Innovation is not optional anymore. It’s existential.
In the accelerating climate crisis, where 2024 marked the hottest year ever recorded and global emissions from agriculture and land use alone accounted for over 22% of total anthropogenic emissions, the question isn’t whether we innovate. It’s how fast and how collaboratively we can do it. On the latest episode of the Climate Confident podcast, I spoke with Bryan Parkes, Head of Innovation Acceleration at Zespri, the world’s largest marketer of kiwifruit, about their unconventional approach to accelerating climate solutions in agriculture.
Spoiler: it doesn’t involve equity grabs or patent trolling.
Zespri’s Zag Innovation Fund flips the traditional funding script. Instead of venture capital with its strings and ownership clauses, Zag offers venture clienting. In short: “no strings attached” grants, open innovation, and technical support in exchange for trialling solutions in a real-world value chain. The goal isn’t financial ROI; it’s climate resilience, supply chain adaptability, and ultimately, food system transformation.
And it’s working.
In its first year, Zag attracted 124 applications from global startups and researchers. Zespri selected 11 pilot projects, many from unexpected domains. One standout? A startup using moth antenna proteins to detect volatile compounds with astonishing sensitivity. Originally developed for medical diagnostics (think: detecting cancer from breath), Zespri saw the potential for monitoring fruit ripeness and spoilage in real time, an application that could radically reduce food waste.
This is where things get interesting. It’s not just about solving climate challenges within the confines of the orchard. It’s about cross-pollinating innovations from one sector into another. And Zespri isn’t just open to that; it’s actively designing for it.
Another pilot involves biochar – a stable, carbon-rich form of charcoal that can sequester carbon in soil for hundreds, even thousands of years. Zespri is testing its use in kiwifruit orchards not just for carbon drawdown, but also for its soil-enhancing properties: increased moisture retention, better nutrient availability, and improved crop yields. If successful, this model could scale far beyond kiwifruit, offering a viable nature-based solution for other perennial crops facing similar climate pressures.
There are two major takeaways here. First, venture clienting, as opposed to venture capital, can unlock innovation by removing traditional barriers. No need to give up equity. No pressure to chase unicorn valuations. Just a pathway to market validation, impact, and collaboration.
Second, climate resilience in agriculture doesn’t just come from within. It comes from outside-the-box partnerships, from adapting biotech designed for healthcare or aerospace to solve challenges in food systems. This sort of transdisciplinary thinking is exactly what we need.
Globally, climate finance remains woefully inadequate. The UNFCCC has reported that developing countries alone will need over $2.4 trillion annually by 2030 to meet climate goals. Yet traditional funding mechanisms remain risk-averse, linear, and overly focused on late-stage ventures.
This is where models like Zag have an outsized role to play. They de-risk early-stage ideas through validation, data, and field testing, making them more attractive to mainstream funders later on. They create a space for ideas that don’t fit neat categories or business models but may be crucial to adaptation and decarbonisation. And most importantly, they centre climate impact over capital gain.
In a sector like agriculture, where 95% of food comes from the soil and yet soil is being degraded faster than it’s being restored, every bit of support for regenerative practices, electrification, and nature-based carbon sinks counts. Zespri’s exploration of climate-resilient cultivars, designed to tolerate warmer winters and shifting chill requirements, is another sign of this forward-facing urgency.
The idea isn’t just to futureproof the supply chain. It’s to futureproof food itself.
If Zag succeeds, the ripple effects could be enormous. Its model is inherently scalable, transferable, and open by design. The technologies Zespri helps test today could shape emissions tracking, soil health, cold chain efficiency, and varietal development for the entire fruit industry, and beyond.
And perhaps most importantly, it’s a reminder that companies don’t need to wait for regulation to act. Voluntary leadership, paired with smart innovation strategies, can move the needle far faster than we think. As Bryan noted, being a biological product that thrives on carbon dioxide gives kiwifruit production a unique opportunity to become carbon positive by 2030, if the right levers are pulled.
So, what does all this mean for sustainability professionals, climate tech founders, and corporate strategists?
- Rethink innovation models. Not every climate solution needs VC funding. Venture clienting, challenge-based accelerators, and grant-based pilot programmes can reduce friction and increase inclusion.
- Design for transferability. Innovations should be domain-agnostic where possible. The broader the application, the more likely the tech is to mature and scale.
- Pair funding with expertise. Money alone doesn’t solve systemic problems. Pairing capital with technical mentorship, supply chain access, and scientific validation can create faster, more durable impact.
- Aim for mutual benefit. The best climate innovations create win-wins: for business, for ecosystems, and for communities. Think soil that holds more carbon and grows better crops. Fruit that lasts longer and wastes less.
- Act now, not later. Climate change isn’t on pause. If your industry is affected by water availability, temperature shifts, logistics disruption, or consumer pressure, spoiler alert: it is, then the time to invest in adaptation is yesterday.
If this sort of bold, collaborative innovation excites you, I encourage you to listen to the full episode of the Climate Confident podcast. Bryan Parkes and I discuss these themes in more detail, along with examples from inside Zespri’s global operations.
💡 Explore the ZAG Fund or apply
Let’s be clear: there is no single silver bullet for climate change. But we have thousands of silver shavings. The challenge is connecting them, funding them, and scaling them. And that’s exactly what innovation ecosystems like Zag are built to do.
Photo credit soq on Flickr