Nicola Wilson is a Food Technologist for Leaft Foods, a Christchurch-based company that uses a novel technology to extract the abundant protein in all green leaves, Rubisco. The protein is neutral in colour and flavour, with a complete amino acid profile, and is hypoallergenic. Rubisco could be a game-changer for individuals with soy, whey, or egg protein sensitivities.
Leaft Foods is a pre-revenue company that raised USD 15 million in 2022 in Series A venture funding led by Silicon Valley-based Khosla Ventures. The venture included participation from Ngāi Tahu Holdings via its New Economy Mandate, ACC’s Climate Change Impact Fund, and NBA Basketballer and impact investor Steven Adams.
The company has a growing team of 24, including food technologists, process engineers, biotechnologists, farm systems specialists, and sales and marketing experts.
Wilson shared her passion for people’s connection with food.
“It sustains us. Sharing food builds social cohesion. I was fortunate to meet some food technologists when thinking about what course of study I might get into,” said Wilson.
The Food Technologist elaborated that the work environment, engaging projects and the applied nature of her role, which includes a range of science, engineering, manufacturing, nutrition, marketing, and product design, drew Wilson into her chosen career path.
“I enjoy combining all these elements in my day-to-day work.”
Wilson revealed that at Leaft Foods, the ongoing mission is to innovate a new food production system, which takes on a more extensive scope than average food product development projects. Several elements must be researched, measured, validated, and developed whilst building a business in which wholesome and appealing food products are created.
Day-to-day, Wilson described that her work entails ensuring that each sub-project is progressing and aligned with each other, as her work is centred around complex, natural, raw materials.
“Learning to work with nature to create sustainable food is a useful way to think about what we are doing to move forward in a startup company with Leaft’s objectives and aspirations.”
The pandemic was when the start-up business utilised online tools to create and build imperative professional relationships with several expert research partners. Wilson described the online aspect as an opportunity for the enterprise to engage with the international plant-protein community through virtual conferences and forums, which may not have been possible to attend if they had not become virtually accessible. However, Wilson shared the uncertain times also created space for adaptive and innovative thinking towards solutions.
“It drives teamwork and cooperation to achieve our goals. I am grateful for the opportunity to develop these skills through the uncertain times of the last couple of years.”
Wilson added that welcoming new team members has been rewarding and a welcoming opportunity for the business of the skills and experience each new team member brings.
