SPEAKERS
Lourdes Gant, Rishita Changede
Lourdes Gant 0:05
As a business owner of an aquaculture company, how can you take the first step to be profitable and sustainable at the same time? That’s what we’re going to be talking about in these episodes. Hello, and welcome to the business of agriculture podcast. This is the podcast for the Sustainable Business movement in the Aquafarming and ocean ranching industries. This podcast aims to amplify the voices of entrepreneurs addressing the United Nations global goals, aka Sustainable Development Goals. Number 14. To conserve and sustainably use the oceans and the seas, listening to fellow business aquaculturists in their journey in this new model of food production, of making their business sustainable, and help the ecology of the ocean, while also making a profit all at the same time. Get inspired to learn how even small to medium businesses can make an impact, save the seas, leave a legacy, and have a better quality of life. One of our goals is to take away a nugget of wisdom that will help your business move from the industrial revolution to business 5.0. Our vision is that of collaboration in the aquaculture industry. I’m Lourdes Gant your host
Lourdes Gant 1:25
As an aquaculture business, how do you become innovative in a new part of the aquaculture industry and be sustainable at the same time? This episode is dedicated to answering that question. So listen in and I hope you enjoy this episode. If you listen to Episode 10 Liris Maduningtyas talked to us about how to improve production using data-driven farming industry and aquaculture industry. Welcome to Episode 11 Season Two of the business of aquaculture. In this episode, I’m proud to interview another woman in the business of aquaculture Rishita Changede. She’s also one of the finalists in the recently concluded global aquaculture challenge from the yield lab the Asia Pacific. Welcome to the show Rishita
Rishita Changede 2:08
Hi, thank you for having me.
Lourdes Gant 2:10
Pleasure, pleasure. She is the CEO of Leora, a company that encapsulates proteins in a deep science solution with a view to preventing diseases that cost the global shrimp farming industry billions of dollars every year. Rashida believes that there are no good preventive solutions for shrimp farmers. Her childhood growing up by the sea inspired her to enter aquaculture with defending fish, you have an injection-based solution. But for shrimp, there’s absolutely nothing in the market. And they have a different immune system, according to her. Welcome again, Rashida. Thank you for being here.
Rishita Changede 2:47
Thank you so much for having me.
Lourdes Gant 2:49
I’m so happy that you said yes, I was just starting to interview people from the other parts of the world because most of my guests are from North America or in Europe. So thank you again. So maybe you can get us started on how did you end up being in the agriculture industry?
Rishita Changede 3:07
Yeah, so basically, I did my Ph.D. in synthetic biology, and then postdoctoral studies and material sciences, after which I was working with several startups in the Medtech and medical-related fields. And more and more, we started to realize that the same technologies can be applied to a lot more industries. And these industries have a bigger, more pressing need. If you think about it, like you know, most smallholder farmers in Asia, usually they’re the ones who will bear the brunt if a disease strikes, and there really are no solutions. So this leads to devastating consequences for them. And to make things better for them, and to have an impact such that we don’t include antibiotics or other harmful chemicals in our food. We thought that this would be the area where we could have the maximum amount of impact.
Lourdes Gant 4:03
Thank you. It’s fascinating hearing the stories, especially women being in the agriculture industry nowadays, it’s wonderful, it’s wonderful. I am really, I guess, in all on how you got started, so maybe you can tell us your advice to small businesses wanting to embark on sustainable agriculture or green technology?
Rishita Changede 4:25
Yeah, well, I am really inspired by the great work done by people before me and a lot more that is coming along in the field because now we realize that the biggest potential for change and improvement lies in the ocean and we will definitely see like a lot more innovative technology being directed towards the ocean not just to grow food, but many other things.
Lourdes Gant 4:49
Yes, and as you know, the Earth is comprised of a big ocean so there’s a lot of opportunity coming our way. Yes. Yeah. But I also like that you got it started because you saw a pressing need. And I think for small businesses, I guess I would say small to medium businesses. This is a simple principle and concept that sometimes we forget because we’re so embedded into the day-to-day minutia of our business, that the very reason why people started businesses is that there’s a need, that there’s a problem that needs solving. So thank you for reiterating that. My second question is, how would you solve the bureaucracy challenge that regulates the industry so that the business is more supported versus hampered by rulings? And I know you guys are in Singapore? Yes.
Rishita Changede 5:38
Yes, we are in Singapore. bureaucracy, I think it’s interesting. And it’s it differs from country to country. I don’t have a huge stake in it. But what I see is new market aggregators that come in, who can then basically collect information and collect the needs of the farmers and actually present to the administrators and rule-makers. And I think real change can come from these large market aggregators, who are more connected to the farmers and see how this industry can improve at a larger scale.
Lourdes Gant 6:14
Can you tell us more about these new market aggregators, I have a best friend who actually lived in Singapore. So I know most of the time that the government there is more supportive in terms of technology, innovation, it’s one of the most advanced countries that I know of. So maybe you can expand more when you mentioned market aggregators.
