Bananas, heritage and health: The story behind Sobanana’s upcycling mission

Portuguese-Ukrainian start-up Sobanana by Bananagerie upcycles surplus bananas and banana byproducts through a fermentation process into nutrient-rich foods, including fermented banana beverages and banana flower teas.

This “science-driven yet sensory-first” initiative, based in Madeira, seeks partners to help maximize its impact in addressing food waste and nutritional deficiencies globally. Sobanana is particularly interested in partners with expertise in food-tech engineering, modular systems manufacturing, and IoT capabilities.

Food Ingredients First sits down with Volodymyr Ipatov, the start-up’s CEO and founder, to understand the technology powering this operation and why it’s worth investing in. We also explore how cultural storytelling and taste experiences are essential to the business.

How does Sobanana’s fermentation process transform surplus bananas into functional foods, and what makes your approach different from other upcycling solutions?
Ipatov: We apply closed-loop banana fermentation based on native microbiota, without external additives or enzymatic aids — a rare approach even among upcycling innovations. The process is currently under patent review in Portugal. Our fermentation process represents a unique convergence of traditional Ukrainian fermentation wisdom and the untapped potential of Madeira’s banana ecosystem.

We employ time-tested lacto-fermentation principles — similar to those used in traditional sauerkraut and cottage cheese production — but exclusively utilizing microorganisms sourced from the banana plant ecosystem itself.

Volodymyr Ipatov, CEO and founder at Sobanana.What truly sets Sobanana apart is our unwavering commitment to our brand promise: “Sobanana and nothing but banana.” This isn’t just marketing — it’s our declaration of product purity. Unlike other upcycling solutions that often require external additives, enzymes, or processing aids, we work exclusively with what the banana plant provides: the fruit, the blossom, the microorganisms from its ecosystem, and traditional fermentation time.

This mono-product concept ensures complete traceability and eliminates the complexity of multi-ingredient supply chains, while our Ukrainian heritage brings a deep understanding of fermentation as both science and craft — something often lost in purely industrial approaches.

Can you share examples of how your approach reduces waste and benefits local communities in Madeira?
Ipatov: Sobanana’s circular model intervenes at both ends of the banana value chain — rescuing rejected green bananas at production and capturing overripe bananas at retail. This approach repositions banana biomass not as waste, but as nutrient-dense input for microbial transformation.

On the production side, we work with sorting stations to rescue green bananas rejected from export due to cosmetic standards — often perfectly nutritious fruit discarded simply for being 1–2 pieces short of a hand or having minor visual imperfections. On the retail side, we collect overripe bananas — those “yellow with brown spots” that consumers typically avoid but are actually at peak nutritional value.

We also utilize banana flowers, an often-overlooked byproduct of cultivation. Every component — pulp, peel, flowers — undergoes our fermentation process to create our three product lines: fermented beverages, snacks, and herbal teas. Even our process water and organic residues are transformed into biofermented fertilizers, creating a truly zero-waste cycle.

What plans do you have to expand the business internationally?
Ipatov: While we’re currently focused on Madeira as our proof-of-concept, our vision extends globally. Banana farmers worldwide deserve compensation for crops that traditionally end up in landfills or basic composting. Our biofermented fertilizers represent a particularly exciting opportunity — returning concentrated nutrients that bananas have evolved to develop for their own growth and protection back to the soil, creating a regenerative loop that strengthens the entire ecosystem.

This isn’t just waste reduction — it’s value creation at every level: economic benefits for farmers, risk mitigation for retailers, and environmental restoration through our bio-based fertilizers.

How do you balance tech innovation with the cultural storytelling and taste experiences for consumer appeal?
Ipatov: Effective food innovation must respect tradition and connect scientific processes with sensory, emotional, and cultural meaning. Sobanana’s products are designed for real-world use, not for lab display, and we develop them to fit into people’s daily lives and rituals.

