May 4, 2017

The steady increase in Non Traditional Players (NTP’s) becoming involved with farmland, animal production, infrastructure, and mid-stream assets is a regular fixture of my reporting. Equally significant are efforts by traditional agriculture and food players to be more nimble, entrepreneurial, and engaged in AgTech and FoodTech trends. By establishing Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) entities, companies such as ADM, Bunge, Danone, General Mills, Kellogg’s, Mars, Monsanto, 7-11, Tyson’s, etc. are signaling where their firms are prioritizing resources in coming years.

While the list of Ag/Food CVCs is long and growing, many other traditional Ag and Food companies are investing heavily into AgTech and FoodTech companies and R&D. It is rare if our Ag & Food clients do not emphasize technology and new business model innovation. The trend of traditional players setting their sights on AgTech, and FoodTech initiatives is only going to accelerate, according to HighQuest Consulting’s analysis of opportunities and challenges for stakeholders at every level of the agriculture value chain.

Greg Mellinger is the CEO of HighQuest Partners