Lab-grown meat to 3D-printed food: inflation, climate, animal welfare shape future menus<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By Akito Tanaka, Dylan Loh, Jada Nagumo and Pak YiuJULY 22, 2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n
https:\/\/asia.nikkei.com\/Spotlight\/Feeding-Asia\/Asia-s-new-food-frontier-The-rise-of-edible-tech<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/video><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\nEvery Thursday night, at an invitation-only event in an upscale Singapore hotel, a small group enjoys a four-course dinner while watching videos about an unfolding environmental crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\nMenus in the dimly lit room at the JW Marriott are designed to highlight the environmentally destructive impact of industrial cropping and livestock breeding. <\/p>\n\n\n\nCorn is served three ways to evoke deforestation, while a dashi broth is poured over colorful vegetables and seaweed to represent rising sea levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThen comes the main dish: chicken nuggets, served with maple waffles and a Chinese-style bao bun. Guests put down their wine glasses, slice the meat carefully into bite-sized pieces and linger on the taste.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe ceremony is a sign that the nuggets are far more than standard fast-food fare: No chicken died to make them. They were created from stem cells, made by a U.S. startup and, so far, available only in Singapore. <\/p>\n\n\n\nSilicon Valley foodtech unicorn Eat Just is selling its meat in the world\u2019s only nation to have approved the commercialization of lab-cultivated chicken. <\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Marriott meal is an early taste of a food technology revolution whose advocates say could feed Asia\u2019s fast-growing population, curb damage to the planet and eventually cost less than traditional meat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201c<\/strong>We could theoretically grow anything that might come from plants or animals, from cells instead,\u201d Isha Datar, executive director of cellular agriculture research institute New Harvest, said in a talk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cVanilla doesn\u2019t have to be rainforest-farmed, egg whites don\u2019t have to come with the yolk, foie gras can be completely cruelty-free, and leather and silk don\u2019t have to come from the back of an animal or the home of a silkworm.\u201d<\/strong>Isha Datar<\/p>\n\n\n\nFood inflation in Asia, where more than 1.1 billion people lacked access to adequate food last year, is hovering near its <\/strong>all-time high and not expected to ease any time soon. <\/p>\n\n\n\nThe region\u2019s population is projected to increase by 700 million in the next three decades. Widening income gaps, supply chain disruptions and extreme climate conditions are causing price surges and accelerating a food security crisis long in the making.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAsia is home to ideas still in early stages of research but potentially transformative in feeding more people, with fewer resources, in the decades to come. Innovations such as lab-grown meat and 3D-printed food are at the forefront of efforts to rethink how, and what, we can feed the region’s next billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\nBy 2030 alone, Asia is expected to add 250 million people to its current population of 4.6 billion. <\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBy then, meat consumption will increase by 18%, but agricultural production will grow only 2% or less, according to a joint report by the U.N.\u2019s Food and Agriculture Organization and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.<\/p>\nAround 65% of the world’s middle class will be living in the region by 2030, according to a report by PwC, Temasek and Rabobank. Total spending on food in Asia is expected to double to $8 trillion, the report said, adding that “Asia is unable to feed itself.\u201d<\/p>\nThe numbers are opportune for investors with deep pockets and big ambitions. Temasek, a Singapore state-owned investor, has said traditional food solutions can “no longer meet the world’s demands.\u201d It has committed more than $8 billion to foodtech since 2013.<\/p>\nSome of that has been poured into Eat Just, which has also received funding from Mitsui & Co. and Khosla Ventures, as well as private investors such as Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang and Salesforce co-founder Marc Benioff. <\/p>\nValued north of a billion dollars, the company has raised more than $800 million so far. And as food prices have soared, it has received more attention from investors. “In the last three months, I got more phone calls, more emails, more direct messages, more introductions, more interest than I ever had at any time,” Josh Tetrick, co-founder of Eat Just, told Nikkei Asia last month.