ORANGE
is the new
GREEN!
ERGO Bioscience is an Argentinian biotech start-up, that has achieved a deeper understanding of those combinations that allow us to create and reproduce organoleptically identical products to those derived from animals, in order to create unique, healthy and sustainable gastronomic experiences.
We have a mission:
Reinvent and revolutionize the food
industry, by offering the most innovative
and sustainable solutions, in conjunction
with science and nature.
Learn more about what we do!
Check it out!
STEP ONE
Let's start with the question.
What defines the taste of food?
We know that flavor and aroma are defined by little molecules
generated from chemical reactions, prior to or during the cooking process.
Our process begins with the identification ofsome of the key proteins participating
in the generation of flavors, aroma, color, and texture of animal origin foods.
These are myoglobin and casein.
Myoglobin is the protein that gives red color to meet and also participates
in the formation of the flavor and aroma that we associate with roast meat.
Casein, on the other hand, are a family of proteins present in milk, and they play a fundamental
role in the texture and flavors of fermented dairy products like cheese and yogurt.
STEP TWO
So, how we produce these
proteins without using animals?
The answer is... CARROTS!
Thanks to biotechnology advances, our scientists have developed a process under the highest safety and quality standards, from carrot cell culture. They are not only able to express myoglobin and casein exceptionally but also, they give our products an additional plus of nutrients, such as beta-carotene making food not only healthy and nutritious but delicious!
STEP THREE
In the case you are wondering...
Yes, this is an ultra-sustainable process, from the start to finish.
To produce plant-based foods from myoglobin or caseins, we need to obtain them on a large
scale. For this we have developed a platform known as Plant Cell Culture in Suspension
(CCVS). This platform allows us to introduce small amounts of our cells into bioreactors and
induce their reproduction under controlled conditions, obtaining industrial quantities.
Then the cells are purified under the most rigorous standards. All this, without resorting to animal husbandry, excessive use of water, soil and very inferior harmful emissions of gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect.
STEP FOUR
VOILA! Time to create
delicious Plant-based foods
The proteins obtained in large volumes are finally mixed with other vegetable ingredients such as soy proteins, pea proteins, coconut oil, fibers, and others. This is how we finally create delicious Plant-based foods, with an indistinguishable taste and extraordinarily similar to an animal derived, and in an ultra-sustainable way.
Changing the way we grow, make, consume and waste is a big way we can make an impact
We reduce the CO2 footprint
Creating food from low-energy biotechnological processes is one of our main accomplishment. This implies a significant reduction in the emission of greenhouse gases and energy consumption.
We protect
animals life
Ergo is breaking with old paradigms by developing an alternative and scalable protein production process without resorting to animals as a resource.
We reduce water
consumption
Our technological platform allows us to reduce up to 2000 thousand times the
consumption of water required to produce standard foods of this type.
Whereas it takes between 5.000 and 20.000 liters of water to produce 1kg of animal
meat, our plant-based meat requires an average water consumption of 12 liters
approximately.
We contribute
to health
A product developed from our ingredients has the same protein and iron content as one from animal origin, but is totally free of cholesterol, hormones or antibiotics fromany kind.
We offer expectional
nutrition quality
We are developing the first ingredient of plant origin ever known that is able to provide simultaneously nine essential amino acids that our body cannot synthesize, iron-heme(of higher quality), and beta-carotene.
OUR TEAM
Alejandro Barbarini
CEO
A passionate biotechnologist graduated from the Faculty of Biochemistry and
Sciences Biologics of the UNL (Argentina) in 2009. In 2010, he began his
studies of PhD in Chemistry, with a focus on the development of
nanoparticles for contracted release of anticancer drugs. Alejandro is
the author of two scientific publications in journals and two international
patents. Recently distinguished by the MIT Technology Review as one of the
young innovators under 35 for Latin America.
Maria Laura García
SCIENTIFIC DIRECTOR
Biochemist and Doctor in Biological Sciences. She is currently a Researcher
Principal of CONICET and directs the Plant Biotechnology and Virology group
of the Institute of Biotechnology and Molecular Biology of the Department
of Sciences Exact from UNLP (Argentina). His doctoral work focused on studying
of the replication mechanisms of RNA 1 and 2 of the Mosaic Virus "Alfalfa"
carried out by the Department of Biochemistry of the University of Leiden of the
Netherlands. Throughout her career as a researcher, she has achieved 40
publications in international magazines, she is the author of 7 book chapters and
she was director of 9 doctoral theses. His technical expertise focuses on the
plant biotechnology and molecular biology.
