Miguel Malnati

About 31% of all food produced ends up in the trash. All that food could feed nearly 1.26 billion more people a year. All this is happening while 828 million people go hungry, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. This waste also has a strong environmental impact: it accounts for about 8% of greenhouse gas emissions and a quarter of the freshwater used for agriculture each year. 

To reduce these losses, the young Peruvian engineer Miguel Malnati has developed Bio Natural Solutions, a biotech start-up that uses organic waste to extend the shelf life of fresh fruit. Thanks to this commitment to the circular economy, Malnati has become one of the winners of MIT Technology Review's Innovators Under 35 Latin America 2022 in Spanish. 

His breakthrough reuses organic waste from the agricultural industry such as peels and seeds from mandarins and mangoes to preserve fruit on market shelves. The product he obtains from this agricultural waste is an organic coating that doubles the shelf life of fresh fruit. This natural, colorless, odorless liquid is a natural and environmentally friendly chemical-free solution. Malnati has proven the effectiveness of its coating on lemons, avocados, oranges and mangoes. 

Bio Natural Solutions' circular economy is a toxic-free, clean, sustainable, and biodegradable edible technology that improves food safety. The agricultural industry benefits from this innovation by increasing their competitiveness while reducing their carbon footprint. The young man grew up in an environmentally conscious and entrepreneurial family. This venture is the fruit of that family upbringing. 

After starting in Peru, Malnati's innovation is already present in many Latin American countries. His vision is to position Bio Natural Solutions as a Latin American brand of food preservation with a presence in the African market to reduce the environmental impact of agriculture globally. The engineer seeks to reduce food waste as much as possible while making agricultural businesses more profitable and environmentally friendly.