<\/p>\nOn a sunny Singapore afternoon last fall, in the trendy heritage neighborhood of Tiong Bahru known for its famed hawker center, Loo Kia Chee received a phone call. It was someone from Eat Just offering a limited-time collaboration with its cultivated meat division GOOD Meat, to serve up their nuggets with his curry.<\/p>\n“I was surprised,” Loo recalls. “I was the first one to get picked for doing this in Asia or the whole world,” and “before that, I didn’t know about the cultivated meat.”<\/p>\nThis spring, Loo made history by becoming the world\u2019s first hawker stall to serve lab-made chicken. Customers flocked to Loo’s Hainanese Curry Rice, his popular lunchtime haunt, for the novel treat.<\/p>\nLoo said he thought it tasted “like normal chicken \u2026 (and the similarity to conventional chicken is) I think 98%.” <\/p>\nAsked if he might make the cultivated meat his signature dish some day, Loo seemed receptive to the idea. \u201cIf the price challenges [that of conventional meat],\u201d he said, \u201cI will use it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAnimal agriculture in the Asia-Pacific region is responsible for 14.5% of global warming according to the FAO \u2013 more than the transportation sector. It also consumes a significant portion of the region\u2019s land and water. <\/p>\nGlobally, more than 70 billion land animals and one trillion fish are killed each year for food. <\/em><\/span><\/h3>\nAdvocates for food technology argue it could play a crucial role in easing these problems. <\/p>\n\u201cFoodtech has the potential to \u2026 reduce the pressure on land usage from crop and animal agriculture, reduce water consumption, increase yields to meet demands without resource limitation and improve the nutritional profile of products,\u201d said Gautam Godhwani, managing partner of Good Startup, which invests in alternative protein companies. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\nEat Just is among the pioneers of these technologies.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLab-grown chicken is born of cells from a biopsy, an egg or even a feather. <\/p>\nThe meat grows as the cells multiply in a stainless steel tank called a bioreactor. They feed on a broth that contains nutrients like carbohydrates, amino acids, minerals, fats and vitamins. \u201cInstead of growing the entire animal, we only grow what is eaten,\u201d Eat Just said in a statement.<\/p>\n\u201cThis means we use fewer resources \u2026 completing growth in weeks rather than months or years. Then, the harvested product can be used by chefs in multiple final formats, from less structured crispy chicken nugget bites, savory chorizo and sausages, to more textured products such as shredded chicken or grilled chicken breast.\u201d<\/p>\nEat Just has offered to consumers iterations aside from the nugget, including satay<\/em>, or grilled chicken skewers.<\/p>\nStill, these remain early days for the industry. Even foodies in Singapore, the world\u2019s only country to approve the sale of lab-grown meat, will have to wait a few years until Eat Just\u2019s meat is readily available at the city-state\u2019s famed street-food hawker stalls. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\nEat Just\u2019s samples are available through invitation-only events, pop-up tastings, and limited offers of food delivery.<\/h2>\nA Nikkei Asia reporter invited to the Marriott tasting in Singapore said the nuggets differed only slightly from traditional meat in that they were \u201cunnaturally smooth\u201d while also being softer and less chewy. He said the satay, <\/em>served up for the first time this May, looked and tasted even closer to traditional chicken than the nuggets.<\/p>\n“A very concrete goal of our company is to, in our lifetime, have a system where the majority of meat doesn’t require slaughter and deforestation,” said Tetrick, best known in the U.S. for commercializing a liquid \u201cegg\u201d product made from protein-rich mung beans.<\/p>\nHis company is also working on beef. The red meat is the top driver of deforestation, according to conservation organization WWF, causing more than double the forest conversion generated by the next more damaging crops such as soy, palm oil and wood.<\/p>\n\n\u201cIf cattle were a country, it would rank third after the U.S. and China with regards to greenhouse gas emissions.\u201d <\/strong><\/span>