Rishita Changede 6:32
Yeah, so basically, there are two things. So in Singapore, actually, because we are so advanced. The other advantage is that it’s not a very big country. So you know, all firms are accessible. And we can reach them within the hour within the country itself. So here, what they’re doing in terms of technology is bringing larger farms bringing a lot more technology to the farms. And as a result, what we see is that they can lead the way in terms of innovation. Market aggregators would essentially be from other countries, for instance, a fishery in Indonesia TeleTech, there are several others Aqua connect in India, who are connected, who are basically forming these large farmers networks. And since they have reached the farmers, they also can make a strong case to the government because all these governments do have a huge stake in aquaculture growing as well. It is important for domestic consumption as well as international exports.
Lourdes Gant 7:33
Brilliant is just so brilliant about how these networks and I remember when I was interviewing Larry, from the yield lab, Asia Pacific, he used the word conglomerate. And I really like that because I think as a whole industry, there is needs to be this voice with all of the industry members to make it stronger. So you agree,
Rishita Changede 7:54
for sure, for sure. I think there’s not one voice but the collective that goes a very long way.
Lourdes Gant 8:00
Yeah. And I’m glad that you also mentioned the farmers from Indonesia, from India. And of course, you’re from Singapore. I live now in North America. And if there’s I think one thing that we wanted to learn from the ways that it’s being done, it’s that having a community not only from one country, from the industry as a whole from different countries, yes.
Rishita Changede 8:23
Yeah, for sure. And I think yeah, it’s set to grow here. Like a lot of the efforts around aquaculture until now have been quite directed towards salmon, but it’s now the tropical species that are coming into the limelight, and solutions for these species are what people are looking at, in more detail as well. Yes.
Lourdes Gant 8:44
And so my other question then becomes, with all the talk in technology, with all the talk and innovation and advancements, what’s one thing you think will still be here, a decade from now,
Rishita Changede 8:57
the growth of the industry for sure is one thing that will be that it is one of the largest and fastest-growing industries in terms of animal health. And the second thing, I think, is its expansion. So it will expand in terms of the species, it will expand not just from food, but it will go to many other industries. So for example, new materials from Albay, new nutraceuticals, again, from algae or other marine sources, will provide us with ways means to produce these compounds, which are beneficial in a completely natural and sustainable way.
Lourdes Gant 9:33
Perfect, perfect. And so maybe you can give them a thumbnail of what your company is about and what it’s been developing that garnered one of the top eight finalists at the global aquaculture challenge.
Rishita Changede 9:45
Yeah, well thank you for having us. And thank you for mentioning that. So what we essentially do is that we are a platform technology, where we use solutions that are usually underground developed for humans, but we are at adapting it to aquaculture. So we have what we call is Bioinformatics, where we design protective peptides, these are then produced in a completely natural and sustainable way in food-grade microorganisms like east. So instead of producing beer, now it will produce these protective proteins. And then finally, as the last step, we encapsulate these such that they are not destroyed in the aquaculture environment and such that they are not destroyed even in the stomach of the fish. So they go directly to the gut, and they become what we call is bioavailable, meaning a lot of it can then be absorbed by the body. So this allows us to bring oral solutions to the market. And that is what can really bring these disease prevention solutions to lots of farmers because as you mentioned earlier in your talk, injection-based solutions are the go-to solution at the moment, but they are not available to small farmers because of restrictive costs because of other factors. And oral solutions are what we believe and what the industry also believes is the way forward and we try to do our bit to make that possible for especially starting with the tropical species.
Lourdes Gant 11:14
That’s so awesome. Why don’t you share with us how they can get in touch with you.
Rishita Changede 11:20
So we can be reached at TeOra dot life that is Te Ora dot life. euro itself means life if you want to reach out to me directly I am available at Rishita at TeOra dot life.
Lourdes Gant 11:35
Thank you so much this Vito for sharing your valuable insights today. My biggest takeaway from this episode is when you mentioned the word bioavailable and how your solutions are being absorbed by the body of the species that you cultivate in North America. Now we have a big word biohacking, and I’m so happy that it’s being expanded to aquaculture species that we specialize in. So thanks again Rashida to our subscribers do leave a review of the podcast so we can get more people to be aware of the value our guests are providing in these conversations. If you’re new to the podcast, I’d like to hear from you. Thank you again, Rashid that really appreciate your time today.
Rishita Changede 12:15
Thank you, Lourdes. It’s great talking to you. And it’s great that you’re bringing these new technologies to the industry. Thank you so much for your great work.
Lourdes Gant 12:23
My pleasure. Thanks again. Bye, everyone. Thank you for listening, and I hope you’re inspired by this episode. Do take a moment and share this with your friends and colleagues and rate and review the podcast wherever you get your podcasts. I’d love to know what your biggest takeaway from this conversation has been? What are you going to do differently? Please share thoughts across social media and tag us for links and Show Notes for this episode, visit our website, www dot sustainable aquaculture.ca slash podcast. Thank you again. I hope you will join me on the next episode and together we can help create a better business in aquaculture
