series C funding venture to support new market expansion. The company uses an omnichannel distribution which utilizes Grab&Go storefronts (prices will vary depending on the neighborhood), SmartFridges, E-commerce business, Foodservice, and a Social Equity Franchise model to achieve its mission of countering fastfood with delicious healthy food. U.S. based Salted also used the obstacles of Covid to implement new ways of providing a desire of consumers. Just as importantly, Salted is deeply invested in promoting their own employees within the system and paying wages on the high end.
Creating a new paradigm for our relationship with food is centric to Alexia’s work. Food waste is a massive problem in America. Alexia is quite proud of her work through Creadev with Hungry Harvest. This Maryland based company operates throughout much of the East Coast and offers a subscription based system allowing consumers to purchase fruits and vegetables at a twenty-five percent discount compared to retail stores. Due to strict retail requirements, these otherwise perfect foods are left in the field or deemed “unsellable” by farmers. Hungry Harvest places the power back in the hands of the buyer and reduces waste while giving farmers greater means of supporting themselves. Indian farmers have also been the recipient of support via the deal Ms. Lingart has participated to establish between Creadev and the Jackfruit Company. Until recent years, Jackfruit was virtually unknown to Americans though well known in its native India. A highly desirable and healthy alternative to meat, Jackfruit is abundant in India. The main obstacle rested in transporting this product to America while also allowing the farmers of this fruit to earn a desirable compensation. The Jackfruit Company (launched in 2014 by Annie Ryu in Boulder, Colorado) chose maritime transport with containers for its very low carbon impact. This approach displays that which Creadev most desires in the companies that they invest in, providing healthy food, supporting people rather than corporations, and doing so while keeping their environmental impact as low as possible. Alexia communicates, “Creadev is not some traditional investment firm, our first objective is to facilitate access to essential goods & services to the many, through innovative solutions. We believe that sustainability is a key element that drives our investments. All markets, and especially the food market, are moving towards being able to bring long term sustainable value to its customers, to the society, and the world as a whole. In addition to this, we as a company are fully aware of the environmental challenges and threats the world is facing (e.g. global warming, pollution, malnutrition) and of the key role of the food industry in preserving the environment. We know that, as investors, we have the responsibility to support the businesses that have a positive effect on the environment. That’s also why the environmental impact comes so high in our decision making process.”
Writer: Jeffery Kallaher
Krishan Jangir