<\/video><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\nEvery Thursday night, at an invitation-only event in an upscale Singapore hotel, a small group enjoys a four-course dinner while watching videos about an unfolding environmental crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\nMenus in the dimly lit room at the JW Marriott are designed to highlight the environmentally destructive impact of industrial cropping and livestock breeding. <\/p>\n\n\n\nCorn is served three ways to evoke deforestation, while a dashi broth is poured over colorful vegetables and seaweed to represent rising sea levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThen comes the main dish: chicken nuggets, served with maple waffles and a Chinese-style bao bun. Guests put down their wine glasses, slice the meat carefully into bite-sized pieces and linger on the taste.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe ceremony is a sign that the nuggets are far more than standard fast-food fare: No chicken died to make them. They were created from stem cells, made by a U.S. startup and, so far, available only in Singapore. <\/p>\n\n\n\nSilicon Valley foodtech unicorn Eat Just is selling its meat in the world\u2019s only nation to have approved the commercialization of lab-cultivated chicken. <\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Marriott meal is an early taste of a food technology revolution whose advocates say could feed Asia\u2019s fast-growing population, curb damage to the planet and eventually cost less than traditional meat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201c<\/strong>We could theoretically grow anything that might come from plants or animals, from cells instead,\u201d Isha Datar, executive director of cellular agriculture research institute New Harvest, said in a talk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cVanilla doesn\u2019t have to be rainforest-farmed, egg whites don\u2019t have to come with the yolk, foie gras can be completely cruelty-free, and leather and silk don\u2019t have to come from the back of an animal or the home of a silkworm.\u201d<\/strong>Isha Datar<\/p>\n\n\n\nFood inflation in Asia, where more than 1.1 billion people lacked access to adequate food last year, is hovering near its <\/strong>all-time high and not expected to ease any time soon. <\/p>\n\n\n\nThe region\u2019s population is projected to increase by 700 million in the next three decades. Widening income gaps, supply chain disruptions and extreme climate conditions are causing price surges and accelerating a food security crisis long in the making.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAsia is home to ideas still in early stages of research but potentially transformative in feeding more people, with fewer resources, in the decades to come. Innovations such as lab-grown meat and 3D-printed food are at the forefront of efforts to rethink how, and what, we can feed the region’s next billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\nBy 2030 alone, Asia is expected to add 250 million people to its current population of 4.6 billion. <\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBy then, meat consumption will increase by 18%, but agricultural production will grow only 2% or less, according to a joint report by the U.N.\u2019s Food and Agriculture Organization and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.<\/p>\nAround 65% of the world’s middle class will be living in the region by 2030, according to a report by PwC, Temasek and Rabobank. Total spending on food in Asia is expected to double to $8 trillion, the report said, adding that “Asia is unable to feed itself.\u201d<\/p>\nThe numbers are opportune for investors with deep pockets and big ambitions. Temasek, a Singapore state-owned investor, has said traditional food solutions can “no longer meet the world’s demands.\u201d It has committed more than $8 billion to foodtech since 2013.<\/p>\nSome of that has been poured into Eat Just, which has also received funding from Mitsui & Co. and Khosla Ventures, as well as private investors such as Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang and Salesforce co-founder Marc Benioff. <\/p>\nValued north of a billion dollars, the company has raised more than $800 million so far. And as food prices have soared, it has received more attention from investors. “In the last three months, I got more phone calls, more emails, more direct messages, more introductions, more interest than I ever had at any time,” Josh Tetrick, co-founder of Eat Just, told Nikkei Asia last month.<\/p>\nOn a sunny Singapore afternoon last fall, in the trendy heritage neighborhood of Tiong Bahru known for its famed hawker center, Loo Kia Chee received a phone call. It was someone from Eat Just offering a limited-time collaboration with its cultivated meat division GOOD Meat, to serve up their nuggets with his curry.<\/p>\n“I was surprised,” Loo recalls. “I was the first one to get picked for doing this in Asia or the whole world,” and “before that, I didn’t know about the cultivated meat.”<\/p>\nThis spring, Loo made history by becoming the world\u2019s first hawker stall to serve lab-made chicken. Customers flocked to Loo’s Hainanese Curry Rice, his popular lunchtime haunt, for the novel treat.