BeLeaf Be The Future: Become a partner of Philip Morris Group

Deadline Date: February 19, 2025

Donor Name: Philip Morris Italia

Grant Size: $1000 to $10,000

Are you are an innovative enterprise active in the agritech sector? Have you developed technologies applicable to this field? If yes, then this call is for you!

This program aims at promoting the integration of advanced technologies and solutions within the Philip Morris group.

Following an initial phase of scouting and selecting the most relevant solutions, the chosen innovation partners will have the opportunity to participate in a co-design phase to design, working closely with the Philip Morris Italia team, the best possible configuration of the proposed solution and align it with the company’s specific needs and processes. At the end of this phase, Philip Morris may decide, based on the results achieved, to fund a Proof of Concept.

Objectives 

• Accelerate the adoption of cutting-edge technologies and solutions in the agricultural sector and tobacco supply chain, by testing new technologies in collaboration with Philip Morris Italia.

Challenges

• Challenge 1: Predictive Agriculture
  • They are looking for solutions and technologies to analyze, interpret, and leverage data to address the complex challenges of modern agriculture in tobacco cultivation. They are looking for technologies capable of:
    • Using historical and real-time data to improve the understanding of crop dynamics.
    • Providing predictive models for fast and targeted decision-making.
    • Supporting farmers and the supply chain in optimizing resources and reducing waste.
• Challenge 2: Curing, Processing and Storage
  • They are looking for solutions and technologies to address key aspects of the tobacco supply chain:
    • Reducing CO2 emissions during tobacco curing: Technologies or systems to improve energy efficiency, integrate renewable energy, innovate drying and curing methods, or apply advanced material to minimize the carbon footprint.
    • Green alternatives to tobacco fumigation in storage: Sustainable solutions for pest control that eliminate the use of fumigants while ensuring tobacco quality and safety during storage.
    • Sustainable and multifunctional packaging: Alternative packaging solutions to cardboard that are reusable and designed with a circular economy approach. Proposals should include additional functionalities, such as pest management support, while ensuring the quality of the transported product.
• Challenge 3: Innovation in Harvesting and Processing
  • The sought solutions focus on two key aspects of the tobacco supply chain:
    • Innovative machines for harvesting high-density tobacco plantations
      • Development of machinery capable of harvesting tobacco varieties characterized by:
        • Significant heights and vegetative mass.
        • Adaptation to high-density planting patterns.
        • Preserving leaf quality while ensuring economic sustainability for farmers.
    • Technologies for cleaning tobacco during processing
      • Solutions that efficiently and cost-effectively remove foreign substances (organic and non-metallic inorganic) from tobacco during processing, while ensuring the quality of the finished product.
• Challenge 4: Beyond Tobacco
  • They are seeking disruptive solutions and technologies that combine PM Italia’s expertise in tobacco processing with innovative technologies or business models. The goal is to create new complementary commercial avenues, leveraging the potential of tobacco and other crops for unexplored applications.
• Challenge 5: Optimising the Production of Reconstituted Tobacco Sheets
  • They are looking for solutions that can reduce the viscosity loss in the tobacco cast leaf slurry production. The viscosity in fact is reduced to a level which sheet cannot be formed (strength is very low).
  • One of the main hypotheses attributes this viscosity reduction to the activity of the enzyme Endo-ß-mannanase, naturally present in tobacco.
  • Their objective is to find potential alternative treatment to reduce the viscosity drop during slurry preparation of reconstitute tobacco operation and potential action on the agricultural practices to reduce enzyme formation.

Funding Information

• The selected innovation partners will receive a recognition of €5,000.00 for participation in the co-design phase.

Target Audience 

• Innovative companies, both Italian and foreign, developing solutions and technologies applicable to the Philip Morris context and the tobacco supply chain.

Eligibility Criteria

• Looking for companies:
  • in Agribusiness, Energy Efficiency, Sustainable Agriculture, Waste Reduction, Carbon Reduction, Recycling, Agricultural Waste Management, Quality Monitoring, Food Robotics, Robotics Hardware, AgriTech, Agri Fintech, Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), Tobacco Product, Robotic Process Automation (RPA), AI Infrastructure, Circular Economy, Regenerative Agriculture, Agricultural Biotechnology
  • located in Africa, Asia, Australia/NZ, Eastern Europe, Europe, Middle East, North America, South America
  • incorporated
  • prototype, users or paying users stage
  • have raised funding or not
  • currently raising or not raising funds
  • have revenue or not

For more information, visit Philip Morris Italia.