Interview with Gerald Perry Marin, Co-founder FoPo Food Powder

By Helmuth Fuchs

In the interview, Gerald Perry Marin, Co-founder of FoPo Food Powder, answers questions regarding

• the unique parts of the solution and potential patents

„We are the first ones to use otherwise unsellable fruits and vegetables.We also move further ahead by developing cartridges made of food powder for 3D-printing applications which could be patentable.»

• how much of the food waste could be prevented using FoPo’s approach

«With the current capacity we can save about 7’500 tons of fruits in one year.»

• which fruits or vegetables can be turned into dried powder

„We can convert all the food and vegetables and even fish and meat. It can all be turned into powder.“

• the primary market segments for FoPo

„We are targeting people who are socially conscious and are demanding products with a clean label, products that don’t have additives or preservatives.“

• what the next major steps are in the business plan

„The next step is to develop product extensions such as the FoPo 3D-Printing cartridge and we will launch our series A round in the next few weeks.“

• what he wants to achieve within the 11 weeks at the Kickstart Accelerator

„First is launching the product, next would be getting investors and then getting connected with B2B partners.“

• how attractive Switzerland is as a potential market

„The Swiss consumers are not just looking for quality but also for socially conscious products and they are willing to pay more for that. That’s actually the type of market niche we are aiming for.“

• the biggest obstacles they have to overcome to make FoPo an international success

„Right now we have limited financial capacity to distribute to the big retailers.“

• who the biggest shareholders and investors are

„The biggest shareholders are the co-founders and we have a German company who invests in us.“

• which the biggest competitors are

„There are a lot of competitors, but we capitalize on unsellable food and we have the social impact.“

• which development will have the biggest influence in the industry in the coming years

„One trend is for clean labels, no additives, but still instant delivery for time pressured people. Another trend is the influence of technology on how we eat.“

• what his favorite exit scenario with FoPo would be

„We would love to partner with a company that believes in our mission to reduce food waste.“

• his two biggest wishes

„To achieve zero waste and zero hunger, that would be a perfect world to live in.“

 

Gerald Perry Marin
on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/geraldperrymarin

FoPo
In FoPo, we collect fruits and vegetables that would otherwise be wasted (because they are ugly or too ripe) and turn them into dried powder, prolonging shelf-life from 2 weeks to about 2 years. That way, we maximize logistics by transporting compact-friendly powders while also preserving nutrients by up to 90%.

Our goal is to save as much food, preserve its nutrition and feed as many people as we can. That’s why for us, the work is never done! Using our different backgrounds and perspectives at looking into the food system (while also bringing some fun along),we are constantly paving for new ways to create a circular food economy. With FoPo, we will help end food waste while saving food, deliciously. http://hellofopo.com/page/about/
FoPo on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fopofoodpowder/