<\/p>\nLoo said he thought it tasted “like normal chicken \u2026 (and the similarity to conventional chicken is) I think 98%.” <\/p>\nAsked if he might make the cultivated meat his signature dish some day, Loo seemed receptive to the idea. \u201cIf the price challenges [that of conventional meat],\u201d he said, \u201cI will use it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAnimal agriculture in the Asia-Pacific region is responsible for 14.5% of global warming according to the FAO \u2013 more than the transportation sector. It also consumes a significant portion of the region\u2019s land and water. <\/p>\nGlobally, more than 70 billion land animals and one trillion fish are killed each year for food. <\/em><\/span><\/h3>\nAdvocates for food technology argue it could play a crucial role in easing these problems. <\/p>\n\u201cFoodtech has the potential to \u2026 reduce the pressure on land usage from crop and animal agriculture, reduce water consumption, increase yields to meet demands without resource limitation and improve the nutritional profile of products,\u201d said Gautam Godhwani, managing partner of Good Startup, which invests in alternative protein companies. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\nEat Just is among the pioneers of these technologies.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLab-grown chicken is born of cells from a biopsy, an egg or even a feather. <\/p>\nThe meat grows as the cells multiply in a stainless steel tank called a bioreactor. They feed on a broth that contains nutrients like carbohydrates, amino acids, minerals, fats and vitamins. \u201cInstead of growing the entire animal, we only grow what is eaten,\u201d Eat Just said in a statement.<\/p>\n\u201cThis means we use fewer resources \u2026 completing growth in weeks rather than months or years. Then, the harvested product can be used by chefs in multiple final formats, from less structured crispy chicken nugget bites, savory chorizo and sausages, to more textured products such as shredded chicken or grilled chicken breast.\u201d<\/p>\nEat Just has offered to consumers iterations aside from the nugget, including satay<\/em>, or grilled chicken skewers.<\/p>\nStill, these remain early days for the industry. Even foodies in Singapore, the world\u2019s only country to approve the sale of lab-grown meat, will have to wait a few years until Eat Just\u2019s meat is readily available at the city-state\u2019s famed street-food hawker stalls. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\nEat Just\u2019s samples are available through invitation-only events, pop-up tastings, and limited offers of food delivery.<\/h2>\nA Nikkei Asia reporter invited to the Marriott tasting in Singapore said the nuggets differed only slightly from traditional meat in that they were \u201cunnaturally smooth\u201d while also being softer and less chewy. He said the satay, <\/em>served up for the first time this May, looked and tasted even closer to traditional chicken than the nuggets.<\/p>\n“A very concrete goal of our company is to, in our lifetime, have a system where the majority of meat doesn’t require slaughter and deforestation,” said Tetrick, best known in the U.S. for commercializing a liquid \u201cegg\u201d product made from protein-rich mung beans.<\/p>\nHis company is also working on beef. The red meat is the top driver of deforestation, according to conservation organization WWF, causing more than double the forest conversion generated by the next more damaging crops such as soy, palm oil and wood.<\/p>\n\n\u201cIf cattle were a country, it would rank third after the U.S. and China with regards to greenhouse gas emissions.\u201d <\/strong><\/span>
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every Thursday night, at an invitation-only event in an upscale Singapore hotel, a small group enjoys a four-course dinner while watching videos about an unfolding environmental crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Menus in the dimly lit room at the JW Marriott are designed to highlight the environmentally destructive impact of industrial cropping and livestock breeding. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Corn is served three ways to evoke deforestation, while a dashi broth is poured over colorful vegetables and seaweed to represent rising sea levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then comes the main dish: chicken nuggets, served with maple waffles and a Chinese-style bao bun. Guests put down their wine glasses, slice the meat carefully into bite-sized pieces and linger on the taste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ceremony is a sign that the nuggets are far more than standard fast-food fare: No chicken died to make them. They were created from stem cells, made by a U.S. startup and, so far, available only in Singapore. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Silicon Valley foodtech unicorn Eat Just is selling its meat in the world\u2019s only nation to have approved the commercialization of lab-cultivated chicken. