The rise of edible tech - the new trend in Asia….

Asia is the first nation in the world to have approved the commercialisation of lab-cultivated meat. Today, food inflation in Asia is at an all-time high, where last year more than 1.1bn people lacked access to adequate food. Extreme climate conditions are a big part of these price surges and accelerating a food security crisis which has been long in the making. For example, extreme droughts in China could trigger a regional or even a global food crisis as their agricultural system provides wheat, rice and corn for over a fifth of the world’s population.

HOW DOES EDIBLE TECH HELP?

New sustainable innovations such as lab-cultivated meat are at the forefront of ideas in order to rethink how, and what, will be used to feed the region's next billion. By 2030, Asia’s population is set to rise by 250 million people. By then, according to the UN, meat consumption is projected to increase by 18% while agricultural production is expected to only increase by 2% or less. Thus, traditional food solutions can no longer meet the world's demands. Silicon Valley foodtech unicorn “Eat Just” is selling its lab-cultivated meat in Asia and as food inflation continues to skyrocket, “Eat Just” is receiving more and more attention from investors.

Meat production is moving out of abattoirs and into laboratories. “Eat Just” expects to achieve cost parity or become even cheaper than conventional meat sources and although this will require heavy investments, there is a huge opportunity for investors to earn a very high return while also helping to solve an urgent growing problem. There is more and more emphasis on social impact when it comes to investment decisions and this is a prime example of investing in an innovative solution to a growing global problem.

According to the Boston Consulting Group, “by 2035, every tenth portion of meat, eggs and dairy eaten around the globe is very likely to be alternative. And this is a pretty conservative scenario”. Investments in FoodTech are rapidly increasing as it has the potential to not only reduce pressure on land usage and reduce water consumption but also improve the nutritional profile of products. If it succeeds, it has the potential to completely revolutionise the culture of eating.

In the next 30 years, we’d like to think that the majority of meat being consumed on the planet doesn't come at the expense of biodiversity and the planet, how about you?

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