Mars Petcare and Big Idea Ventures Tap Insects, Coffee Grounds, and Brewery Waste for the Next Generation of Pet Food

Three startups from Poland, India, and Taiwan won places in the 2026 Next Generation Pet Food Program, an industry-backed push to cut the environmental footprint of pet food ingredients.

By Good Company Editorial Desk

The News

Mars Petcare and Big Idea Ventures have named the three startups selected for the 2026 Next Generation Pet Food Program, the third year of a program run with ingredient and processing partners AAK, Buhler, Givaudan, and Ingredion to find and scale materials that reduce the environmental footprint of pet food. The announcement came September 29 via PR Newswire.

The three winners each work a different angle on waste and novel feedstocks. EcoBean, from Poland, valorizes spent coffee grounds from industrial production into high-value ingredients for cosmetics, food, and pet applications, according to the announcement. Loopworm, an Indian insect biotech company, makes high-performance protein and fat ingredients from silkworms using proprietary technology. Space Ark Biomedical, from Taiwan, upcycles okara and brewer's spent grain into functional protein ingredients using enzyme technology and precision fermentation.

Together, the companies say the cohort demonstrates how side-stream valorization, insect biotechnology, and fermentation can unlock new sources of protein and functional ingredients from feedstocks that are abundant or underused in existing industrial supply chains.

The program drew 83 applications from 33 countries, with nearly half coming from the Asia-Pacific region, a concentration the announcement attributes to a deliberate expansion in Asia and the region's growing role in ingredient innovation focused on sustainability. The organizers say this year's applicants faced stricter criteria, with a call for ventures at a higher level of commercial maturity. "The cohort signaled an acceleration in alternative ingredient innovation and a transition from proof of concept towards supply chain readiness," the announcement says.

More than half of the applications focused on dry proteins, a third on wet proteins, and the remainder on fats and oils, produced through plant-based processing, fermentation, insect farming, and other emerging methods.

Why It Matters

Mars is not a neutral observer here. The company owns Royal Canin, Pedigree, Whiskas, and Cesar, and describes itself as a $65 billion-plus family-owned business based on combined 2025 net sales with Kellanova. When Mars puts its name and R&D machinery behind silkworm protein and brewery-waste fermentation, it signals where one of the largest pet food buyers expects its future supply chain to come from.

The program's design also says something about the industry's maturation. In earlier editions, the appeal was discovery; this year's bar was commercial readiness. Andrew D. Ive, founder and managing general partner at Big Idea Ventures, said the program's power is "the ecosystem behind it," and that the partners can "help de-risk promising innovations, validate their commercial potential, and accelerate their path into real-world supply chains."

The geography matters too. Nearly half of the applications came from Asia-Pacific, and the three winners come from Poland, India, and Taiwan. The program culminates at the Asia-Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Summit in Singapore in late October, where the cohort will pitch to industry leaders, investors, and decision makers. The center of gravity for ingredient innovation is shifting east.

The Numbers

• 83 applications from 33 countries in 2026, compared with 165 applications from 39 countries in the 2025 edition, according to vegconomist, citing Mars. The organizers say the drop reflects tighter criteria and a call for greater commercial maturity.
• Nearly half of the 2026 applications came from the Asia-Pacific region.
• More than half of applications focused on dry proteins; about a third on wet proteins; the remainder on fats and oils.
• 3 startups selected, from 3 countries: Poland (EcoBean), India (Loopworm), and Taiwan (Space Ark Biomedical).
• $15,000 cash prize, plus expert guidance, R&D facility access, and tailored opportunities, according to the announcement.
• October 27 to 29, 2026: the program culminates at the Asia-Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Summit in Singapore, where the cohort pitches to industry leaders, investors, and decision makers.

What To Watch

The first test comes quickly. At the Singapore summit in late October, watch which of the three draws the most serious interest from ingredient buyers and manufacturers, and whether any pilot or supply agreements are announced out of the event.

The second test is slower and more important: whether silkworm-derived protein, coffee-ground ingredients, and fermented brewery-waste proteins make it into real supply chains and product formulations. The program's partners include processing equipment leader Buhler and ingredient suppliers AAK, Givaudan, and Ingredion, which gives the startups a direct line into the industry's production machinery.

Elisabetta Pierangelo, vice president of R&D at Mars Pet Nutrition, said the program brings "ingredient innovators, scientists, manufacturers and industry experts around a common goal," with the focus on "turning promising ideas into scalable solutions that could help advance pet food systems with a lower environmental footprint and deliver high-quality nutrition."

The open question is scale. Pet food runs on enormous, consistent ingredient volumes, and novel feedstocks win only if they can be produced reliably and affordably at that level. This year's emphasis on commercial maturity suggests the program's backers are thinking the same way.

Sources

Big Idea Ventures, "Big Idea Ventures and Mars Petcare select three startups for the 2026 Next Generation Pet Food Program" via PR Newswire, reported by Morningstar (September 29, 2026): https://www.morningstar.com/news/pr-newswire/20260929ny58083/big-idea-ventures-and-mars-petcare-select-three-startups-for-the-2026-next-generation-pet-food-program

Powder Bulk Solids, "Mars Selects Three Startups for Pet Food Innovation Program" (September 30, 2026): https://www.powderbulksolids.com/food-beverage/mars-petcare-selects-3-startups-for-next-generation-pet-food-program

vegconomist, "Pet Food: Latest News 2026" (reporting the 2025 edition's 165 applications from 39 countries, citing Mars): https://vegconomist.com/category/food-and-beverage/pet-food/