An interview with Melissa Sharp and Leo Campbell, founders of Modern Baker, one of Forward Fooding’s top 500 Food Tech startups.

Melissa Sharp and Leo Campbell, founders of Modern Baker

It’s time to put a face to the name…

We asked our FoodTech 500 top-runners to give us a bit of insight into how they started out as a company and their thoughts on the role of technology in Food innovation. Meet Melissa and Leo, the power-duo behind Modern Baker, pioneering ‘smart staple foods’ for better digestive health outcomes. Let’s see what they had to say. 

So tell us a little bit more about you! Where did the idea for your FoodTech company come from?

Leo: Modern Baker was born out of adversity – the realisation that my diet was both a cause of, and a solution to the life-threatening illness I was faced with a few years ago. The astonishing healing power of good gut nutrition led us to tech and science to turn staple foods from a net-negative to humanity, to a net-positive. Baked goods were the logical entry point – then, overnight, we had to become scientists!

How is tech central to your business?

Melissa and Leo: With our focus on the gut microbiome and suppressing blood glucose release, the combined forces of AI, research technology and lab-based evidence are the tools that drive the development and validation of our natural, carb-based food products.

Why do you think it’s important to see the food industry embrace tech?

Melissa and Leo: Feeding 7 billion people is already stressing the planet and healthcare systems to breaking point – poor diet is now the world’s leading cause of death and disability. Food is never going back to hunter-gatherer days and the only way forward is to explore the incredible possibilities tech, in all its forms, can offer the food chain for both health and planet sustainability.

 

Want to know more? Check out Modern Baker’s full profile here.

Congratulations again to Modern Baker for ranking 6th in the “Next-Gen Food & Drinks” category of the Foodtech 500 list.

To find out who else made it into the FoodTech 500; the top Food Tech companies in the world, click here.

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