Anterra Capital, a new fund backed by Rabobank, has invested in UK packaging firm Food Freshness Technology Holdings.
The Netherlands-based fund announced the investment in FFT, which supplies It’sFresh! packaging to retailers including Tesco today (28 October).
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Anterra has been formed following the spin-out of Rabobank’s venture capital investment team Rabo Ventures. The fund has said it is looking to invest in companies “that will make the food and agriculture supply chain safer, more efficient and more sustainable”.
The size of Anterra’s investment in FFT was not disclosed. However, Anterra managing partner Adam Anders said the UK firm was a “prime example of an innovative company that has the potential to transform the global food supply chain”. He added: “The food industry is increasingly seeking out new technologies to solve its growing issues.”
FFT’s It’sFresh! ethylene-absorbing packaging claims to extend the shelf-life of products such as strawberries, tomatoes, melons and avocados. Ethylene gas molecules help produce ripen and are absorbed by a strip in the packaging, which has been adopted by retailers including Tesco and Marks and Spencer.
Pete Sugarman, FFT’s chairman, said the packaging could “reduce waste, improve food security and sustainability and provide consumers with fresher fruit in both the developed and developing worlds”.
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By GlobalDataHe added: “For example if all UK supermarkets used It’sFresh! technology, we calculate they could avoid wasting over 13,500,000 packs of tomatoes and almost 19,500,000 punnets of strawberries every year. In each case that’s a saving of almost 7,000 metric tonnes, an equivalent mass to the Eiffel Tower – and in only two of the many fresh produce categories, in one country.”
Earlier this month, FFT announced former Britvic CEO Paul Moody would join the business as chief executive. Moody took up his role last week.
Rabobank is a “cornerstone” investor in Anterra, alongside Moonray Investors, the proprietary investment arm of FIL Limited, the parent company of Fidelity Worldwide Investment.
Nicky McCabe, Moonray’s chief operating officer, said: “As a long-term investor, we believe in the importance and investment potential of changing the way we produce, move, and consume food. Anterra is taking a leading role in financing innovative food and agriculture companies that are making this change happen.”
Lizette Sint, MD of Rabo Private Equity Fund Investments, added: “The global food system needs to be transformed in order to secure the long-term food supply. We believe innovation is a key requirement to make this transformation happen.”
