Berlin is reinventing food. From what’s on our plates to how entire systems work. In this episode, scientist-turned-entrepreneur Lia Carlucci unboxes the future of food: healthy food should be the new normal, not a luxury choice.

‍From alternative proteins and upcycling to policy, consumer behavior, and why Berlin is a perfect early-adopter testbed.
She opens with a simple object, grapes, to show how climate-sensitive our diets already are and how community (like a bunch of grapes) is the real lever for change.

What you will learn

• Future of Food, Now: What a healthy and sustainable food system really means — and why inclusivity and access matter as much as technology.
• Beyond “Lab Meat”: Where plant-based, fermentation-based, and cell-cultivated proteins stand today — and why regulation and public narratives shape adoption.
• Hidden Gold in Side-Streams: How upcycling peels, shells, and seeds can cut costs, reduce waste, and build new products.
• Berlin’s Edge: Why world-class institutes, policy proximity, and a diverse, open community make Berlin a powerhouse for impact ventures.
• From Impact to Scale: How startups and corporates can actually collaborate (venture clienting, co-creation, investment) — and why collaboration is the new competition.

This episode is part of our Berlin Partner series spotlighting the city’s deep-tech and impact ecosystem.

1. A Bunch of Grapes & a Big Idea
   [00:00 – 05:20]
   Grapes illustrate climate vulnerability (production already dropping) and the power of community — many small nodes, strongly connected. Cue a first-ever grape jam.
2. What “Future of Food” Really Means
   [06:07 – 08:30]
   Lia defines a future that is healthy, sustainable, inclusive, and accessible — across the whole system from production to pricing.
3. Billion-Dollar Openings
   [08:38 – 11:11]
   Alternative proteins are still early at mass scale; upcycling and circularity (turning “waste” like shells/peels into value) are huge opportunities.
4. Beyond the “Lab Meat” Narrative
   [11:21 – 14:14]
   Same sensory output, different inputs. EU regulation limits consumer testing; many teams pilot in Singapore, but tastes differ by region. Media framing matters.
5. Why Berlin? Early-Adopter City
   [14:46 – 16:01]
   Top institutes (Fraunhofer, Charité, RKI, DIfE), openness to experimentation, and an international population make Berlin ideal for innovation.
6. Startup, VC & Policy Gravity
   [19:46 – 24:37]
   VCs cluster around Rosenthaler Platz; proximity to policymakers helps frontier innovators. Pro tip: create some FOMO — most German VC still flows into Berlin.
7. Diversity Is Strategy, Not Optics
   [25:27 – 36:23]
   Female founders remain underrepresented; all-female teams get a tiny share of global VC. Bias shows up in everyday interactions. More women in investment partner roles changes portfolios.
8. Food Campus Berlin: A Home for Transformation
   [38:27 – 40:57]
   Food drives ~a third of global emissions and major biodiversity & freshwater pressures — so scaling solutions needs a physical hub for serendipity, piloting, and partnerships.
9. Who Must Move First? Everyone.
   [41:17 – 42:24]
   Consumers create demand; regulators set the rules (even VAT tilts the field); startups invent; corporates scale. It’s an all-hands transition.
10. Working with Corporates (for Real)
    [42:47 – 45:04]
    SMEs often lack innovation structures; use venture clienting, co-creation, accelerators. Key lesson: Collaboration is the new competition.
11. From Berlin to HQs Elsewhere
    [45:32 – 46:32]
    Even if HQs are outside Berlin, R&D/innovation teams co-locate at Food Campus to stay close to startups, policy, and a 4-million-person test market.
12. Bureaucracy: Three Survival Tips
    [49:39 – 51:53]
    Plan extra time for company setup and banking; ask for help (people have navigated this); and support initiatives reducing red tape.
13. Guest-Book Question & Mindset Shift
    [53:30 – 54:34]
    If she could change one thing: replace competition-first with collaboration-first across the industry.
14. Rapid Fire
    [55:34 – 58:51]

• Biggest lesson: notice your own biases — you can’t unsee them.
• Hardest challenge: lack of focus early on — pick one channel and master it before expanding.
• Proud moment: building communities that spark real collaborations.
• Advice: talk to many people; no one can copy your unique mix of skills and experience.

15. Final Jam
    [1:11:50 – End]
    Lia co-produces a bright, danceable electronic track — a soundtrack for optimistic system change.

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