Rethinking Food Ingredient Supply Chains With Adam Maxwell of Voyage Foods

Voyage Foods: https://voyagefoods.com/

Jennifer Barney's Business of Food Newsletter: https://jenniferbarney.substack.com/

I continue to be interested in pursuing episodes that are more on the food side of the industry. I think at first glance some of these stories might make you question whether it really belongs on an agricultural podcast. But I really believe consumer interest and food trends will drive the future of agriculture just as much if not more than any ag technology will. So it’s really important for all of us in agriculture to keep a close watch on these trends and connect the dots about what impact this could have on our industry. 

Guest hosting today’s episode is Jennifer Barney. Jennifer has been very generous with her time to bring us several episodes over the years, all focused on food companies. In the past she has featured companies like: Teffola, WonderCow, Alexandre Family Farm, Bibamba, Ugly Fruit Company, Neutral Foods and Seal the Seasons. 

She is a successful food entrepreneur, having founded, grown and sold an almond butter company called Barney Butter. Today she works with consumer packaged goods company as a consultant and writes the weekly email newsletter “The Business of Food”.

Jennifer is going to be interviewing Voyage Foods founder Adam Maxwell. 

A native of Boston, Adam Maxwell, was drawn to a food career from an early age, pursuing his first professional experience as a 14 year-old pastry apprentice at James Beard award-winning restaurant, Clio. He continued working in fine dining while studying food science at McGill University. But before graduation, Adam left school to work at Chew Innovation Labs. It was there that he met one of his co-founders for Voyage Foods, Kelsey Tenney. After his time at Chew, eh went to work for Endless West, the worlds’ first and only molecular wine and spirits company. His belief that everyone deserves to enjoy their favorite foods without compromising on tastes, the risk of future access or sacrificing dietary needs led him to launch Voyage Foods in 2021.

00:00 Intro

00:31 Meet Adam Maxwell of Voyage Foods

01:20 Introducing Guest Host Jennifer Barney

02:23 Jennifer Barney Interviews Adam Maxwell

03:04 Adam Maxwell's Background and Voyage Foods' Mission

06:49 Innovative Food Processing Techniques

09:55 Sourcing Sustainable Ingredients

13:29 Challenges and Opportunities in Food Tech

17:34 Scaling Up Voyage Foods and Future Plans

33:01 Conclusion and Final Thoughts