Jan 13, 2019
On episode 56 we welcome newly appointed CEO of AquaBounty,
Sylvia Wulf for an engaging conversation that explores a new
frontier of food production. Wulf is an industry leader who's
directly responsible for coaxing large scale production and
distribution to become more sustainable, more responsible and more
appreciative of market trends of a modern consumer over the last 25
years.
Prior to AquaBounty, Sylvia was President of StockYards, SVP of
Merchandising, and President of the Manufacturing Division for US
Foods. A $23 billion broad line foodservice distributor, US
Foods is the the 2nd largest foodservice distributor in the US.
Wulf was responsible for the P&L of the $10 billion
protein and produce categories and the $1 billion Manufacturing
Division of U.S. Foods Meat, Seafood and Produce operations. While
leading this anchor division, Wulf developed a source to sale
strategic approach that not only improved profitability but drove
growth in market share at 3X the industry average. In her numerous
roles responsibilities included the P&L of Perishables
categories, centralized sourcing/replenishment, 15 manufacturing
facilities for Meat and produce.
As of January 2019 Sylvia Wulf has taken the reins at known salmon
producer and seafood innovator - AquaBounty. For the past 20
years AquaBounty has sought federal approval for their transgenic
engineered fish which sets to localize domestic production while
reducing the use of synthetics and antibiotics in their approach of
farm raising fish. It's not the molecular scalpel used in
tweaking RNA expressions as we've learned about with CRISPR, it's
DNA manipulation. But, it's done for a different purpose and
with different intent than we've seen with past GE or GMO crops so
prevalent in seed production. The IP AquaBounty is interested in
moving is a methodology for producing fish, cleaner and healthier
fish they say. It's surely not designed to move more harmful
proprietary chemicals sterilizing soils and the planet. And, BTW -
the fish they produce are sterile, so there's no concern with
cross-pollination with natural stock.
It's fascinating to explore this from a few different angles.
No doubt it's a pressing and timely subject with a stigma.
We must all appreciate that this is being rolled out, now -
through-out the US. AquaBounty has FDA approval and will soon
be part of our current food production system. What needs to be
determined is how it's labeled. They've instituted numerous fail
safes and they have a compelling message to why they believe the
time is now to use their technology to clean-up many of the
approaches used in farming fish. So, how do we all find
commonality? How do we evaluate all the biological, ethical,
social and environmental issues reaching our plate? Tune-In
to hear more.
'Nutritionist to The Hill' Jay Vilar joins me as a
first-time co-host. Vilar is the founder, and a practitioner
at ‘Nourish’ - a bespoke consulting company with a mission to
educate, teach, and train people on the benefits of using food to
heal your body and optimize your health. Jay has always been
on the forefront of using optimal health techniques, and
bio-hacking his nutrition to achieve remarkable results in his
career. Jay now spends his time teaching people how to use food to
heal their body and speaks to businesses on how to optimize focus &
productivity using nutritional and behavioral science. Jay
recently completed a Fellowship at the Rodale Institute, and just
relocated from DC to join our crew in Boston.
Sylvia Wulf knows large-scale production and food distribution.
Throughout her career she's worked diligently to elevate standards
and improve the experience for a broad swath of consumers and food
animals. Tune-In to hear what she's up to in her latest
venture - for many reasons I know our audience will find intrigue
in this 45 minute conversation.