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Marriott meal is an early taste of a food technology revolution whose advocates say could feed Asia\u2019s fast-growing population, curb damage to the planet and eventually cost less than traditional meat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c<\/strong>We could theoretically grow anything that might come from plants or animals, from cells instead,\u201d Isha Datar, executive director of cellular agriculture research institute New Harvest, said in a talk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cVanilla doesn\u2019t have to be rainforest-farmed, egg whites don\u2019t have to come with the yolk, foie gras can be completely cruelty-free, and leather and silk don\u2019t have to come from the back of an animal or the home of a silkworm.\u201d<\/strong>Isha Datar<\/p>\n\n\n\nFood inflation in Asia, where more than 1.1 billion people lacked access to adequate food last year, is hovering near its <\/strong>all-time high and not expected to ease any time soon. <\/p>\n\n\n\nThe region\u2019s population is projected to increase by 700 million in the next three decades. Widening income gaps, supply chain disruptions and extreme climate conditions are causing price surges and accelerating a food security crisis long in the making.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAsia is home to ideas still in early stages of research but potentially transformative in feeding more people, with fewer resources, in the decades to come. Innovations such as lab-grown meat and 3D-printed food are at the forefront of efforts to rethink how, and what, we can feed the region’s next billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\nBy 2030 alone, Asia is expected to add 250 million people to its current population of 4.6 billion. <\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBy then, meat consumption will increase by 18%, but agricultural production will grow only 2% or less, according to a joint report by the U.N.\u2019s Food and Agriculture Organization and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.<\/p>\nAround 65% of the world’s middle class will be living in the region by 2030, according to a report by PwC, Temasek and Rabobank. Total spending on food in Asia is expected to double to $8 trillion, the report said, adding that “Asia is unable to feed itself.\u201d<\/p>\nThe numbers are opportune for investors with deep pockets and big ambitions. Temasek, a Singapore state-owned investor, has said traditional food solutions can “no longer meet the world’s demands.\u201d It has committed more than $8 billion to foodtech since 2013.<\/p>\nSome of that has been poured into Eat Just, which has also received funding from Mitsui & Co. and Khosla Ventures, as well as private investors such as Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang and Salesforce co-founder Marc Benioff. <\/p>\nValued north of a billion dollars, the company has raised more than $800 million so far. And as food prices have soared, it has received more attention from investors. “In the last three months, I got more phone calls, more emails, more direct messages, more introductions, more interest than I ever had at any time,” Josh Tetrick, co-founder of Eat Just, told Nikkei Asia last month.<\/p>\nOn a sunny Singapore afternoon last fall, in the trendy heritage neighborhood of Tiong Bahru known for its famed hawker center, Loo Kia Chee received a phone call. It was someone from Eat Just offering a limited-time collaboration with its cultivated meat division GOOD Meat, to serve up their nuggets with his curry.<\/p>\n“I was surprised,” Loo recalls. “I was the first one to get picked for doing this in Asia or the whole world,” and “before that, I didn’t know about the cultivated meat.”<\/p>\nThis spring, Loo made history by becoming the world\u2019s first hawker stall to serve lab-made chicken. Customers flocked to Loo’s Hainanese Curry Rice, his popular lunchtime haunt, for the novel treat.<\/p>\nLoo said he thought it tasted “like normal chicken \u2026 (and the similarity to conventional chicken is) I think 98%.” <\/p>\nAsked if he might make the cultivated meat his signature dish some day, Loo seemed receptive to the idea. \u201cIf the price challenges [that of conventional meat],\u201d he said, \u201cI will use it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAnimal agriculture in the Asia-Pacific region is responsible for 14.5% of global warming according to the FAO \u2013 more than the transportation sector. It also consumes a significant portion of the region\u2019s land and water. <\/p>\nGlobally, more than 70 billion land animals and one trillion fish are killed each year for food. <\/em><\/span><\/h3>\nAdvocates for food technology argue it could play a crucial role in easing these problems. <\/p>\n\u201cFoodtech has the potential to \u2026 reduce the pressure on land usage from crop and animal agriculture, reduce water consumption, increase yields to meet demands without resource limitation and improve the nutritional profile of products,\u201d said Gautam Godhwani, managing partner of Good Startup, which invests in alternative protein companies. