EMERGE CHALLENGE 2021 AWARDEE ON A MISSION TO FEED THE PLANET

EMERGE has always promoted ideas of eco-living and sustainability, and this year we launched the conference with a discussion "No Planet B" about building a sustainable future together. Also, this year EMERGE CHALLENGE had a particular track devoted to startups that develop sustainable solutions and cleantech. And together with our partner Chivas Regal Belarus we organised a special nomination Emerging Sustainability and Responsibility Startup, which was given to Nutriloop with a prize of €1,000 from the partner. We talked to the startup about their goals and challenges and to experts from Chivas Regal Belarus & Pernod Ricard Eastern Europe about what they thought was exceptional about the awardee's solution.

"Our main goals are dedicated to promoting responsible drinking, protecting our planet, developing our communities and engaging our partners. These principles are at the heart of what we do", says Tamara Biruk, Senior Brand Manager Chivas Belarus. At Chivas, sustainability and responsibility are one of our key drivers. “At Chivas, we believe that blended is better – in life, in business and in Scotch – and that you don't need to choose between making money and making the world a better place. Because together they are a perfect blend”, Tamara Biruk shared at EMERGE 2021.

Nutriloop is the scalable bio-waste valorisation model where the resource is used for creating bio fertilisers with innovative technologies for regenerative agriculture. It was very challenging to decide whom to give the award, admits Anastasia Pishchikova, Sustainability and Responsibility Manager at Pernod Ricard Eastern Europe, who was among the jury.

"It was important for us that an awardee ideologically and strategically tunes in our goals. Nutriloop works with farming, and farmers are one of those communities that is very important for Pernod Ricard. These are the people thanks to whom we can conduct our business because they grow and provide us with feedstock. We also really liked the idea of a certain cyclicity, which Nutriloop integrated into their approach," shares Anastasia Pishchikova.

The startup that got the prize works with cities' administrations (including Tallinn, Estonia's capital), smaller towns and communities, and business hubs. Nutriloop also plans to partner with restaurants in the future. But having authorities-level partnerships doesn't make the job sophisticated: "In our factory it's all really manual right now, but we are building more advanced production lines to make the process more automatic", shares Ingrid.
As Ingrid Hermet, CEO Nutriloop, says she plans to spend the prize on raising awareness around the separate waste collection – to organise a webinar for the general audience on how to collect the biowaste separately in your private kitchen, and also how to compost with a composter built by Nutriloop (or any other composter) apartment buildings, and use this biomass sustainably.

"We are developing a high value like the use of fermentation that is done with beneficial bacteria, also vermicomposting that is done with various worms, etc. We are also working together with huge composting companies to use their materials better because there is no market for those biofertilizers right now. People don't see the value in bio waste-based fertilisers. They are selling one tonne of compost for one euro. This complicates our fight", admits Ingrid, "It also requires certain certifications for us to use such fertiliser in organic agriculture – like any other project that deals with organics. And we need a permit for recycling the food waste".

She recalls that it took them several years to get approval from the ministry in Estonia, the startup's home country. "So I hope in other countries it will not take years, because we will prove the case here. It's quite innovative, and we are building a whole different case", says CEO Nutriloop.