Eduardo Peña
CSO
Biotechnologist and Doctor in Biological Sciences, he is currently
CONICET Adjunct Researcher and member of the
Biotechnology and Plant Virology from the Institute of Biotechnology
and Molecular Biology from the Faculty of Exact Sciences (UNLP).
He completed his postdoctoral fellowship at the Institute of Plant Biology
Molecular de in Strasbourg (France). Throughout his career
as a researcher he has achieved 21 publications in journals
international. He is also the author of four book chapters.
His technical experience focuses on plant biotechnology and
molecular biology
Augusto Desuque
CTO
Food Engineer from the Faculty of Chemistry of the UNL specialized
in Biotechnological Process Engineering at the CPE School in Lyon (France).
With a previous professional practice carried out at Sartorius-Stedim Biotech,
Aubagne (France), currently leads the development of food prototypes
plant-based at Ergo Biosciences.
ADVISORY BOARD
In addition, our team includes scientists, experts in the food industry and business with decades of experience providing advice, contacts and ideas on a day-to-day basis to our projects.
Markus Sack
PLANT BIOTECHNOLOGY AND CELL CROPS
Markus obtained his Bachelor's and Doctorate in Biological Sciences from RWTH Aachen University (Germany). For almost two decades he has participated in research projects related to plant molecular culture and antibody engineering. In addition, he is a recognized SPR specialist and has carried out more than 150 projects that include all types of protein interaction tests, from small low-affinity molecules to high-affinity antibodies, viral particles and bio-nanomaterials, etc. He is the author of more than 50 scientific publications, co-inventor of 9 patents, and holds the rights to a PCT patent application for "Improved Genome Editing in Plants".
Maria Stathi
MARKETING AND MARKET ANALYSIS
Maria has a degree in Business Administration from the American College of Thessaloniki (Greece). She also holds a Master's Degree in Business Finance from Brunel University (London) and an Executive Master in Sales and Marketing from IE Business School (Madrid). In addition, she is an ACMA Chartered Management Accountant. For over 13 years she held a series of senior roles in Kimberly Clark and she has dual expertise in both finance and customer marketing. Among her Kimberly Clark roles were Head Finance for EMEA Manufacturing and Supply Chain, Iberia Head of Trade and Category Management and Spain Customer Business Unit Manager. Throughout her career, she worked in many successful business development initiatives and product launches of brands including Scottex ®, Huggies®, DryNites®, Pull-Ups®. As part of her previous experience, Maria has also worked for Bestfoods UK known for its emblematic brands including Pot Noodle®, Knorr®, and Helmann's® which are now part of the Unilever product portfolio. More recently, Maria is working on a social entrepreneurship project and in parallel acts as a coach and board advisor to start-ups and SMEs.
Gabriel Raya Tonetti
TECHNOLOGY AND FOOD INDUSTRY
Gabriel is a Chemical Engineer graduated from the National University of Tucumán (Argentina) and a PhD in Chemical Engineering. He has a Doctorate and PhD in Management Development from the Universidad Católica Argentina. For more than 10 years he served as Innovation Manager and CTO at Grupo Arcor, the largest food company in Latin America. He currently holds the position of Secretary of Scientific-Technological Articulation in the Province of Córdoba (Argentina). In addition, he has done teaching work for undergraduate and graduate courses in different Argentine universities and is the author of various scientific publications and book chapters.
Cesar Vega
TECHNOLOGY AND FOOD INDUSTRY
Cesar holds an MA and Ph.D. in Food Sciences from the University of Guelph and University College Cork, Ireland, respectively. In addition, his passion for food science has led him to obtain a culinary degree from Le Cordon Bleu (Canada) and then to edit the book "Kitchen as a Laboratory: Reflections on the science of food and cooking" (Columbia University Press, 2012). He has also served as the Innovation Leader at Mars Foods Europe in the Netherlands for over twelve years. Cesar was a critical reference in modernist cuisine at Myrhvold, a member of the editorial board of the International Journal of Food Gastronomy and Science "Elsevier" and Food Biophysics "Springer". Currently, he is in charge of the Global R&D Directorate for Barry Callebaut, Chicago (USA).
Nuno Anjo Silva
BUSINESS MANAGEMENT AND STRATEGY
Nuno has a Master's Degree in Business Administration from the Catholic University of Portugal. With a long history in the corporate world, specifically in the management of business units related to food, has worked for 27 years for Unilever Europe, managing business units in different regions such as Lisbon, Brussels and Istanbul. In 2016, he was appointed as Out-Of-Home Channel Director at Unilever Europe. At present day is a business and financial advisor to several renowned companies
Contact
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