Food & Beverage Asia Jun/July 2021

MARKET INSIGHTS 13
The rapid growth of plantbased
proteins in Asia
According to AgFunder’s ASEAN
Agrifoodtech Investment Report 2020,
one of the world’s most active foodtech
and agtech venture capitals, a total of
US$423 million was invested into South
East Asian agrifoodtech startups in
2019, across 99 deals. This means that
the region’s ecosystem has yet to reach
the maturity of markets such as North
America, Europe, and China; the majority
of dealmaking activity took place at seed
stage.
ADM recently opened a plant-based innovation lab in
Singapore to showcase their commitment to localising
plant-based solutions to meet the nutritional
challenges of changing taste and preference in Asia
and around the world. Sarah Lim, marketing director
of South East Asia at ADM (Archer Daniels Midland)
Human Nutrition, shares how ADM continues to
provide more extensive solutions to the growing
appetite of plant-based proteins in Asia.
In fact, in 2019, there were 63
agrifoodtech seed fundings in the region,
raising a total of US$39 million.
Sarah Lim, marketing director of South
East Asia at ADM (Archer Daniels Midland)
Human Nutrition (a global leader in
human and animal nutrition and the
world's premier agricultural origination
and processing company), shared: “The
plant-based market in APAC is expected
to surge by 200% by 2025 1 , as more
consumers have a heightened awareness
of health and are looking for a diversity of
products that prioritise taste, texture and
nutrition. As such, people have become
more health conscious and are looking for
more options to better understand how
food impacts their overall health.
“This is exciting as not only is it growing,
but plant-based options have grown
“beyond the bun”, which includes
more alternatives including seafoods
like shellfish and shrimp, plant-based
cheeses, ready-to-eat protein snacks and
more, as consumer demand continues to
grow.”
Sarah Lim, marketing director of South East
Asia at ADM Human Nutrition
THE RISE IN FLEXITARIANISM
With the rise of flexitarianism, plantbased
alternatives have seen tremendous
growth. This is significantly apparent
when looking at the current market size
as well as at the variety of products
available in the supermarkets. Even largescale
global food service providers have
plant-based options on their menus now,
which a few years ago was unthinkable.
Darren Streiler, managing director of ADM
Ventures
“It is clear that taste, texture and overall
experience are, as always, very important,
but this is amplified when we are catering
to the flexitarian consumer. Recent
studies completed by ADM have shown
that flexitarians expect the same eating
experience from plant-based products
as they would get from their animal
protein equivalents. This raises the bar
for product developers who now not
FOOD & BEVERAGE ASIA JUNE / JULY 2021