COURSE NUMBER: MBA 294.17

COURSE TITLE: Transforming the Food Industry Speaker Series

UNITS OF CREDIT: 1

STUDENT ORGANIZERS: Maryli Cheng (Maryli_cheng@berkeley.edu) and Maggie Fried (Maggie_fried@berkeley.edu)

FACULTY SPONSOR: Rosenzweig, W

MEETING DAY/TIME: th, 6-8p

TERM: Fall B

BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE: Attendance

COURSE OVERVIEW: The way we feed ourselves and the planet may be the most important question our generation solves. By doing so we may also arrive at potent solutions for our environmental, healthcare, and social justice crises. This course aims to investigate how companies are re-framing the way we think about food by questioning the status quo.

Each of the five classes will cover a different topic with 2-4 speakers. The proposed topics include the following:

1. Sustainable consumption: Exploration of sustainability efforts across the value chain in food and agriculture. Specific discussion topics could include food waste, intersection of food and climate change, alternative protein, and regenerative agriculture.
2. The agriculture revolution: The question of how we produce food has far-reaching consequences on social and environmental issues. This session will look at how companies are already starting to innovate one of the most basic practices of humankind -- agriculture.  
3. Investing in food: Explores perspectives of those firms that are investing in the next wave of food innovation. What do they look for when investing and what trends are they seeing? What does it take to get funded?
4. Launching food ventures: Founders or founding team members whose companies are in various stages of growth will present their journeys, the challenges they have faced, and advice for those interested in starting their own food/agriculture venture.
5. Future of food: The food system is transforming radically to adapt to the digital world and changing consumer preferences. This session will explore how technology is impacting the industry and how CPG companies are thinking ahead.

Some speakers might include: Komal Ahmed (Copia), Matt Schwartz (Afresh), Kai Hinson (Patagonia Provisions), Jordan Sadowsky (Impossible Foods), Roger Kirkpatrick (Plenty), Dylan Bondy (Imperfect Produce), Dan Kuzrck (Regrained), Andrew Deitz (Verdical.io), Food Systems 6 Accelerator (Caesare Assad), Chirp Chips (Rose Wang), Kiwi Robots (Felipe Chávez).

This course will be relevant for anyone who is interested in pursuing a career in food, interested in learning about key trends impacting the food industry, and those who are interested in VC/entrepreneurship for food ventures.