6 February, 2026

This week brought a moment that makes you feel genuinely hopeful about where our food system goes next. Bramble Partners, founded by our friend Henry Dimbleby, has launched its £100m Pioneer Fund, designed to back ambitious food‑system innovators across the UK and Europe. 

The idea is simple but smart: invest at the point where doing the right thing for people and the planet is also the most commercially compelling move. That means everything from new agricultural and fishing tech to alternative production systems, better nutrition, smarter data, and solutions that reduce waste: all the bits of the system that need re‑wiring if we’re going to feed people well in a warming, resource‑strained world. 

And the fund’s first investment shows exactly how that theory becomes practice. Klura Labs, a UK materials‑science company, has created packaging that stops mould and harmful bacteria from taking hold, meaning food stays fresher for longer, with fewer preservatives and less waste along the way. It’s practical innovation (the sort that quietly transforms supply chains from the inside out) that is ready to scale.  

All of this matters because we’re losing or wasting roughly a third (and potentially closer to 40%) of the food we produce. That is an astonishing failure in a world where emissions are rising, costs are climbing, and too many people go without. Fixing that is both urgent, and it’s encouraging to see capital flowing toward solutions that make the system work better for everyone.  

Here’s to more pioneers and to the practical, science‑led ideas that will shape future food systems. 

By Bertie Bateman