Melissa and Wythe catch up with their friend Jonas Günther, co-founder of the Brooklyn-based food startup, We Are the New Farmers (WATNF). The New Farmers don’t grow lettuce and tomatoes, however: they grow a fresh superfood called Spirulina—a fast-growing microalgae (clump of tiny water-living plants) that looks like a beautiful dark green foam, has no taste, and can be used to add nutrients to almost any dish. Jonas walks us through the history of his company, starting at NYU, where he first met Wythe and Melissa, and moving into the fraught world of ag tech startups and packaged goods, where you have to find a way to very quickly tell the story of your food product’s health benefits and sustainable production cycle. We learn a little about microalgae and a lot about “farming” in steel bioreactor-tanks in a major city. Tune in for some weird science, and consider trying some fresh Spirulina in your next smoothie or bowl of noodles!
Melissa and Wythe catch up with their friend Jonas Günther, co-founder of the Brooklyn-based food startup, We Are the New Farmers (WATNF). The New Farmers don’t grow lettuce and tomatoes, however: they grow a fresh superfood called Spirulina—a fast-growing microalgae (clump of tiny water-living plants) that looks like a beautiful dark green foam, has no taste, and can be used to add nutrients to almost any dish.
Jonas walks us through the history of his company, starting at NYU, where he first met Wythe and Melissa, and moving into the fraught world of ag tech startups and packaged goods, where you have to find a way to very quickly tell the story of your food product’s health benefits and sustainable production cycle. We learn a little about microalgae and a lot about “farming” in steel bioreactor-tanks in a major city.
Tune in for some weird science, and consider trying some fresh Spirulina in your next smoothie or bowl of noodles!
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