“Consumers change their behavior very, very slowly. ”
— Kim Odhner
What Alternative Protein Investors Got Wrong
When Kim Odhner joined the New Crop Capital Trust, the money behind it came from a single LP with a “do no harm” philosophy and a mission to change the narrative around our dependence on animal agriculture. Kim’s own reason was land: a growing population, rising demand for protein, and a finite amount of arable land.
A decade on, he still holds the first conviction — that we can’t keep consuming animal proteins the way we have. What he calls the fatal flaw was the second: the assumption that the shift away from animal-derived products would simply continue. Consumers make food decisions impulsively, three times a day, and rarely push industry to change. Large food companies, meanwhile, don’t reformulate a product that works. Change came, but far more slowly than a ten-year fund allows.
The money has shifted with it. Kim says his LPs’ interest in impact has cooled and that performance is now what they want, while industrial investors have grown more engaged as portfolio companies prove they can last. Several of his companies have pivoted toward ingredients — a fungal protein that found a market in supplements, a soy-based ingredient for an industry short of whey protein.
That is the logic behind NourishTech, the new fund he is raising with partners from agtech and the blue economy. It targets food businesses that have proven their technology and need capital to reach scale — the point where early-stage investors have run out of cash and private equity is still too big to step in.
Listen to the full conversation.
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. You can watch the interview on YouTube here.
–
What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
SHOW NOTES
[03:13] A family of musicians — and the one who took the adventure track
[05:27] From five employees to over 100: the landscaping business and the exit he missed
[06:26] Why a history graduate ended up selling container space
[09:03] Vietnam in the ’90s: building offices before there was commercial law
[11:58] Why foreigners get sent in for the hardest turnarounds
[13:11] Burned out in Kuala Lumpur — and the call from Chris Kerr
[14:06] One LP, a “do no harm” mandate, and the protein transition
[16:34] Why the Netherlands: setting up Unovis and raising Fund II
[18:41] Ingredient plays and the arable-land problem
[20:55] A banner year, secondary sales and a stake in Beyond Meat
[21:51] Year five of a ten-year fund: the shakeout
[23:34] The founding conviction — and the fatal flaw
[25:00] The vegetarian investor and the T-bone problem
[25:51] What investors got wrong: why Nestlé won’t reformulate
[27:36] Protein maxing, whey shortages and GLP-1 companion foods
[28:51] What today’s founders get right that the first wave missed
[30:10] Beyond Meat, Oatly and the valuations that ran ahead
[31:15] Where’s the beef? Impact reporting versus performance
[33:57] Feed additives or cultured meat?
[34:41] Is spaghetti and meatballs really about the meatballs?
[36:12] Selling ingredients to Big Food: who holds the cards
[38:16] A protein pivot, an Indonesian blend and Alpine Bio
[40:49] Two rotations a week: lessons from the distribution side
[41:25] Strategic LPs versus impact investors when the downturn hits
[42:53] Why start NourishTech now
[45:21] The new partners: agtech and the blue economy
[48:17] What happens to the Unovis portfolio
[49:00] “There are easier ways to make a living”
[49:48] The missing middle: why proven companies stall
[50:58] “All of them”: five years for EU approval
[52:11] Why the returns model leaves out IPOs
[52:41] Ultra-processed food and a categories problem
[55:53] Has the mission changed — or just the strategy?
[59:15] Farmers reselling their fertilizer
[59:37] Where responsible capital matters most over the next decade
[01:00:59] The thread: things can be fixed
[01:02:21] Rapid fire: brand building, slow consumers and backing the right founder
GUEST LINKS
- Kim Odhner LinkedIn
- Unovis Asset Management website
- NourishTech website
- Book mentioned: Metabolical, by Robert Lustig
LISTEN NEXT
Episode 115 — Venture Capital’s New Frontier: Why India Wins in AgriTech, Rural Fintech, & Climate Resilience | Mark Kahn, Omnivore
Episode 128 — AgTech Profits Meet Planet: Where Climate Impact and VC Returns Align | Sarah Nolet, Tenacious Ventures
