Nothing suggests what is going on in a cellar at Place Arnaud-Bernard in Toulouse. Out of sight, Nicolas Auriac, 45, and Quentin Jeandel, 44, the two founders of Neopouss, and friends for many years, have set up a real indoor urban farm. In the production room, sorghum, corn, sunflower, aniseed, coriander and marigold seeds have been planted in small compostable plastic pots.
Irrigated by capillary action, these twenty or so varieties germinated in a few days, without any inputs, to give micro-foots recognized as being highly nutritious foods. And that's what caught the eye of TechTheMoon. Since the start-up has just integrated the second promotion of this lunar incubator.
For the missions, it is the possibility of having a natural food of quality, strong in flavors and rich in nutrients, with a very extended shelf life. But these fresh micro-foams are not transportable in space. Neopouss' strength is to have developed a technique: dehydration. "Through this process, we transform and concentrate these natural nutrients to keep a maximum of the plant's properties," explains Quentin Jeandel, a former aeronautical engineer. With a few grams of powders consumed daily, the body's needs in minerals and vitamins are covered, the two founders promise. "With the incubator, we will go even faster. We are going to optimize the right processes, work in network, gain in visibility", Nicolas Auriac is pleased to say.
If spatial application is an objective, it is not the only one. Because the uses of micro-pods are multiple. The start-up is targeting the health, sports, well-being and gastronomy sectors. "I've been growing microgreens for five years," says Nicolas Auriac. "And I've seen their full potential." Already, Neopouss supplies its fresh microfoams to several Toulouse restaurants: the Sales Gosses and Au Poêle de la bête. The start-up is also distributed by PomonaTerre Azur, the food wholesaler in Toulouse.
Source: www.touleco.fr.