Designing a Future Food Vision
Daniel Skaven Ruben has worked on creating a global vision for our food system. We take a look at what he sees unfolding in the Nordics and beyond.
Daniel Skaven Ruben is a super connector. He is Head of Strategy and Special Projects at Stockeld Dreamery as well as an operating advisor to VC/investment firms Nordic FoodTech VC, Trellis Road, and Blume Equity. He’s also a mentor at Katapult Ocean, Big Idea Ventures, and Norrsken Impact Accelerator in addition to being an advisor for multiple food and ag tech startups. Previously, Daniel worked as a consultant for The Rockefeller Foundation Food Initiative. He is also behind the FoodTech Weekly newsletter, a must-read newsletter if you are interested in the future of food. Daniel knows a lot of things and a lot of people. In this episode, we explore the different food visions he has seen unfolding across the globe, and what it will take turn these visions into realities.
Analisa Winther, Nordic FoodTech Podcast Host 2:44
Hi, Daniel. Welcome.
Daniel Skaven Ruben 2:46
Hi. It's great to be here.
Analisa Winther, Nordic FoodTech Podcast Host 2:47
It's good to see you. And I'd like to start by taking a walk down memory lane and hearing about how you got into food. You've worked in a lot of different places in a lot of very interesting positions. So, what led you to where you are today.?
Daniel Skaven Ruben 3:04
So, my background is that I went to law school in Sweden and business school in Denmark. And since I love technology, I ended up working with the Trade Council of Denmark helping Danish tech companies to internationalize and I did that for five years in Stockholm and New York, and eventually got tired of that, but I still love technology and sort of the social impact angle. So, I decided to go to Georgetown for another degree and studied international relations and how we can leverage technology for social impact. And there, around six years ago, I really took an interest in food and ag. Because it's just so fascinating. I worked at the World Bank in DC. I did some various jobs, but one that really stuck with me was this advisory firm where we worked with companies that were really tech powered, and they were in the food space. So when the Rockefeller Foundation was about to refresh their food strategy around three years ago, I was approached and asked if I'd like to join us a consultant to help with that strategy refresh. And I did so and I'm still with them as a consultant.
Daniel Skaven Ruben 4:17
Outside of Rockefeller. I'm also a mentor to a couple of food tech accelerators, Big Idea Ventures in New York, session in Singapore, Bloomer in Stockholm, and Katapult Ocean in Oslo. I'm also an advisor and an angel to a bunch of really exciting food and ag tech startups like Noquo Foods doing plant based cheese, BIOMILQ doing cultured breast milk, Ignitia doing hyper local weather forecasts in tropical areas, Volta Green Tech growing and feeding algae to cows to reduce methane emissions, IRRIOT which is wireless drip irrigation management, and so on. So, that's really exciting. I'm also doing a newsletter called FoodTech Weekly, which is a weekly newsletter on FoodTech, food and society. So, I get to sort of explore the food system and its actors from a lot of different angles.