Serving up cell-based pork dumplings, cricket cookies to fight climate change

In the Chin Bee area in Jurong, a lab has been cooking up pork dumplings, wantons and bao. No pigs were killed in the making of these Asian bites, however, as cultured pig cells were used instead.

Alternative protein start-up Ants Innovate is betting its minced pork, chicken and beef products, made from a blend of in-house plant-based proteins, fats and animal cells, will find a meat-loving audience in time.

Not only does the blended pork retain the flavour and aroma of meat, Ants Innovate also expects it to be cheaper than pure cell-based meat, since fewer animal cells are used, making it easier to bring the novel food to market, said the start-up's Co-Founder Ong Shujian.

“Consumers care about taste, nutrition and price when it comes to alternative proteins,” he said. “In a few years, we believe cultivated meats will deliver much higher quality flavour, texture, appearance and nutrition than any current plant-based meat.”

The research by Ants Innovate is part of a race to produce more climate-friendly and nutritious foods that use far less resources to feed nearly 10 billion people by 2050. And many of the solutions lie in growing animal cells in bioreactors, making plant-based meats and unlocking new proteins through fermentation, alongside high-tech urban farming and aquaculture.

Traditional agriculture both causes, and is hurt by, climate change.
 

The United Nations' top climate science body's latest report on mitigation, or cutting emissions, released in April stated that agriculture, forestry and other land uses accounted for up to 21 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions between 2010 and 2019.

Half of the earth's biological capacity is used to feed people but degradation, deforestation and pollution have damaged vast tracts of land, reducing what nature can provide.

In the worst-case scenario, more than 30 per cent of the world's agricultural land will not be suitable for crops and livestock by 2100, said a related UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report released in February.

Agri-tech is part of the solution, experts say.

According to the international non-profit Good Food Institute, the cultivated meat industry counts over 100 companies worldwide, with US$1.38 billion (S$1.91 billion) in investments last year.

In Singapore, more than 30 alternative protein start-ups have been launched in the past three years, working on various types of alternative protein products, including plant-based and cell-based, as well as microbial alternatives, said Enterprise Singapore.

Ants Innovate is in the middle of setting up its pilot production plant while working on the regulatory approval for its alternative meats.

It is aiming to launch the first of its products by mid-2023, said Mr Ong.

The firm's scientists are also working on ways to make more structured meat cuts such as steak.

Singapore imports more than 90 per cent of its food and has less than 1 per cent of agricultural land.

To bolster its food security, the nation is at work to produce 30 per cent of its food needs by 2030.

Agri-tech experts are searching high and low for untapped and nutritious protein sources - such as insects, for instance.

Insects grow faster, require much less water and need up to 10 times less land to produce a kilogram of protein than livestock.

Incorporating them in conventional foods could make them more palatable to squeamish consumers, said Professor William Chen, Director of the food science and technology programme at Nanyang Technological University.

“The food industry can replace protein ingredients in pasta, for example, with insect proteins. Consumers tend to accept familiar foods and may be less sceptical of insect proteins as long as the taste remains the same,” he said.

And this is what Asia Insect Farm Solutions (AIFS) is doing.

The local start-up is levelling up the protein content of ordinary food such as flour and cookies by adding cricket powder to them.
 

The start-up has partner farms in Malaysia and Indonesia which breed and rear the crickets, which are killed by freezing when they reach the adult stage.

They are then flash boiled to get rid of pathogens and dried in conveyor ovens before they are milled into powder.

AIFS currently sells cricket powder to customers in the United States and Britain and is looking to launch its cricket-based baking flour and cookies soon, said AIFS co-founder Yuvanesh T. S.

The import or sale of edible insects is currently not allowed in Singapore, but AIFS has been in discussions with the Singapore Food Agency on the subject, said Mr Yuvanesh.

A company in Amsterdam, formerly headquartered in Singapore, unlocks proteins from some single-celled algae species that dwell in the waters of East Asia.

The microalgae is fermented in bioreactors and their protein teased out and converted to flour within four days.

Sophie's BioNutrients' flour can be used to make plant-based meat and milk.

Microalgae is an underrated superfood rich in all the essential amino acids, said Mr Eugene Wang, Chief Executive of the firm.

The company moved to Europe last year since 90 per cent of its market is there, and global supply chain disruptions caused shipping costs to increase by four to six times said Mr Wang.

The firm's research and development work continues in Singapore.

But inflation has caused a softening in the funding landscape for alternative protein companies, noted Mr Andrew D Ive, founder and managing general partner of venture capital firm Big Idea Ventures.

Mr Ive said those who want to invest in alternative protein firms should be looking for funds that have global visibility and deep knowledge.

“It is not the time to stop investing as valuations are softening. The technologies are improving, so it is the time to invest in the right companies,” he noted.

In fact, the economic uncertainties from the war in Ukraine and shortages of grain and fertiliser, coupled with stratospheric fuel prices, have also put a dampener on operations for high-tech vegetable and aquaculture farms here.

Universal Aquaculture - which produces four tonnes of Pacific vannamei shrimp every month - has seen electricity prices double and shrimp feed cost rise by 30 per cent.

The firm operates a 1,390 sq m vertical farm in Tuas, rearing shrimp in stacked tanks that use an energy-saving system to clean the water.
 

The Singapore Agro-Food Enterprises Federation (Safef) said prices of imported seeds for vegetable farms and juvenile fish for fish farms have also gone up because of global supply chain shocks.

But the silver lining is that consumers are taking notice of local produce.

Local fish producer Barramundi Group, for instance, has seen a slight increase in demand for their barramundi, seabass and salmon of about 10 per cent on their online website.

Safef added: “Supporting the local producers also serves to support Singapore's economy and works towards Singapore's food security.”

Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.