“Science-driven yet sensory-first” reflects our fundamental belief that innovation should emerge from tradition, not replace it. Our technology could theoretically have been implemented 500 years ago — we’ve simply filled a gap that existed because there was no historical need to preserve bananas where they’re available fresh year-round.Ukrainian fermentation meets Madeira’s banana ecosystem for zero-waste, flavorful nutrition.

My 25 years in infant nutrition retail taught me how to sensitively discuss digestive health with parents concerned about their children’s well-being. Adults face the same challenges — often more severe — but we’ve normalized not talking about them. 

Our storytelling begins with a provocative social media paradox: we showcase our inputs but never our outputs. This uncomfortable truth opens conversations about the silent health crisis affecting urban populations on Western diets, who consume less than 50% of the recommended daily fiber intake. We don’t just talk about our products — we talk about people’s relationship with their bodies. 

Our fermented banana beverages and banana flower teas serve as elegant wine alternatives for those who’ve chosen sobriety, and as healing morning rituals for those who haven’t. This dual positioning allows us to meet people wherever they are in their wellness journey, speaking to their actual needs rather than idealized versions of themselves.

Taste remains central because even the most nutritionally conscious consumers won’t repeatedly purchase products that don’t deliver sensory pleasure. Over 100 fermentation experiments have identified the optimal intersection where maximal nutritional benefit meets genuine taste satisfaction. 

Our Ukrainian fermentation heritage taught us that the best functional foods don’t taste “healthy” — they taste delicious first, and the health benefits follow naturally.

What kinds of expertise would be most valuable in accelerating Sobanana’s scale-up and market entry?
Ipatov: We consider Sobanana a strong candidate for EU innovation funding, particularly in the context of the EU Green Deal, Farm to Fork Strategy, and Horizon Europe’s sustainability objectives. Rather than venture capital, we intentionally pursue grant-backed growth to preserve our family-company ethos and long-term independence.

Our partnership needs center on two critical tracks that will determine our scaling success:

Regulatory validation expertise: Novel Food compliance in Europe and FDA pathways in the US represent complex, high-stakes territories where precision is non-negotiable. We need partners with deep regulatory science experience who can navigate these frameworks while preserving our product integrity and mono-ingredient philosophy.

Engineering development and integration: Our “Bananagerie Box” concept represents fully automated, modular production units that can be deployed locally wherever banana waste exists. We need partners who understand both fermentation engineering and IoT integration and can build scalable manufacturing solutions that support our exponential growth vision under the “Sobanana by Bananagerie” franchise model.

Sobanana is seeking partners to launch modular “Bananagerie” hubs worldwide.These aren’t just service providers — we’re looking for true co-development partners who share our vision of democratizing banana upcycling technology globally.

What is your long-term vision for Sobanana, and how do you see fermented banana biomass shaping the future of sustainable food production?
Ipatov: We envision a global network of decentralized fermentation hubs — “Bananageries” — converting banana waste into shelf-stable, microbiome-supportive food. Our model aims to double the number of locations annually, with 1,000 “Bananageries” in our 10-year roadmap.

Our localization strategy targets urban agglomerations of 400,000+ residents within a 10–15 km radius. Our calculations show this demographic provides sufficient raw material flow and supports 160–180 daily subscribers receiving complete Sobanana nutrition packages. For approximately €7 daily (US$8), subscribers get their full RDI of fiber, resistant starch, and essential minerals — potassium, calcium, and sodium — all from fermented banana biomass.

We deliberately avoid competing in the supplements market. Rather than making functional claims, we let our nutritional data speak to informed consumers. This positions fermented banana biomass as whole food nutrition rather than isolated compounds — a critical distinction in sustainable food system development.

Globally, fermented banana biomass addresses two converging crises: the 40% global food waste epidemic and the fiber deficiency affecting urban populations worldwide. 

Our technology transforms what agriculture discards into what human nutrition desperately needs. This isn’t just business scaling — it’s demonstrating how local circular food systems can regenerate both environmental and human health simultaneously. The future we envision has “Bananageries” embedded in food systems globally, turning agricultural waste streams into community nutrition hubs while supporting farmer income diversification.