Adam Litle is the Chief Executive Officer at Sound Agriculture, an organization that is unlocking the natural power within plants to help agriculture adapt faster and become more resilient. Sound has partnerships with over a dozen companies to improve flavor, reduce spoilage, and increase yield in a variety of crops. On this episode of “Food Lab Talk,” Michiel speaks with Adam about Sound’s groundbreaking technology that enables rapid innovation in crops like their Summer Swell Tomato, how Adam addresses skeptics of novel technologies, and why he believes sticking to your passion and “putting one foot in front of the other” are key to make a lasting impact on food waste. 

Adam Litle: “Nature often does this on its own. You do see sweeter tomatoes, berries, etc. You do see longer shelf life and skin like this, but you have to do that through random change and crossbreeding that takes ten years or more in a lot of cases. Versus, why not, find a natural way to speed that up, in a more targeted way? And most people that resonates with. If you’re showing a consumer how some of this technology can be used to decrease cost, to have less damage from fertilizer, or other traits, or less food waste, or help with their health, I think that changes the conversation drastically. I’ve seen people be a lot more open to that.” 

01:06 Intro to Adam 

04:15 Background on Sound Agriculture and its products 

07:27 How On Demand Breeding helps reduce food loss and waste for retailers and consumers 

09:39 Proving the market and setting the price for a premium product 

12:41 Addressing skeptics of novel technologies 

14:29 Differences between GMO and epigenetics 

15:17 Why a “purist” mentality could be detrimental to future proofing our food system 

16:44 The role of technology in transforming how we shop for fruits and vegetables 

18:45 Sound Agriculture’s mission-driven approach to support a more resilient food system 

21:43 Developing data to support proof of concept and win over the doubters 

23:51 Adm’s advice for making a lasting impact on food waste 

26:32 Balancing consumer education and transparency 

Links 

• Learn more about Sound Agriculture 
• Learn more about the Summer Swell Tomato 
• The Packer: Sound Agriculture launches on-demand-bred tomato 
• Forbes: This startup says it can breed a better tomato on demand 
• AgFunder News: Sound Agriculture will expand thanks to a fresh $75m fundraise 

Subscribe, rate, review the show at foodlabtalk.com 

*The views expressed by the guests in this podcast don't necessarily represent the host’s views, nor those of his employer.