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\nEat Just is among the pioneers of these technologies.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLab-grown chicken is born of cells from a biopsy, an egg or even a feather. <\/p>\nThe meat grows as the cells multiply in a stainless steel tank called a bioreactor. They feed on a broth that contains nutrients like carbohydrates, amino acids, minerals, fats and vitamins. \u201cInstead of growing the entire animal, we only grow what is eaten,\u201d Eat Just said in a statement.<\/p>\n\u201cThis means we use fewer resources \u2026 completing growth in weeks rather than months or years. Then, the harvested product can be used by chefs in multiple final formats, from less structured crispy chicken nugget bites, savory chorizo and sausages, to more textured products such as shredded chicken or grilled chicken breast.\u201d<\/p>\nEat Just has offered to consumers iterations aside from the nugget, including satay<\/em>, or grilled chicken skewers.<\/p>\nStill, these remain early days for the industry. Even foodies in Singapore, the world\u2019s only country to approve the sale of lab-grown meat, will have to wait a few years until Eat Just\u2019s meat is readily available at the city-state\u2019s famed street-food hawker stalls. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\nEat Just\u2019s samples are available through invitation-only events, pop-up tastings, and limited offers of food delivery.<\/h2>\nA Nikkei Asia reporter invited to the Marriott tasting in Singapore said the nuggets differed only slightly from traditional meat in that they were \u201cunnaturally smooth\u201d while also being softer and less chewy. He said the satay, <\/em>served up for the first time this May, looked and tasted even closer to traditional chicken than the nuggets.<\/p>\n“A very concrete goal of our company is to, in our lifetime, have a system where the majority of meat doesn’t require slaughter and deforestation,” said Tetrick, best known in the U.S. for commercializing a liquid \u201cegg\u201d product made from protein-rich mung beans.<\/p>\nHis company is also working on beef. The red meat is the top driver of deforestation, according to conservation organization WWF, causing more than double the forest conversion generated by the next more damaging crops such as soy, palm oil and wood.<\/p>\n\n\u201cIf cattle were a country, it would rank third after the U.S. and China with regards to greenhouse gas emissions.\u201d <\/strong><\/span>
\u201cVanilla doesn\u2019t have to be rainforest-farmed, egg whites don\u2019t have to come with the yolk, foie gras can be completely cruelty-free, and leather and silk don\u2019t have to come from the back of an animal or the home of a silkworm.\u201d<\/strong>Isha Datar<\/p>\n\n\n\nFood inflation in Asia, where more than 1.1 billion people lacked access to adequate food last year, is hovering near its <\/strong>all-time high and not expected to ease any time soon. <\/p>\n\n\n\nThe region\u2019s population is projected to increase by 700 million in the next three decades. Widening income gaps, supply chain disruptions and extreme climate conditions are causing price surges and accelerating a food security crisis long in the making.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAsia is home to ideas still in early stages of research but potentially transformative in feeding more people, with fewer resources, in the decades to come. Innovations such as lab-grown meat and 3D-printed food are at the forefront of efforts to rethink how, and what, we can feed the region’s next billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\nBy 2030 alone, Asia is expected to add 250 million people to its current population of 4.6 billion. <\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBy then, meat consumption will increase by 18%, but agricultural production will grow only 2% or less, according to a joint report by the U.N.\u2019s Food and Agriculture Organization and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.<\/p>\nAround 65% of the world’s middle class will be living in the region by 2030, according to a report by PwC, Temasek and Rabobank. Total spending on food in Asia is expected to double to $8 trillion, the report said, adding that “Asia is unable to feed itself.\u201d<\/p>\nThe numbers are opportune for investors with deep pockets and big ambitions. Temasek, a Singapore state-owned investor, has said traditional food solutions can “no longer meet the world’s demands.\u201d It has committed more than $8 billion to foodtech since 2013.<\/p>\nSome of that has been poured into Eat Just, which has also received funding from Mitsui & Co. and Khosla Ventures, as well as private investors such as Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang and Salesforce co-founder Marc Benioff. <\/p>\nValued north of a billion dollars, the company has raised more than $800 million so far. And as food prices have soared, it has received more attention from investors. “In the last three months, I got more phone calls, more emails, more direct messages, more introductions, more interest than I ever had at any time,” Josh Tetrick, co-founder of Eat Just, told Nikkei Asia last month.