AgriFoodX — The Science Behind Valorise

AgriFoodX Ltd is a UK-based life science company founded by the same team behind Valorise. AgriFoodX specialises in biorefining agri-food by-products into high-value outputs through its two core technology platforms:

This R&D capability is what makes Valorise fundamentally different from other waste exchange platforms. When a food processor lists their carrot pomace, apple pressing residue, or brewers' spent grain on Valorise, we don't just match it with the nearest anaerobic digester — we assess what bioactives, fibres and functional compounds it contains, and identify the highest-value application pathway.

Research Track Record

AgriFoodX has an active portfolio of publicly-funded R&D projects in collaboration with leading UK universities and industry partners:

Academic Partners

AgriFoodX maintains active research collaborations with the Universities of Sheffield, Leeds, Manchester, Brunel and Newcastle, working across areas including enzyme-assisted extraction, fermentation, microencapsulation, nanocellulose processing and bioactive characterisation.

Industry Relationships

AgriFoodX works with food processing companies including Cranswick plc and Wealmoor Limited as sources of by-product feedstocks and as partners in applied R&D. These relationships provide the practical, industrial-scale understanding that informs Valorise's marketplace recommendations.

Why This Matters for You

When you use Valorise, you're accessing more than a listings board. You're tapping into a knowledge base that includes:

• Compositional understanding — we know what agri-food by-products contain at a molecular level, because we work with them in the lab every day.
• Application knowledge — we understand which industries use these materials, what specifications they need, and what processing steps are required.
• Regulatory expertise — we navigate the boundaries between waste and by-product classification, food safety requirements, and environmental compliance.
• Network access — our academic and industry partnerships provide routes to R&D collaboration, funding opportunities, and technical problem-solving.

The Team

Prof Graham Bonwick

Director / Co-Founder

Graham has over 35 years applied science expertise encompassing food safety, environmental quality, exploitation of agri-food by-products and packaging technology. Formerly a Lead Scientist at FERA Science Ltd with a joint appointment at Newcastle University, he continues to contribute to taught programmes at several universities in food science, nutrition, dietetics and chemical engineering.

Dr Catherine Birch

Director / Co-Founder

Catherine has broad expertise in innovation support, new product development and management of projects and industrial networks for biotechnology and food SMEs. Formerly a Senior Research Fellow at Newcastle University and project manager at FERA Science Ltd. She is a Series Editor for the Royal Society of Chemistry and referee for the International Journal of Food Science & Technology.