Katharina Unger is founder and CEO of LIVIN farms and has significantly shaped the growing waste-to-protein industry since its inception in 2012, converting organic by-products to insect proteins. She is a pioneer in the field of insect farming. Over the course of more than 10 years, she has worked on innovative technologies for alternative food and feed production in Europe, the US, Africa and Asia. Her entrepreneurial journey started in Hongkong during an internship in Industrial Design. Her vision: Feeding the world while saving the planet. Today, LIVIN farms empowers food companies to upcycle their low-value food waste into high-value insect products.
Through the Erasmus Young Entrepreneur program, a partnership between Katharina and Michail Papamargaritis was established to facilitate the exchange of knowledge regarding the production, biological, and commercial aspects of utilizing insects as animal feed. Michael Papamargaritis from Greece is a Biologist with experience in molecular biology and genetics research and more importantly, in that of insects of agricultural interest.
Michail started with familiarizing himself with the company environment and studying the details of the LIVIN farms’ production methods. He learned about the various feed types that LIVIN farms works with, conducted analyses on samples of industrial food waste to determine their suitability as insect feed, and gained a comprehensive understanding of the processes involved in converting food waste into viable feed for insects. Katharina shared her knowledge on insect’s life cycle and the setup of its rearing process. Moreover, Michail had the chance to observe and utilize the related machinery. Through the interactions with Katharina, Michail gained insights into the sales and financial aspects of the business, including the impact of different feed types on the resulting end products. Fortunately, he had the chance to be involved with the company in a circumstance in which, as a startup, it was during the pivotal moment of scaling up and undergoing expansion. Finally, he had the opportunity to immerse himself in a multinational workplace environment, where he learned to cooperate and interact with people who spoke different languages than his mother tongue and to observe different and novel work methodologies.
“The exchange program with Michail proved super beneficial for me and LIVIN farms as he also added a significant amount of value with his inputs. His external perspective served as a precious asset, bringing new insights to our team”, says Katharina.
"Through Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs, I've had an amazing experience collaborating with Katharina. I'm thankful for all the valuable lessons Katharina and the LIVIN Farms team taught me during our time together. Their guidance has been crucial in shaping my entrepreneurial journey. As I move ahead, I feel more ready to bring my ideas to life with confidence", says Michail.
