Exploring impact acceleration through venture development: Thrive-MLA upcycled collagen for the USA market

Summary

This project engages SVG THRIVE to design a collaborative venture-development model between SVG and MLA, and connect MLA with key ingredient stakeholders to help validate MLA’s UpcycleCo business model assumptions – specially as it relates to Australian beef and sheep collagen powder. As part of MLA’s High Value Foods Frontier Program, upcycling by-products from red meat production into quality functional ingredients is a key focus area.

MLA is looking to partner with tech inventors, incumbent processors and ingredient companies to realise the opportunity to transform hides/skins into functional quality collagen ingredients. The business model on how best to create and capture value is fundamental to the design of MLA’s UpcycleCo investment case.

Objectives

This project engages SVG THRIVE to design a collaborative venture-development model between SVG and MLA, and connect MLA with key ingredient stakeholders to help validate MLA’s UpcycleCo business model assumptions – specially as it relates to Australian beef and sheep collagen powder.

Key findings

There is likely value in the Australian collagen upcycle concept with or without a separate venture, though further evaluation is required to assess which partnership structure makes the most sense for all stakeholders involved.

There are synergies in a broader partnership between MLA and THRIVE to apply open innovation to the Australian red meat industry, namely in identifying opportunities to apply open innovation practices, programming to source, validate, and design new solutions, and investment to support scalable, commercial innovations.

Benefits to industry

Our work in this market validation exercise directly contributed value to the Australian red meat industry and producers in the following ways:
• identified higher value market (collagen) for Australian red meat by-products and validated demand from potential buyer (CX).
• connected CX to contract manufacturers in AUS for collagen POC – volumes of two types of collagen sent to CX for quality assessment.
• if assessment is positive, an agreement could open up a route to market for AUS red meat products that adds value to producers and boosts supply chain sustainability.

MLA action

Learnings from this project will help inform ongoing MLA investment into the ovine and bovine collagen space.

Future research

Future research will include a focus on the UpcycleCo business model, validating UpcycleCo's ability to capture value in the market, and expansion of upcycle concept to other value chain by-products.