Back by popular demand for a second year, the Global Food Tech Awards 2026 is shaping up to be another highly competitive showcase of innovation.
Finalists for the Americas heat have now been revealed, with the winner and runners up to be announced at Future Food-Tech in San Francisco, March 19 to 20.
This year’s finalists, listed below in alphabetical order, demonstrate how today’s innovators are rising to the challenge of delivering optimal nutrition in an increasingly complex and resource-constrained world.
From circularity to AI-driven molecule discovery, clean-label preservation and more, these companies highlight the extraordinary lengths food‑tech businesses are taking to deliver progress against the odds.
Global Food Tech Awards Head Judge and FoodNavigator editor-in-chief Jess Spiring said: “It is clear that food‑tech innovators are not only shaping product categories, but the future of food itself.
“This year’s finalists are tackling some of the most urgent challenges in our industry, from waste valorization and biomanufacturing to next‑generation nutrition and clean‑label preservation. Congratulations to our Americas finalists; it was a hard‑won battle to make it onto this shortlist.”
The awards were judged this year by a distinguished panel of experts, who were:
- The academic: Kara E. Leong, executive director, Integrative Center for Alternative Meat and Protein (iCAMP)
- The NGO executive: Andy Jarvis, director, future of food, Bezos Earth Fund
- The VC investor: Shayna Harris, co-founder and managing partner, Supply Change Capital
- The big brand: Olaf Gruess, director of partnerships, Cargill
- The journalist: Elizabeth Crawford, senior editor, FoodNavigator-USA
The GFTA Americas finalists
2nd Nature Inc
A Cincinnati‑based food‑tech start-up that uses AI-power to power its AgWaste Portal to transform agricultural and food‑processing side streams into high‑value functional ingredients. This includes natural zero‑calorie sweeteners and umami enhancers, in turn unlocking hidden molecules in waste to create cleaner, more sustainable and cost‑efficient alternatives for food, beverage, and personal care brands.
BioBlends
Argentina-based start-up, BioBlends has developed gas-based bio-preservatives (using bacterial volatile organic compounds) that extend shelf life, especially in bakery, without altering taste or texture. This enables clean-label products and reducing food waste.
Fermeate Inc.
A San Francisco–based biotech start-up, Fermeate was spun out of Princeton University and uses optogenetics (photomolecular fermentation) to control microbes with light. This doubles yields and slashes GHG emissions and can be plugged into existing fermentation setups to produce everything from sweeteners to specialty chemicals more sustainably, according to the company.
Joyn Foods
New York–based Joyn Foods is a food-tech innovator that blends animal-based meat with premium mushrooms (via its 50CUT line) to boost umami, nutrition and yield, all while halving carbon footprint.
Kresko RNAtech
Argentina-based biotech innovator Kresko RNAtech isolates and stabilizes dietary ribonucleic acids (supernutrients lost after harvest) to create functional ingredients that support gut, metabolic, skin and mental health, which is all powered by AI-driven discovery and bioinformatics.
Maia Farms
Vancouver-based food-tech start-up Maia Farms won NASA’s Deep Space Food Challenge and uses mushroom mycelium fermentation to create high-protein, clean-label ingredients (textures, powders, fresh formats) for bakery, snacks, hybrid meats and more. Its product offers 66g protein per 100g, is organic/vegan and scalable production to around 200t a year.
Michroma
A biotech start-up that uses precision fermentation and synthetic biology to turn filamentous fungi into scalable, stable, natural food colors (like their heat- and pH-resistant “Red+”) and flavors, aiming to replace petrochemical dyes with clean-label, sustainable ingredients.
SCO2
Minnesota-based cleantech start-up SCO2 uses patented supercritical CO₂ extraction to upcycle food and agri-waste and processes five to 50 tons an hour without pre-grinding to recover oils, flavors, and bioactives, turning waste into revenue while cutting costs and emissions.
Spacemilk
A nutrition start-up creating a next‑generation, non‑GMO yeast‑derived protein with a Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score of 1.0 (the highest possible score) and clinically validated performance –matching whey in muscle, strength and endurance gains – while offering superior digestibility, gut-health benefits and clean, solvent‑free sustainability.
Strive Nutrition
Family-founded, Kansas-based sustainable beverage company Strive pioneered aseptic processing and now offers “dairy without the cow.” Shelf-stable, animal-free whey protein milks (like Strive FreeMilk) are made via precision fermentation with Perfect Day, delivering real taste, 10g protein, 75% less sugar and around 97% lower GHG emissions than traditional milk.
