How long-term investing in European organic and sustainable food companies made a difference in 2020

Our current food and agriculture system exceeds planetary boundaries. It depletes soils, contributes to climate change through relatively high greenhouse gas emissions, causes a decrease in biodiversity, contributes to malnutrition and supports inequality due to power concentration.

Agriculture must work with nature rather than against it. At the same time, a balanced and resilient food systems should promote healthy diets and deliver fair pay for farmers. This will require a thorough redesign, a renewed connection between consumers and the food they eat and a revaluation of our food and ecosystems.

The holistic view forms the base of our investment strategy and is further explained in the Triodos Bank’s vision paper on food and agriculture systems ‘Towards ecologically and socially resilient food and agriculture systems’ (PDF).

We take a long-term investment approach, not driven by exits, and support a diversity of companies operating across the value chain.

Evergreen approach

Triodos Food Transition Europe Fund provides long-term private equity to a diversified portfolio of sustainable food companies across Europe, based on an evergreen fund model. Private equity often has a short-term focus on profit maximisation due to the limited duration of this type of funds. As an evergreen fund, Triodos Food Transition Europe Fund can remain invested in companies without the pressure of an exit, thereby supporting them to achieve their long-term environmental, social and financial goals. This approach safeguards companies’ independence, entrepreneurship and mission.

Across the value chain

Triodos Food Transition Europe Fund looks to catalyse and support the value chain for organic food and sustainable consumer products. A chain in which (agricultural) production, distribution and consumption strikes a balance between the earth’s natural resources and the needs of society. Through its investments in sourcing, product development, production, wholesaling and retailing, the fund is active throughout the value chain from (natural) resources to final products, and from farmers to the end consumer.

Four investment themes

Triodos Food Transition Europe Fund provides late-stage, growth and buy-out patient capital to fast-growth, disruptive and more mature companies and has four investment themes:

organic and sustainable food companies
the transition to sustainable diets
fair chain solutions
waste solutions and circular business models

These numbers reflect how the companies in the fund’s portfolio contribute to the three pillars of ecologically and socially resilient food systems: Balanced ecosystems, a Healthy society, and Inclusive prosperity.

Balanced ecosystems

Portfolio results
This impact objective primarily contributes to the following SDGs:

Read more to find out what metrics are used to measure the contribution the investments have on these SDGs.

SDG 2: Zero hunger

7,500 hectares of organic farmland¹
EUR 224 million turnover of organic products

SDG 12: Responsible consumption and production

20,000 kgs of hazardous material use avoided¹
86% inputs sourced sustainably
4,300 tonnes of resource waste avoided²
Weighted average of 87% of recycled materials used in packaging³

SDG 13: Climate action

4,853 tonnes CO₂ emissions avoided or offset⁴

^{1 Calculation based on estimates
2 Figure reflects estimated amount of waste avoided by TIPA, Naty, Ecoffee Cup, Farmy and Aarstiderne
3 Excludes Aarstiderne, Farmy and Beendi
4 Figure reflects CO2 emissions offset and estimated tonnes of CO2 avoided by Farmy and Aarstiderne}

Healthy society

Portfolio results
This impact objective primarily contributes to the following SDG:

Read more to find out what metrics are used to measure the contribution the investments have on this SDG.

Inclusive prosperity

Portfolio results
This impact objective primarily contributes to the following SDG:

Read more to find out what metrics are used to measure the contribution the investments have on this SDG.

Impact measurement

The information and data for this impact report are collected on an annual basis, in close cooperation with our portfolio companies. For each of the portfolio company a set of key impact indicators is determined. Furthermore, the portfolio companies report how they contribute to each of the three pillars – Balanced Ecosystems, Healthy Society and Inclusive Prosperity – that contribute together to ecologically and socially resilient food systems.
In addition, the impact report contains a range of indicators reflecting the entire fund portfolio, such as hectares of organically farmer land, number of organic meals served, and organic turnover in euros.

Part of the whole story

Our role and efforts as an impact investor can only be captured in quantitative metrics and indicators to a limited extent. They are part of the whole story. This means that indicators such as hectares of organically farmed land, number of farmers reached and number of healthy and organic meals served are not goals in themselves; they are pieces of information that are part of the broader picture. They give a sense of the impact we achieve through the capital that we have invested. For that reason, we don’t set specific goals for indicators or compare them to last year figures, because a higher number doesn’t necessarily mean more impact. For instance, financing a relatively small player in the organic food sector which drives innovative and ground-breaking approaches to increase market share could mean more impact than financing a larger company in a mature market. To understand our vision and the extent to which we’re delivering on it, we share stories that illustrate the whole picture. These stories provide the essential context and background for our activities and illustrate our ‘theory of change’.

Read the case studies to find out about the portfolio companies and discover how they contribute to the growth of organic food and sustainable consumer products.

Read the interview with Tobias Schubert and Roman Hartmann, the founders of online shop Farmy, who tell how Farmy’s competitive edge is changing online grocery shopping. In the other interview, Ben Benoît Plisson and Emmanuel Brehier share how they want to revolutionise what’s on our plates.

Feel free to contact our investment team.

Katie Brokman

Investment Manager

Katie Brokmann joined the Triodos Food Transition Europe Fund investment team in May 2017 after having worked as an investment analyst at SHIFT Invest, a venture capital firm investing in sustainable food & agriculture start-ups. Katie has a Bachelor degree in Economics from the University of Amsterdam and a Master in International Economics from Erasmus University in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Adam Kybird

Fund Manager

Adam Kybrid is a seasoned investment professional with 16 years of experience. He joined Triodos Investment Management in June 2020 from the Young Foundation where he led venture investments in education.

Prior to that he worked in Bridges Fund Management, KPMG Strategy Group and at the Clinton Foundation- HIV/AIDS Initiative in Liberia and Indonesia. Adam holds a master in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the university of Oxford and a Corporate Finance post-master from the London Business School.

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Bolstering the food transition

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Impact framework

Portfolio results

European frontrunners

Farmy

HARi&CO

Groupe Natimpact

Beendhi

Aarstiderne

DO-IT

TIPA

Naturfrisk

Ecoffee Cup

Naty

In conversation with

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