Chr. Hansen

Saving food, naturally.

The United Nations estimates that one-third of food goes to waste. Meanwhile, consumers increasingly turn up their noses at synthetic preservatives. Danish bioscience company Chr. Hansen produces more than 30,000 strains of “good bacteria,” which it harnesses to various ends. Some of its innovations help extend food’s usable life spans, like its lactic acid cultures, which preserve yogurt shelf life by 10 days. Other microbial solutions reduce antibiotic and pesticide use in farming. One treatment has boosted sugar-cane crop yields by 10 percent. Meanwhile, studies have demonstrated the company’s probiotic supplements reduce sick days and reverse gut damage from aspirin. After 145 years of operations, Chr. Hansen has customers in 140 countries and estimates it touches 1 billion lives daily.