Advance, Accelerate, Access: Singapore, the innovation hub gateway to feeding Asia and the world

Why is it important and timely to think about Asia as interest in alternative proteins grows?

It is indeed an opportune time to think about Asia. As the fastest growing region, Asia’s population will be 250 million larger by 2030. Total spending on food will double from US$4 trillion (S$5.4 trillion) in 2019 to over US$8 trillion (S$10.8 trillion) by 2030. These numbers imply a total annual investment requirement of US$290 billion (S$391 billion) in 2030 which will unlock market growth of around 7 per cent per year.

Asia is also urbanising faster than any other region and by 2030, 65 per cent of the world’s middle-class population will reside in Asia. Consumer preferences are therefore shifting. The growing middle class and its rising purchasing power will drive up consumption and demand for high-value animal protein. As consumers look for more nutritious and tastier food options, there will be shifts from carbohydrate-reliant to protein-heavy diets.

That is an opportunity the alternative protein industry can help address, and we are already observing global players expand into Asia to cater to the demand.

• Beyond Meat has decided to establish its manufacturing facility in China.
  
• Eat Just, Inc is establishing its largest protein isolate facility globally in Singapore.
  
• Oatly has formed a partnership with Yeo Hiap Seng to build a manufacturing facility in Singapore.
  

Closer to home, our innovative local startups are also rising to the global stage:

• Shiok Meats has raised more than US$30 million (S$40.5 million) to date, and will build an R&D production facility in Singapore with plans to launch its product by 2023.
• Next Gen Foods has also raised US$30 million to date, and will plan to bring its plant-based chicken alternative (TiNDLE) to the US.
  
• TurtleTree Labs, the world’s first cell-based milk company, recently raised US$80M Series A round and is expanding its R&D operations into Davis, California.
  
• Sustenir has launched indoor vertical farms in Hong Kong and Malaysia, on top of scaling up its farm in Singapore
  
  

Asia is such a diverse region. What are some key challenges you foresee hindering the ability to meet such a demand growth?

There are several key challenges that need to be addressed. For starters, there is a lack of infrastructure investments and clear policy frameworks to support the introduction of new technologies across the food and agricultural ecosystems. Asia’s diversity of countries, in terms of differences in regulatory systems, levels of economic development and culture, currencies and dietary preferences, fragmented production and supply chains, also make it difficult for a single standard solution to work.

In that regard, innovations and marketing strategies require customisation to meet the unique needs of Asia. For example, Asians have been eating vegetarian products for some time through different forms. As a result, different marketing and product strategies will likely be required to raise the awareness on the differentiation and benefits of alternative proteins.

There has been a lot of media coverage on Singapore gradually becoming the leading hub for Agri-Food technology and innovation. Why is this so?

As a resource-constrained urban city-state, global concerns on food resilience are more critical for us. However, advancements in technology are rapidly changing the resources required to increase production efficiency – we can now hope to produce more with less. In that regard, we announced our “30 by 30” vision, whereby we aim to have 30 per cent of Singapore’s nutritional needs be produced locally by 2030, up from less than 10 per cent today.

To fulfil this vision, various government agencies are working closely together to ensure Singapore has the right infrastructure and technology in place, while also creating a conducive economic environment that supports innovators and enterprises. I believe it is Singapore’s openness and the fundamental ease of doing business here that have led many companies to choose Singapore as their launchpad.

What is EDB’s role in supporting this vision? How would you describe Singapore’s strategy and approach for the Agri-Food industry?

EDB partners with innovators all over the world to grow Singapore’s emerging ecosystem for the R&D and commercialisation of Agri-Food technologies, such as Alternative Proteins, Aquaculture and Urban Agriculture. This contributes not only to Singapore’s goal in food security, it also helps us stay ahead of the curve in understanding novel technologies to build a healthy and resilient food system. 

Together with industry partners, Singapore’s strategy can be described as the three ‘As” of Agri-Food – Advance, Accelerate, and Access.

Under Advance, we seek to support companies by partnering with them on research and innovation capabilities. In 2019, Singapore announced the setup of the Singapore Institute of Food and Biotechnology Innovation (SIFBI) at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR). Through driving innovation in novel foods and ingredients, the aim is to boost local produce capabilities, and satisfy global demand for safer, healthier and more sustainable food.

Examples of recent industry R&D collaborations include:

• Perfect Day which established a joint bioanalytics R&D lab with A*STAR
  
• &ever - which in addition to setting up a fully automated indoor farm producing 500 tons of fresh produce annually - will also set up its Global R&D Centre and work with A*STAR and local academic institutes on areas such as hybrid lighting systems for controlled indoor environments.
  

Secondly, as a young but fast-growing sector globally with many startups leading the new innovations and products, Singapore seeks to help these innovators Accelerate their efforts by building the right environment to get started, pilot new innovations and explore new areas of collaboration:

• The Food Tech Innovation Centre is being set up by Temasek and A*STAR to accelerate the commercialisation of food technologies by investing in food tech startups based in Singapore and Asia. Among other things, the centre will focus on the production of plant-based proteins and precision fermentation, and will assist companies in pilot batch production before products can be launched commercially. 
• Leading Swiss food companies Bühler and Givaudan also recently opened a Joint Protein Innovation Centre dedicated to plant-based food. The centre will provide ready-built extrusion pilot plant and food formulation capabilities to help innovators develop new products.
  

Finally, the ability to develop and commercialise new products is complemented with a safe, trusted and well-connected environment, with free Access to the regional and global markets. COVID-19 has brought to the fore the importance of access and supply chain resilience. As an example, SATS and Country Foods have started building capabilities to position themselves as a ‘one-stop’ platform supporting companies from downstream processing to distribution, not just in Singapore but the region.

Which recent developments or advancements in technology for plant-based, cell-based and fermentation solutions do you think are most exciting and relevant for the Asia market?

With the growth trajectory for animal protein in Asia over the next decade, developments across all alternative protein modalities are equally important to monitor. What will be interesting to watch is how companies will adapt the products to suit local taste and form factor preferences, scale the production capacity in an efficient manner, and deploy the right go-to-market strategies.

This article was adapted from Advance, Accelerate, Access: Singapore, the innovation hub gateway to feeding Asia and the world by Future Food-Tech Alternative Proteins Summit.