The global food system is under pressure. Geopolitical disruptions have exposed the fragility of supply chains, climate change is making established raw material sources less reliable, and consumer trust in heavily processed food is eroding. At the same time, biotechnology and artificial intelligence are fundamentally changing how food innovation is developed and scaled.
Against this backdrop, Stefan Fak – an entrepreneur with over two decades in the food industry – has founded Creovias, a platform for consulting, investments, and media focused on the future of food. After building a premium organic food brand from scratch and successfully handing it over to a Hamburg-based corporate group in 2025, Fak is now channeling his experience into a new, multidimensional venture. The podcast Food Fak(t), which has been accompanying the food industry for years, is now part of the Creovias media pillar – a platform for thought leadership in agrifood innovation.
In this interview, Stefan Fak shares what drives him, what Creovias stands for – and why the most important questions about tomorrow’s food remain unanswered.
Q: You built a premium organic food brand over more than 15 years and sold it at the peak of its development. What made you let go – and what drove you to start something new immediately after?
Stefan Fak: Letting go of something you’ve built from scratch is never easy. My first company started from a trip to the Mekong Delta and the conviction that premium organic specialty grains deserved a place in the German market. Fifteen years later, that conviction had proven right. The brand was established, the business was running well – and I realized that my curiosity had already moved somewhere else.
The question that had driven that first chapter – how do I bring high-quality organic food to market? – was answered. The question that drives me now is bigger: how is the food of tomorrow actually made? Which raw materials will still be available in ten years? Where are billions being invested in the wrong directions right now? That’s not a question you can answer from the sidelines. So I didn’t stay on the sidelines.
Q: Creovias brings together consulting, investments, the FutureFoodTechnology project, and media – including the podcast Food Fak(t). What is the idea behind this multidimensional structure?
Stefan Fak: The future doesn’t work in one dimension – and neither does Creovias. The food system of tomorrow won’t be shaped by one company, one technology, or one approach. It will emerge from the intersection of many different players, ideas, and disciplines.
Creovias reflects that. I bring my entrepreneurial knowledge to four areas simultaneously: consulting for companies that want to move forward strategically, investments in initiatives focused on food innovation, FutureFoodTechnology as a dedicated project around future raw materials, and media – because ideas need an audience. Food Fak(t) has been my platform for that for years. Within Creovias, it becomes the media arm: a space where companies and projects shaping the food system of tomorrow can find reach and network. The common thread across all four is always the same: the food of tomorrow.
Q: FutureFoodTechnology is described as Creovias’ first concrete project. What exactly does it focus on – and why is this the right moment for it?
Stefan Fak: FutureFoodTechnology, which I’m building together with food expert Jenny Rädecke, focuses on the raw materials of tomorrow. Not in an abstract sense – but very concretely: which new raw materials are technically feasible, economically viable, and socially acceptable? Where does precision fermentation open real opportunities? Where do biotechnological production methods actually hold up under scrutiny – and where do they just sound good?
The market is complex and hard to navigate. Raw material scarcity, sustainability requirements, social standards, and regulatory frameworks are all interconnected. Companies that look at these issues in isolation make poor decisions – often expensive ones. FutureFoodTechnology helps companies find orientation in this market and identify where engagement genuinely pays off. The timing is right because the window for positioning is now. Those who wait for market signals that others are already acting on will be too late.
Q: You’ve spent decades working in the organic and specialty food space. How has the industry changed – and what does that mean for entrepreneurs entering it today?
Stefan Fak: When I started my first company, organic food was still a niche. You had to explain to retailers why premium organic products deserved shelf space – and you had to fight for that space. Today, organic is mainstream. That’s progress. But it also means the market is crowded, margins are under pressure, and the bar for what counts as genuine quality has risen.
For entrepreneurs entering today, the challenge is differentiation. Saying ‘organic’ or ‘sustainable’ isn’t enough anymore – consumers are more skeptical, and rightly so. What counts is substance: a real product, a real story, and a business model that can survive beyond the first round of funding. The companies I find most interesting are those working on genuinely new raw materials or production methods – not those repackaging what already exists with better marketing.
Q: Creovias is described as not being open to everyone – there is a value system that needs to align. What does that mean in practice?
Stefan Fak: It means I’m selective about who I work with – and I think that’s honest to say upfront. There are values that have to align: trust, ecological responsibility, ethical conduct, future orientation, and honesty – especially when honesty is uncomfortable.
In practice, it means I won’t work with companies whose business model depends on misleading consumers, cutting corners on sustainability, or chasing short-term profits at the expense of long-term viability. Economic success is the shared goal – I’m not interested in projects that can’t stand on their own commercially. But the foundation has to be solid. I call it handshake quality: you say what you mean, you do what you say, and you treat your partners the way you’d want to be treated. That sounds obvious. It’s surprisingly rare.
Q: Looking ahead – what developments in food and nutrition do you believe will define the next decade?
Stefan Fak: Three things stand out to me. First, precision fermentation and cell-based production will move from proof-of-concept to real scale – not for everything, but for specific applications where they genuinely outperform conventional methods. The ones that will win are those that solve a real problem, taste good, and reach a price point that makes sense for consumers.
Second, the raw material question will become increasingly critical. Climate change, geopolitical instability, and water scarcity will make certain supply chains unreliable in ways we haven’t fully priced in yet. Companies that start building resilience now – through diversification, local sourcing, or alternative inputs – will have a significant advantage.
Third, and this is perhaps less discussed: the role of trust will grow. Consumers have become more skeptical of food claims – and that skepticism is justified. The brands and products that will define the next decade are those that earn trust through transparency and consistency, not through marketing. The credibility gap in sustainable food is real, and closing it requires more than good intentions.
The food system of tomorrow is not a fixed destination – it is a set of decisions being made right now, by entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, and consumers. Stefan Fak and Creovias represent a model of engagement that goes beyond single-sector thinking: multidimensional, values-driven, and rooted in the kind of experience that only comes from having built something real.
As the pressure on global food systems intensifies, platforms that connect entrepreneurial experience with forward-looking questions will become increasingly important. Creovias – through consulting, investments, FutureFoodTechnology, and media – aims to be exactly that: a serious partner for those working on the right problems.
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