Creating Superfood from Waste
At Nutrilees, we transform waste into superfoods – by developing affordable and sustainable sources from plant-based byproducts of fermentation processes. We started our journey by turning wine industry waste, which causes serious environmental damage, into an upcycled, natural, gluten-free superfood loaded with proteins, dietary fibers, and antioxidants. We are now applying our technology to develop new clean-label vegan products from other sources, uniquely suitable for a wide range of industrial food applications.
Key Benefits
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Can be added to a
range of applications -
Generate nutritional
value from waste -
Flavorless and
odorless
Our philosophy
“Upcycled superfood
for a healthy body and
a healthy planet”
Our values
Guide us in everything we do
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Upcycled ingredients
Upcycled fermentation process byproducts and waste to reduce carbon footprint locally and across the global
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Sustainability
Maintaining a sustainable business model for growth and value in Israel’s exciting foodtech industry
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Healthy eating
Driving the development of natural, non-allergenic, vegan superfood products that enhance health and wellbeing
Our Story
For thousands of years, wine production waste has been causing significant ecological damage. This motivated Dr. Meir Shlisel’s wine research lab at Tel Hai Academic College Research and Food Laboratories to explore better ways to dispose of a residual byproduct from the wine production process.
They discovered this “waste” was rich in proteins, minerals and dietary fiber, and developed a superfood powder. This project inspired Yochanan Gerber, a chef with a creative passion for using raw materials in novel ways, to use this superfood powder to enhance other dishes (such as pasta, chocolate, energy products, cookies, hamburgers, snacks).
After winning an Entrepreneurship & Innovation Award and initial laboratory validation, and with the backing of the Israel Government Innovation Authority and Foodnxt, the IFF (legacy Frutarom) foodtech accelerator, Nutrilees was born with seasoned food industry entrepreneur Yaki Harel at the helm.
Investors
Nutrilees is backed by IFF’s FoodNxt Innovation Laboratory, a science-based hub accelerating the growth path of tech startups in the food, nutraceutical and functional ingredient sectors. Companies in the FoodNxt Innovation Laboratory leverage synergies from IFF’s food-based innovation expertise, core activities and global network of over 30,000 customers in 150 countries, 70 R&D labs throughout the world and more than 50 production facilities in Europe, North America, Israel and Asia. foodnxt lab was chosen by Israel’s innovation Authority to operate this program.
Our Process
Stage 01
NutriLees collects wine
residue from wineries
Stage 02
We do our "Magic"
Stage 03
Produce a tasteless powder loaded with proteins (25%), dietary fibers (50%), and minerals
Stage 04
NutriLees powder increases the nutritional value of many different food categories - without compromising the original flavor
Our Healthy Food
We started with protein bars, savory snacks, pasta, bread, pancakes, cheese and chocolate
Our Team
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Yaki Harel
CEO
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Dr. Meir Shlisel
Co-Founder, CTO
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Yochanan Gerber
Co-Founder, Chef
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Itay Katz
R&D Associate
Yaki Harel
CEO
Yaki lives and breathes startups. He has spent most of his 25+-year professional career turning great foodtech ideas into commercial successes – as both a manager and founder. Embracing the mission to use our planet’s limited resources more wisely, Yaki joined NutriLees in 2019 to introduce sustainable and upcycled food ingredients and products that meet the dynamic demands of the food industry. Prior to NutriLees, Yaki was CEO of Rafael's Healthy & Tasty Ltd. Yaki defined Rafael’s vision of “Nutritious & Tasty Food Products Should Be Accessible To All,” and executed it to gain recognition as one of the few brands in Israel that truly delivers “clean label” food products. He led Rafael’s from its founding in 2012 until its sale in 2019. Yaki began his career as an executive with the Tiv Taam supermarket chain. He is an alumnus of the Merage Institute program, promoting business between Israel and the U.S.
Dr. Meir Shlisel
Co-Founder, CTO
Meir’s natural curiosity and fascination with the intellectual challenges of finding solutions to practical problems in science, especially chemistry and microbiology, led him to a career in academia. Since 2010, he has directed laboratories at Tel Hai Academic College where he is a senior faculty member in the Department of Food Science and a wine researcher. Oenology combines his two professional passions: chemistry and microbiology. His research focuses on solutions to problems and challenges of the modern winemaker.
Yochanan Gerber
Co-Founder, Chef
Yochanan has always been fascinated by food. From the time his parents let him hold a knife, he loved to observe how people react to food and how much our food choices are affected by so many different factors. Immediately following his military service in the IDF, he studied Culinary Arts and worked as a chef in a number of restaurants. Taking a break from the restaurant world, his pursuit of a BA in social sciences at Tel Hai Academic College turned his world around. When he returned to cooking, he was no longer interested in just preparing recipes for himself and friends; he was drawn to understanding how the raw materials were made and how they interacted. A summer job in Meir’s experimental winery bought them together to form NutriLees. Yochanan is also a sought-after development chef and research assistant in the Tel Hai Department of Food Sciences, consulting on research focused on wine, dairy production and protein substitutes.
Itay Katz
R&D Associate
Itay joined NutriLees in early 2020 armed with a M.Sc. in Biotechnology from Tel Hai Academic College and a firm belief that understanding molecular cause and effect relationships in the human body is key to achieving health and overall wellbeing. Itay’s research focus is on intermittent fasting experimental models to research how microbiome-host interactions affect certain positive metabolic processes in humans. Results of his experimental model demonstrated how time-restricted feeding upregulates crucial molecular mechanism autophagy and promotes positive health benefits. Researching the development of a non-processed, plant based food source, rich in protein at NutriLees allows him to apply his professional skills in his field of interest.