Jessie Stanley, Good Grub Agritech
Jessie Stanley’s no stranger to combining entrepreneurial thinking and business skills to help fuel her deep-rooted passion for saving the planet.
Jessie is the co-founder and director of Good Grub Agritech, the Auckland-based company which uses insect bioconversion to turn organic waste into a highly nutritious and unique source of protein for pet foods and fish and poultry feeds.
“We’re changing the food system and putting it back in balance with nature,” she says.
The BPA was the first to support Good Grub Agritech with a $18,000 grant to fund a Masters’ student internship two years ago. The fourth year Food Science student helped them conduct the first of their science experiments in partnership with Massey University, giving the nascent business credibility and confidence.
“The BPA’s endorsement of our proof of concept helped kickstart our business and provide the impetus to take us to the next level,” says Jessie. “We’ve had a groundswell of support since then.”
Jessie is a seasoned food innovator, having co-founded the much-loved I Love Pies brand which she sold to Walter and Wild in 2018.
Throughout her career, she has specialised in innovative product development, having spent time at national and international FMCG heavyweights, including Fonterra and Pepsi.
Her involvement with community group Save Our Sands and Greenpeace was a catalyst for realising a desire to combine her business skills with helping the environment. This led her thinking about how to better utilise food waste and sparked the idea to bring black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) farming to New Zealand.
“Insect farming is a huge growth industry,” she says. “We want to be New Zealand’s number one bio-converter of food waste and to provide global solutions for emissions reduction.”
Products they’re looking at creating include fish pellets using industrial-grade extrusion equipment, but the initial process involves costly trials.
“We need more support to create more science,” says Jessie.
They’re currently identifying potential partners in the aquaculture industry who can provide co-funding for the project, and Jessie says they’ll also apply to the BPA for a second round of funding to help move the project from bench scale work to a process closer to a commercial one.
They aim to start building their commercial scale pilot plant at the end of 2024 with production due to start in 2025-6.
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