This event will showcase innovative companies who are producing biobased products. We’ll hear from Woolcool which produces packaging from sheep’s wool, Heaxafly which farm black solder flies, Celignis which will talk about the blue economy using seaweed and Meade Potato which have developed the first starch plant from waste potatoes.

Commercialising a Natural Material – Sheep’s Wool

Woolcool based in the UK remains the only packaging company using a range of sheeps wool insulated packaging available on a commercial scale. This presentation will outline how the idea came about for the company and the journey to where the company is now.

Josie Morris MBE, Managing Director, Woolcool, England

Surf’s up! Ride the Wave of New Biomaterials from Seaweed

Lalitha will talk on the potential of seaweed in the Irish Bioeconomy and how seaweed-derived materials can be superior to the existing fossil-derived materials that are currently used in personal care, textiles, paints, coating, and biomedical applications. The focus of the talk will be on the work we are doing at Celignis on fractionation of seaweed.

Dr. Lalitha Gottumukkala, Chief Innovation Officer, Celignis, Ireland  

Experiences in Developing a New BioBased Company in Ireland

Hexafly farm the Black Soldier Fly using industrial food waste to make a range of high-quality protein derivatives for the animal, plant and cosmetic industries. This presentation will outline how a biobased SME develops in Ireland and provides advice to new start up biobased companies.

Alvan Hunt, Co Founder and CEO at Hexafly, Ireland

Diversifying from Potato Growing to a Potato Starch Plant for Higher Value Uses

Meade Farm Group is a family business traditionally growing potatoes, carrots and onions. The company recently diversified in using the waste potatoes in producing starch which can be used in many different areas. This presentation will outline how the idea came about diversifying their business and what advice they would have for other business looking to diversify their business into the biobased arena.

Cliona Costello & Eleanor Meade, Meade Farm Group, Ireland

This event is taking place as part of the National Bioeconomy Summit: https://bioeconomy.ie/