We’ve known and worked with Anna for many years. She’s well known and highly respected in business sustainability circles, and has huge experience in the consumer goods, retail, and consulting industries.
We’re delighted she has agreed to join our advisory board as an independent director. Here’s a quick Q&A with her below. She also works as Chief Sustainability Officer of Decathlon, the world’s largest sporting goods retailer.
What’s your role with InsectBiotech?
I’m a Non-Executive Director of InsectBiotech. In this role I provide strategic guidance to the leadership team and support the organisation in navigating a complex and dynamic market environment.
How will your experience add value to our work?
I’ve spent the last 8 years in the global food and beverage industry, working in both brand and retail companies. During this time the industry has experienced sustained periods of challenge on an unprecedented scale; from the COVID-19 pandemic to global supply chain shocks from wars and conflict, and a cost of living crisis.
The food industry is remarkably resilient, and yet it is undergoing a transformation like never before. Understanding how complex global supply chains operate, particularly in times of change, is a key component to navigating the nascent space that insect protein in production currently occupies, and something my experience can bring to the table. Alongside this, having worked in both brands and retailers, I bring a deep understanding of how consumer-facing businesses think and operate.
Why do you want to be involved with us?
Our traditional, linear systems of production and consumption have led the food industry to a place where today roughly one third of all food produced globally is lost or wasted every year. This feels perverse in a world where we still struggle to feed people, let alone sustainably, all whilst trying to reduce the environmental impact we have on the planet.
New circular production systems which convert waste into energy (food), such as the application of BSF, represent a significant opportunity for the food industry to harness. The work that InsectBiotech is doing specifically within olive production represents an exciting new frontier within a centuries old industry.
What do you hope the company might achieve?
I’d love to see strong closed production and consumption loops created globally which eliminate waste from every part of the olive production cycle and create highly nutritious feedstock for the animal food system.
Through its experience in application, I believe that InsectBiotech is well placed to advocate for the necessary regulatory frameworks needed to mainstream the application of BSF within wider food production systems. Ultimately, we need greater collaboration and industry development to achieve the scale required to truly change the system.
Given your experience, what’s the market demand for the products we are making?
Regulation in many parts of the world still prohibits the application of BSF within direct human food production systems. This will surely change in the future, as our competing demands for resources challenge us to think more creatively about our complex food supply chains. In the near-term, animal food production represents a growing and competitive marketplace for companies such as InsectBiotech to play a strong role within.