Food & Beverage Asia December/January 2024

MARKET INSIGHTS
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following its generally recognised as
safe (GRAS) submission. This opened
the doors for fermentation-based
dairy to be sold in the US market.
9. All roads lead to Singapore (2020):
Singapore became the first country in the
world to approve the commercial sale of
cultivated meat, allowing GOOD Meat to
sell its cultivated chicken to customers.
10. A mountain of funding (2021): Oatly’s
successful IPO set the stage for a
watershed year for the sector with
startups raising $5bn in funding. This
represented 40% of all funding that the
sector had received since inception.
The nearly 15-year journey for the industry
has been a tumultuous one, going from
initial euphoria to inflated expectations and
doubts about its feasibility, to a watershed
regulatory landmark. As we enter a new
era, here are the key factors that will
shape the industry moving forward.
MOVING FORWARD
Consumer demand
Animal agriculture is a two trillion-dollar
industry which is growing, thanks to rising
population and income levels. At its current
growth trajectory, we will not have enough
protein to feed 9.7 billion people by 2050.
Alternative proteins offer a path to bridge
the gap. Experts estimate that alternative
protein adoption is expected to follow an
S-curve, reaching between 10-70% by 2035
and growing sharply in the late 2020s and
early 2030s. A crucial point in the journey of
alternative protein adoption will arrive when
Shiru, an alternative protein ingredient
technology company, uses their AI-based
Discovery Platform, Flourish to find ingredient
solutions for formulation challenges (Image:
Shiru)
cultivated meat becomes available at a price
point that is competitive to conventional meat.
Innovation
As all three major technology stacks – plantbased,
fermentation and cultivated – go
online, there is an opportunity to create
new products that offer comparable taste
and nutrition at a competitive price point.
Until then, the industry will take a hybrid
approach, blending ingredients from the
available technology stacks to create better
products. Furthermore, a hybrid approach
is not limited to just fusing technologies;
it can extend to combining products (eg
two types of meat) to create new ones.
In addition, the industry can leverage
computational approaches using artificial
intelligence and machine learning to
accelerate innovation and create novel
products and solutions. A recent CA$10m
fund launched by Protein Industries Canada
for using AI to improve the production of
plant-based products offers a glimpse of
government support in this direction.
Regulation
Singapore offers the most advanced
regulatory pathway in the world today, with the
US not far behind. The approval of cultivated
meat in the US will accelerate regulatory
approvals in other regions. The Netherlands,
home to the world's first cultivated beef
burger, recently became
the first European country
and fourth globally to allow
cultivated meat tastings
(behind Israel). Despite
this progress, regulatory
approval in Europe may take
the longest. According to
GFI, governments across
different geographies have
contributed over $1bn
for research initiatives
in the sector, led by
Canada, Denmark, and the
Netherlands. With additional
regulatory approvals and
larger grants, alternative
proteins will enter the
same league as renewable
energy, electric vehicles,
agri-food or biotechnology.
Funding
At its peak in 2021, alternative proteins
garnered $5bn in annual funding. However,
this funding pales in comparison to its three
adjacent sectors – climate, biotechnology,
and agri-food – each of which received over
$50bn in funding the same year. Climaterelated
funding, which has increased in recent
years, offers a compelling opportunity. Global
warming is increasingly seen as the biggest
near-term threat faced by humanity. With
animal agriculture responsible for 14.5% of
total greenhouse gas emissions, it deserves
more attention. A report by BCG-Blue Horizon
found that alternative proteins represent the
most capital efficient investment opportunity
when compared to other industries such as
transport, construction, and power. Thus, there
remains an opportunity to divert climaterelated
funding to the alternative protein sector.
The recent regulatory approval for cultivated
meat may just be the right catalyst to do so.
Since the creation of the first lab-grown
burger in 2013, the industry has aspired to
not only make lab-grown meat possible, but
also available to the average consumer. The
advancement of technology will enable this
offering to become better and cheaper with
time. The alternative protein industry will
see more highlights in the future, starting
with growing meat outside the animal. The
effects from this achievement are sure to
create ripples for years to come. FBA
Impossible Foods's burger patties made using
plant-based ingredients and heme (Image:
Impossible Foods)