THE SIAL PARIS START-UPS THEMATIC ROUTE
Could you briefly introduce SprintProject, and explain your connection with the SIAL Start-ups thematic route?
For nearly ten years, SprintProject has been helping companies shape their innovation strategies by identifying, assessing and integrating the most relevant solutions to address their business challenges. A key part of our work is maintaining close relationships with start-ups. We meet founders, evaluate their technologies, track their maturity and monitor the evolution of innovation ecosystems around the world on a daily basis.
This expertise naturally led us to collaborate with SIAL Paris for the 2024 edition. Together with the SIAL Paris team, we co-produced a landmark study on open innovation in the food industry and contributed to the event's programme on the sector's biggest innovation challenges. That partnership reflects a shared belief: start-ups play a pivotal role in transforming the food industry and deserve to be showcased within an ecosystem that encourages collaboration between innovators and established companies.
Our connection with the SIAL Start-ups thematic route is therefore a natural one. For many years, we have been analysing and mapping innovation ecosystems to help businesses better understand their markets and identify solutions that address their strategic priorities. The thematic route serves the same purpose: making innovation easier to discover while providing a clear overview of a particularly dynamic ecosystem.
Why do you think it makes sense for SIAL Paris to introduce a dedicated thematic route for start-ups this year?
SIAL Paris has long been the leading meeting place for the global food industry. Today, it has also established itself as one of the key events for FoodTech innovation. Creating a dedicated route that highlights start-ups is therefore a natural step. They are the ones driving breakthrough technologies, pioneering new consumer behaviours and developing the business models that will shape the future of the industry.
For visitors and the wider food community, it's an opportunity to spot emerging trends early, plan a more targeted visit, discover solutions that have yet to reach the mainstream market and gain a better understanding of the changes that will define the industry in the years ahead.
Beyond discovering new ideas, I also believe the thematic route gives manufacturers an opportunity to step back, reassess their own innovation strategies and identify the partnerships that could become real competitive advantages in the future.
In your view, what separates a truly innovative start-up from a business that's simply following the latest trend?
That's a great question. These days, almost every solution claims to be “innovative”. At SprintProject, we've spent nearly a decade helping companies identify and assess innovation. Over the years, we've developed our own methodology to evaluate the maturity of so-called innovative solutions, assuming they are truly innovative in the first place.
For us, innovation isn't defined by technology alone. A truly innovative start-up stands out because it understands its market and addresses a real need or pain point.
Following a trend has become relatively straightforward with the right tools. Creating a solution that fundamentally changes behaviour, delivers lasting value to customers and earns its place within an ecosystem is far more challenging.
Ultimately, true innovation happens where invention, real-world use cases and market demand come together.
What are investors looking for today when deciding whether to back a food start-up?
The FoodTech sector has entered a more mature and selective phase. After the investment boom of 2021, funding slowed significantly. According to AgFunder, global AgrifoodTech investment reached around $16 billion in 2024, well below the record levels seen in 2021, although the market now appears to be stabilising. As a result, investors are placing less emphasis on technological promises and far more on businesses that can demonstrate commercial traction, a credible path to industrial scale and a sustainable business model.
Execution is now the number one criterion. For example, a start-up developing alternative proteins is no longer judged solely on the quality of its fermentation, cell-cultivation or extrusion technology. Investors also want to see that it can manufacture competitively, secure B2B or retail customers and integrate into existing industrial supply chains.
Another major focus is finding alternatives to increasingly constrained raw materials. We're seeing growing numbers of start-ups developing substitutes for cocoa, sugar, fats, eggs and other critical ingredients. The interest goes beyond sustainability. It is also driven by price volatility, supply chain risks and manufacturers' need to secure more resilient formulations.
Finally, demographic change is becoming a major driver of food innovation. Personalised nutrition, Food as Medicine and health-focused products are gaining momentum, and both investors and retailers are paying close attention to evolving consumer expectations.
What are the biggest shifts you're seeing across the food innovation ecosystem, both in terms of start-ups and the most promising trends?
Food innovation is no longer just about the product itself. Recent market developments show growing momentum behind solutions that tackle the food industry's structural challenges: reducing waste, upcycling by-products, automating operations, improving quality control, strengthening traceability, increasing energy efficiency and making supply chains more resilient.
These innovations are attracting significant interest from retailers because they address very practical operational issues: reducing waste, improving on-shelf quality, ensuring food safety compliance and keeping products available. Whether it's a computer vision system that assesses product freshness, a traceability platform that tracks batches, or an upcycling solution that turns by-products into valuable ingredients, these technologies can have a direct impact on profitability.
In short, FoodTech remains an attractive sector, but innovation now has to be backed by proven market demand, a credible route to industrialisation and measurable economic value.
Are digitally native food brands (DNVBs) and direct-to-consumer models still relevant growth drivers for food start-ups, or has retail once again become essential?
Access to consumers has always been fundamental, and that hasn't changed. The food industry has never escaped intermediaries, and if anything, distribution has become even more complex with the rise of digital channels. While digital platforms have transformed the customer journey, they haven't reduced the underlying costs of distribution—let alone transport and logistics. The economies of scale enjoyed by major retailers remain substantial, making direct-to-consumer models difficult to compete with.
Selling directly also requires significant investment from start-ups, on top of the funding already needed for R&D and industrial capabilities, which are often higher priorities. Building a consumer brand also demands substantial marketing and promotional budgets to stand out in an increasingly crowded market.
As a result, DNVBs and direct-to-consumer models require expertise that goes well beyond product innovation. Without a highly efficient supply chain, they can quickly become difficult to scale or sustain.