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News from
the frontier
June 2023
Dear friends,
Exciting new speakers have been added to the AltProteins 23 line-up, and we have been busy with speaking engagements, media commentary, and even an award win for our founder Thomas King.
Australia and New Zealand have seen a number of new plant-based meat products and stockists, while internationally there have been multiple investments and partnerships focused on scaling and infrastructure.
Food Frontier updates
New speakers announced for AltProteins 23
New speakers have been added to the AltProteins 23 conference line-up, including Mauro Pisani, Category Manager for plant-based protein at Woolworths. Mauro joins an exceptional line-up of speakers announced so far from Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, China and the United States. Notable companies represented include CSIRO, Air Protein, FSANZ, Mintel Consulting, Vow, Firmenich, Change Foods and The George Institute for Global Health. Secure your ticket now.
Other updates
- Research Manager, Klara Kalocsay, will speak at The CellAg Summit on June 15 in Sydney, sharing new Food Frontier research on consumer awareness and understanding of cellular agriculture in five key
export markets in Asia: China, Singapore, Thailand, South Korea and Japan.
- Head of Industry Engagement, Susie O’Neill, spoke at FoodHack's inaugural Melbourne meetup on May 18 to share insights on the challenges and opportunities for alternative proteins in Australia.
- Money Magazine looked at the investment opportunities in plant-based alternatives, speaking to Food Frontier Founder and Chair Thomas King for insights and data on the plant-based meat market in Australia.
Founder and Chair, Thomas King, was awarded Sustainable Entrepreneur of the Year at the CommBank Young Hero Awards on May 23, acknowledging his leadership in fostering sustainable food systems change.
The team has been out supporting Australian and New Zealand plant-based meat companies at local industry events, including the Good Food & Wine Show, the Foodservice Australia show and the Naturally Good Summit.
Developments down under
v2food announced it is now B Corp Certified, joining a community of companies that meet the highest standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency.
Plant-based jerky start-up Off-Piste Provisions has launched its plant-based toppers in 84 Countdown Supermarkets across New Zealand.
Jim Fuller, Co-Founder and Mycologist at Fable Food, made an appearance on Channel 7 TV's Better Homes and Gardens, demonstrating the possibilities of mushrooms as a meat alternative.
Deli-Licious, a plant-based deli meat brand from parent company Monde Nissin, has introduced a new line of deli products across Coles Supermarkets.
Fenn Foods rolled out its new high protein ‘whole-cut’ range in Woolworths Supermarkets nationwide, featuring plant based brisket, steak and roasts.
Sustainable Foods, parent company of plant-based meat brand plan*t, have launched a national collaboration with BurgerFuel in New Zealand to create the Chick*n Little burger.
- Boldly, an Australian plant-based seafood start-up, is expanding into the US foodservice industry by debuting its complete range of plant-based seafood, featuring konjac as the main ingredient.
Global developments
US precision fermentation company Air Protein and Archer Daniels Midland have formed a strategic partnership to develop and commercialise alt proteins. Air Protein founder Lisa Dyson will be speaking at the upcoming AltProteins 23 conference.
Dutch start-up Meatable has significantly reduced the production time for cultivated pork from three weeks to eight days, while currently aiming to scale up from 50-liter to 500-liter bioreactors.
Japanese dairy giant Megmilk and Singapore-based Agrocorp will invest US$21M in a new joint venture to build a protein extraction facility in Malaysia, to produce pea protein, pea starch and pea fibre for various plant-based consumer products.
- Israeli bioproduction platform company Enzymit and food technology company Aleph Farms, have collaborated to develop insulin substituents, which can significantly reduce the cost and development time of producing cultivated meat at scale.
- Lever VC has published the Cultivated Meat Scientific Benchmarks white paper to increase investor confidence and transparency in the cultivated meat sector.
- Big Idea Ventures (BIV) has announced the first close of its New Protein Fund II (NPF II), with the aim to secure the targeted US$75 million within the next year, attracting investments from AAK and Bühler among others.
- Israeli cultivated meat company Steakholder Foods plans to fully commercialise its first 3D printers for cultivated meat next year alongside complementary products and services as it seeks to reach cost parity by 2028.
Who's hiring?
The employment opportunities continue to grow in the alternative proteins sector across Australia and New Zealand - check out the roles from:
Please share with your networks in case you know anyone suitable for these roles.
Why alternative proteins?
According to a systematic review from the University of Warwick, regularly swapping out animal meat with plant-based alternatives can lower total cholesterol levels and LDL-cholesterol (often called 'bad' cholesterol); and over a two-year period, can reduce the risk of developing heart disease by a quarter.
The first of its kind systematic review analysed the effect of plant-based meat consumption on total cholesterol, triglycerides, fasting blood glucose, blood pressure, and weight; and included studies focused on plant-based meats made from plant proteins and mycoproteins.
The researchers concluded that the findings suggest consumers may be able to acquire cardioprotective benefits of plant-based diets by regularly eating plant-based meats that better align with their existing food preferences and habits.
Want to discover more of the latest on alternative proteins? Visit our News page and follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram.
– The Food Frontier Team
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