Startup Series: Zero Acre Farms

It turns out 20% of our daily caloric intake is made of vegetable oils that are not only harmful to human health, but also have a massive impact on the environment and deforestation. So when thinking about systems problems that impact climate change, how we produce oils for food consumption is a big lever that's yet to be pulled. Zero Acre Farms is on a mission to change that. The company is developing a new category of healthy oils and fats made by fermentation.

In today’s episode, we cover:

Broad overview of vegetable oil
Environmental impacts of different vegetable oils
The shift away from animal toward trans fats in the 1980s & 1990s
Drivers of vegetable oil growth, including consumer advocacy groups and large fast-food restaurants
An overview of Zero Acre Farms
How the startup is solving the problem of vegetable oils using fermentation
An overview of the fermentation process for food
The company's direct-to-consumer launch and future plans to scale to restaurants and packaged foods
Jeff's background in food, health, and nutrition
Zero Acre Farm's externalities
How the company creates its cultured oil
Their seed round, series A, and future funding sources
Zero Acre Farms as a Public Benefits Corporation (PBC) their initial product has just become available on their website, you can try cultured oil for yourself and see what you think.

Enjoy the show!

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Episode recorded July 14, 2022.

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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant