Aanika to Enter Bio-Backed Insurance Agreement with Satur Farms

BROOKLYN, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aanika Biosciences, a biotechnology startup focused on bringing trust, transparency, and traceability to our food system, will be entering into a first of its kind bio-backed insurance agreement with Satur Farms, a specialty crop producer with operations in New York and Arizona.

Aanika Biosciences, which develops products that allow for unparalleled traceability of leafy greens, fresh produce, and other commodities, will bundle its technology with a novel parametric food recall and contamination insurance policy, allowing its technology to enable lower rates of coverage than Satur would obtain normally. In addition to traceability, Aanika is developing next generation products to combat pathogen growth and reduce outbreaks, which will further support the ability to write risk coverage in crops that are historically plagued by food safety issues.

Aanika’s aim is to reduce the probability and magnitude of a claim through the use of its traceability and preventative technology and could soon commercialize other biotechnologies through development of various risk mitigation policies.

This transaction marks many firsts for Aanika as well as the biotechnology and insurance industries. Not only will this provide traceability for Satur products across the Northeast, but this is one of the first biotechnology products to embed insurance coverage.

“We are forging a new path to bring the marvels of biotechnology into the mainstream, while providing a critical function for the market. Warmer temperatures are creating a significant increase in crop diseases, pathogen outbreaks and food recalls, and coupling our technology with insurance coverage helps mitigate these risks and it is how we ensure that the food system can function smoothly over the next decade.” commented Vishaal Bhuyan, CEO of Aanika Biosciences.

Paulette Satur, CEO of Satur Farms, has seen firsthand how the lack of traceability in the supply chain can lead to significant losses in revenue, endless legal costs and a reputational hit. Her account of her 2019 recall is below:

On January 19, 2019, Satur Farms conducted a voluntary product recall when one of our lots of spinach tested positive for Salmonella. Although we maintain traceability of our lots to wholesalers, distributors and retail stores, it was during the recall we realized that many of our customers did not have that capability. Tracing contamination through every handler is extremely important to locate the originating source as quickly and efficiently as possible. This is important not only to assign responsibility to conduct a recall but also to defend oneself against unsubstantiated claims. Had a Satur Farms ‘fingerprint’ on the product been created at the field or processing level that identified all our product, we could have been immediately exonerated in a lawsuit brought against us. Instead, the process took three years.

About Aanika Biosciences
Aanika Biosciences is a Brooklyn based biotechnology startup that uses microbes to improve food safety. The company was founded in 2018 by Vishaal Bhuyan and Dr. Ellen Jorgensen and has raised nearly $20 million in venture financing to date from notable investors such as Adit Ventures, Draper Associates and Plug and Play Ventures.

About Satur Farms
Satur Farms is a specialty crop producer located on the North Fork of Long Island. It was founded by plant scientist Paulette Satur and chef Eberhard Müller over 20 years ago. Satur specializes in baby leaf-wild roquette arugula, baby spinach, kale and other leafy greens. They are committed providing fresh, high quality, sustainably grown produce that is distributed to retail, wholesale, and specialty customers along the Eastern Seaboard.