Mars Petcare accelerates shift to sustainable pet food ingredients with 2026 cohort selection

Mars Petcare and Big Idea Ventures have selected three startups, EcoBean, Loopworm, and Space Ark Biomedical, for their 2026 Next Generation Pet Food Programme, highlighting a move towards scalable, low-impact ingredient innovations beyond traditional plant proteins, with a focus on Asia-Pacific markets.

Mars Petcare and Big Idea Ventures have chosen three startups for the 2026 Next Generation Pet Food Programme, signalling that the race to source lower-impact pet food ingredients is moving from concept to commercial readiness. The cohort’s mix of coffee waste, insect biotechnology and fermentation-based side-stream upcycling underlines how ingredient innovation is broadening beyond conventional plant proteins. For pet food manufacturers and their suppliers, the question is no longer whether alternatives exist, but which can scale reliably into industrial supply chains.

The three selected ventures are EcoBean of Poland, Loopworm of India and Space Ark Biomedical of Taiwan. EcoBean converts spent coffee grounds into higher-value inputs for cosmetics, food and pet uses; Loopworm produces protein and fat ingredients from silkworms; and Space Ark Biomedical turns okara and brewer’s spent grain into functional proteins using enzymes and precision fermentation.

According to Mars, the programme drew 83 applications from 33 countries, with almost half from Asia-Pacific, reflecting a deliberate shift towards the region. The company said the pipeline was assessed on innovation, scalability, sustainability benefits and commercial potential, with applicants facing tougher criteria than in previous years.

The cohort will receive technical support, access to research facilities and $15,000 each. The finalists will pitch at the Asia-Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Summit in Singapore in October, where investors and industry leaders will judge whether these ingredients can move from promising narratives to dependable supply.