Ep. 119 – Using Emerging Technology to Reinvent Tyson with Tom Mastrobuoni, CFO at Tyson Ventures

I’m sure you’ve heard a lot about Tyson Foods investing in a lot of cutting edge companies. Beyond Meat, Memphis Meats, and Tovala to name a few.

I wanted to get to the bottom of this, so I asked Tom Mastrobuoni to talk about the reasons why Tyson is putting a stake into these companies.

His answer surprised me. To get ahead and be truly innovative, Tyson knows that it has to be invested in these up and coming companies.

I learned the complexities of why it’s a win-win situation for companies to partner with Tyson. For one, Tyson has a vast array of resources to help any food company out. The new food companies just have to innovative.

One of the most valuable things in the interview is talking with Tom about the newest trends. Because Tom is at the cutting edge of the industry, I asked for his opinion on plant-based foods, clean meat, artificial intelligence, and blockchain, among others.

If you want to know the hottest and most game changing food technologies, this is the episode you should listen to. I hope it inspires you to think big!

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Show Notes

Michael Wolfe, The Spoon
Fancy Food Show
Do you have any airplane tips?: Nope! The aisle seat is better than middle sitting
When someone asks what you do for a living, what do you do?: We run the venture arm of Tyson foods and we’re reinventing Tyson Foods
What caused this?: We saw a shift in consumer demands and we needed to keep up.
Tyson is 80 years old
We’re a 2500 team with 100 location
We not only do meat, but preprared foods
2^nd largest producer of tortillas
Tyson Ventures, a subsidiary: Focus on two things, sustainability and the internet of food
Reese Schroder: Expert at Corporate Venturing
Justin Whitmore: Executive VP of corporate strategy
Chief Financial Officer: What does that mean? Well, technically, I’ve extended the role. I’m CFO+ now. Even though I still have to do financials, I love to work closely and source new ideas.
Was being a CFO+ a requirement or a passion?: A passion. You have to work with people and connect with people, and understand their story.
What is the misconception you like to dispel about Tyson?: If we invest in a company, that doesn’t mean we’re shifting completely to this. Tyson is big, we need to think how to handle disruption, so we look down the road in 5 to 10 years. We’re not shifting, we’re exploring
In a theory point of view, investing in “competitors” is easy, executing it is super hard. The top leadership must be on board.
Corporate Venture can be a force multiplier
Tyson petfood
Tyson tannery business (leather)
When we approach a company, we don’t want to acquire it, but we want to be around it
Describe the Steps to get to where you are today: Villanova University in Public Accounting
Worked in New York around the big accounting firms, ended up creating own firm
Opportunity for Tyson came up, everyone eats and I’m having a lot of fun.
Tyson isn’t about making a profit or sucking up IP, we want to add value to companies and we have the resources
How do you get to Tom’s level?: Do deals. Get a degree in accounting or financing. If you audit them, you can do it
How did you apply for the job?: I applied for this job at an online job board
Advanced Venture Partners
Augusta Columbia Capital
Good reputations are hard earned, they give the bad ones for free
How do you find your deals?: Mainly our two pillars. Sustainability: Either alternative proteins or food waste fits in these pillars. Internet of Food: Disruptive marketing techniques, factory monitoring, enhancement of sustainability
Perfect Day
Tovalo
Foodbytes
How do you pitch an idea?: We find them, and they find us. But, we also look for competitors in that space and see who disrupts them.
How to find competitors: Pitchbook, google, etc. We find competitors who are doing things more quietly, more thoughtfully, etc.
How does interacting a deal work?: We usually email you with info about Tyson Ventures. 98% of the time, the company is super excited. We then have a 60-90 minute interview with a Subject Matter Expert at Tyson to grill the company. The results can range from pilot to non-investment collaborations. We want to add value to day one.
Tyson is doing this so intimately because Tyson is a people business. We invest in the network. We make those warm introductions for them and it builds the network.
Why Does Your Food job Rock?: Global Corporate Summit in California, my boss said I have a really cool job. I have the opportunity to change Tyson and I’m empowered to do so
What is the most prominent or popular place for food companies?
There are so many emerging ecosystems
1871
Plug and Play
Chicagoland Food and Beverage
The Hatchery, Chicago
There’s so many and we don’t have the time to go to them
Tyson Innovation Lab

Let’s talk trends and technologies

Plant Based Meat: On the board for Beyond Meat. Because they are targeting a bigger target market, and they have crisp distributions, this made sense. This is proof that this is not going away any time soon
Clean Meat: Commercilization is up for grabs, I predict that once someone gets ahead, they will buy up their competitors. Really interesting space, we’d love to talk to people and give them resources.
Poultry Science at the University of Arkansas. Though a long way away, we still need to know how to market it. We think food deserts and emerging nations would be the best avenue
Complex=Expensive
Internet of Things (for Food): Tovala, for example. Direct to Consumer is not a familiar angle for us. In Michael Wolfe’s podcast, you mentioned that you can get data from consumers really fast. Data is king for a consumer product. It’s changed so fast. Before, I had to write a letter to an airline. Now I can send an email and get my rewards points 30 seconds later. By investing in Tovala, we can get so much data on what they like and what didn’t they like.
Uber is like hitchhiking on your phone.
Tovala has their own forum where they can troubleshoot and innovate.
We brought Tovala and Beyond Meat to our R+D Lab and asked how we can partner up.
Blockchain: We have had meetings on blockchain to have more meetings about blockchain. We’ve announced IBM and Walmart partnerships. Most blockchain companies are hyper-focused
SOX Compliance
Someone has to be the certifying body for blockchain
Artificial Intelligence, AR, VR: Safety AR VR might help with making the factory more safer
We are looking into robotics and exoskeletons. Also market research is important.
Upward Academy
In all aspects, AI, AR, VR best in safety for the workers.
Food Desserts: We’re working on making food cheaper and more affordable. The challenge is that doing this is a triple bottom line issue with profits. We want more community leaders to tell us how we can help. This is important.
Do you have any advice for anyone to tackle something big?: Have the passion for it. Any time you do something big, it’ll be hard. Understand their perspective, why they’ll say no, and get them to yes.
Books: Good to Great
Where can we find you?: LinkedIn. Please make your profile open. I’m on twitter. Google Tyson Ventures that you can submit a form.