From precision fermentation to aquaculture, how Singapore is driving innovation in food production

As the world’s fastest growing region, Asia’s population is predicted to increase by 250 million by 2030. The region’s total spending on food is set to double to over S$10.65 trillion (US$8 trillion) by the start of the new decade, with Asia currently occupying the largest share of the global food market.

Growing awareness globally of the impact of dietary choices on animal welfare, personal well-being, and sustainability is leading to increased demand for nutritious alternative food options that offer greater transparency in how they are produced. Global agrifood companies are thus well-poised to leverage these trends. Here’s a look at how Singapore can help them achieve business goals and contribute to sustainable growth. 
 

Funding and specialised facilities

Singapore’s vibrant innovation landscape has helped agrifood startups build their venture and scale up with ease through funding and partnership opportunities, boosted by the presence of agrifood-centred venture capital (VC) firms.

Eight globally-leading agrifood accelerator programmes, such as Big Idea Ventures (BIV) and GROW, are anchored in Singapore to help startups pilot, testbed and commercialise innovative agrifood products. Umami Meats, a Singapore-based start-up, has secured around S$3.2 million (US$2.4million) in funding to further develop its plant-derived growth serum and low-cost production system for cultivated seafood.
 

Driving such innovations in novel foods and ingredients is the Singapore Institute of Food and Biotechnology Innovation (SIFBI), which was established in 2019 at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR). SIFBI and Temasek’s Asia Sustainable Foods Platform (now known as Nurasa) have committed to investing over S$30 million (US$22.30 million) in the Food Tech Innovation Centre (FTIC) over the next three years, to be a springboard promising food-tech startups.

For startups requiring  specialised facilities to meet production needs, ADM and Temasek's Nurasa have also jointly created ScaleUp Bio, the first company in Singapore to provide contract development and manufacturing services for precision fermentation for food applications.
 

Supportive regulations, partnerships to access Asia’s growing markets

As Asia’s top logistics and supply management hub, Singapore is well-connected to global markets, making it an ideal destination for businesses looking for a safe and trusted base to expand market access in the region.

An example of a partnership that leverages Singapore’s global connectivity is Pivot East, which was launched recently by Southeast Asia’s first dedicated agrifood tech accelerator GROW and Farm 491. The programme empowers United Kingdom (UK) and European Union (EU) agrifood tech startups to expand into the Asia-Pacific region through Singapore, by providing them with a roadmap for setting up an overseas presence. Targeted at early-stage companies, Pivot East assists agrifood business owners in creating, testing, and adjusting their business models for maximum impact in Asia.

Singapore also has rigorous and forward-thinking regulations that enable companies to confidently commercialise their agrifood innovations. The Future Ready Food Safety Hub (FRESH) jointly established by A*STAR, Singapore Food Agency (SFA), and Nanyang Technological University (NTU), is one example.  Due to their efforts, Singapore holds the status of the first country to approve the use of serum-free media for the production of cultivated meat.

Singapore is also in the midst of developing a regulatory framework for food derived from gene-edited crops.
 

Boosting research and development through public-private partnerships

The Singapore Government has pumped a total of S$309 million (US$229.30 million) into funding agrifood research with the goal of enhancing the nutritional quality of crops and fish, as well as encouraging the adoption of productive, climate-resilient farming technologies. At the same time, agrifood companies can tap on  SFA's Agri-Food Cluster Transformation Grant and Enterprise Singapore’s Enterprise Development Grant to build up new innovation capabilities and access cutting-edge technologies for food production.

Leading players in Singapore’s vibrant agrifood ecosystem have also come together through public-private partnerships to bolster R&D efforts, and further accelerate the development of innovative and cost-efficient solutions in the sector.  Take Hong Kong-based startup Avant and A*STAR’s Bioprocessing Technology Institute (BTI)’s partnership for instance. Avant has successfully leveraged Singapore’s world-class innovation infrastructure to establish a joint research lab, enabling it to focus on optimising solutions for the production of cell-based fish.