4.8 • 186 Ratings
🗓️ 12 November 2025
⏱️ 47 minutes
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What actually happens inside a fermentation tank? Nicolai Tangen sits down with Ester Baiget, CEO of Novonesis, to explore the science and business behind enzymes. The company uses fermentation to create natural alternatives to chemicals found in the food we eat and products we use. From yogurt to bread to laundry detergent, Novonesis solutions are already in things you use every day. They discuss why European regulations slow down innovation, how the company finds the right microbes and enzymes for each customer need, and what makes employees so passionate about the mission. Ester also shares her leadership philosophy and what drives her as a leader. Tune in for an insightful conversation!
In Good Company is hosted by Nicolai Tangen, CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management. New full episodes every Wednesday, and don't miss our Highlight episodes every Friday.
The production team for this episode includes Isabelle Karlsson and PLAN-B's Niklas Figenschau Johansen, Sebastian Langvik-Hansen and Pål Huuse. Background research was conducted by Isabelle Karlsson.
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| 0:00.0 | Hi everyone, I'm Nicola Tangian, the CEO of the Norwegian Soban Wealth Fund, and today I'm here in a really good company with Esther Baygett, president and CEO of Novo Nes, which is one of my absolute favorite companies. |
| 0:13.7 | Esther is leading the transformation to biosolutions and which basically replaces chemicals with nature-based alternatives. |
| 0:21.6 | And you'll have it in everything you eat, bread, |
| 0:25.3 | to the stuff you use to clean your clothes. |
| 0:28.7 | And basically, Novanesis is part of very many things in your life. |
| 0:34.0 | We own 2.5% of Novenesis, which is more than $700 million. And we are just super excited to |
| 0:40.4 | have you here, Esther. Thank you very much. I'm delighted to be here, Nikolai. |
| 0:56.4 | So let's just start with the basics. |
| 0:57.4 | What do you do? |
| 0:59.4 | What do we do in Nobonesces? |
| 1:04.7 | I mean, you actually made a beautiful description of whom we are, Nikolai. |
| 1:06.8 | We are the leading biosolutions company. |
| 1:13.6 | We silently touch with our enzymes, with our microbes, more than 2 billion people every day, enabling a healthier life, enabling a healthier planet, enabling solutions that drive value for our customers, |
| 1:20.6 | transforming the way that they produce and the foods that we eat. |
| 1:23.6 | But I mean, biosolution, what is it? |
| 1:25.6 | Exactly. |
| 1:26.6 | And what is an enzyme? An enzyme is a protein |
| 1:30.2 | that acts as a catalyst and makes things happen in life. You make enzymes. I make enzymes. |
| 1:37.3 | Exist in nature. They're developed by nature. What we do in Nobonesis is we bring them up to scale |
| 1:43.0 | in a professional way. |
| 1:44.6 | We help nature to be better. |
| 1:46.6 | Through bioengineering, through very high advanced analytics, to strain more than 100,000 |
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