<\/p>\nOn a sunny Singapore afternoon last fall, in the trendy heritage neighborhood of Tiong Bahru known for its famed hawker center, Loo Kia Chee received a phone call. It was someone from Eat Just offering a limited-time collaboration with its cultivated meat division GOOD Meat, to serve up their nuggets with his curry.<\/p>\n“I was surprised,” Loo recalls. “I was the first one to get picked for doing this in Asia or the whole world,” and “before that, I didn’t know about the cultivated meat.”<\/p>\nThis spring, Loo made history by becoming the world\u2019s first hawker stall to serve lab-made chicken. Customers flocked to Loo’s Hainanese Curry Rice, his popular lunchtime haunt, for the novel treat.<\/p>\nLoo said he thought it tasted “like normal chicken \u2026 (and the similarity to conventional chicken is) I think 98%.” <\/p>\nAsked if he might make the cultivated meat his signature dish some day, Loo seemed receptive to the idea. \u201cIf the price challenges [that of conventional meat],\u201d he said, \u201cI will use it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAnimal agriculture in the Asia-Pacific region is responsible for 14.5% of global warming according to the FAO \u2013 more than the transportation sector. It also consumes a significant portion of the region\u2019s land and water. <\/p>\nGlobally, more than 70 billion land animals and one trillion fish are killed each year for food. <\/em><\/span><\/h3>\nAdvocates for food technology argue it could play a crucial role in easing these problems. <\/p>\n\u201cFoodtech has the potential to \u2026 reduce the pressure on land usage from crop and animal agriculture, reduce water consumption, increase yields to meet demands without resource limitation and improve the nutritional profile of products,\u201d said Gautam Godhwani, managing partner of Good Startup, which invests in alternative protein companies. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\nEat Just is among the pioneers of these technologies.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLab-grown chicken is born of cells from a biopsy, an egg or even a feather. <\/p>\nThe meat grows as the cells multiply in a stainless steel tank called a bioreactor. They feed on a broth that contains nutrients like carbohydrates, amino acids, minerals, fats and vitamins. \u201cInstead of growing the entire animal, we only grow what is eaten,\u201d Eat Just said in a statement.<\/p>\n\u201cThis means we use fewer resources \u2026 completing growth in weeks rather than months or years. Then, the harvested product can be used by chefs in multiple final formats, from less structured crispy chicken nugget bites, savory chorizo and sausages, to more textured products such as shredded chicken or grilled chicken breast.\u201d<\/p>\nEat Just has offered to consumers iterations aside from the nugget, including satay<\/em>, or grilled chicken skewers.<\/p>\nStill, these remain early days for the industry. Even foodies in Singapore, the world\u2019s only country to approve the sale of lab-grown meat, will have to wait a few years until Eat Just\u2019s meat is readily available at the city-state\u2019s famed street-food hawker stalls. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\nEat Just\u2019s samples are available through invitation-only events, pop-up tastings, and limited offers of food delivery.<\/h2>\nA Nikkei Asia reporter invited to the Marriott tasting in Singapore said the nuggets differed only slightly from traditional meat in that they were \u201cunnaturally smooth\u201d while also being softer and less chewy. He said the satay, <\/em>served up for the first time this May, looked and tasted even closer to traditional chicken than the nuggets.<\/p>\n“A very concrete goal of our company is to, in our lifetime, have a system where the majority of meat doesn’t require slaughter and deforestation,” said Tetrick, best known in the U.S. for commercializing a liquid \u201cegg\u201d product made from protein-rich mung beans.<\/p>\nHis company is also working on beef. The red meat is the top driver of deforestation, according to conservation organization WWF, causing more than double the forest conversion generated by the next more damaging crops such as soy, palm oil and wood.<\/p>\n\n\u201cIf cattle were a country, it would rank third after the U.S. and China with regards to greenhouse gas emissions.\u201d <\/strong><\/span>
Food inflation in Asia, where more than 1.1 billion people lacked access to adequate food last year, is hovering near its <\/strong>all-time high and not expected to ease any time soon. <\/p>\n\n\n\nThe region\u2019s population is projected to increase by 700 million in the next three decades. Widening income gaps, supply chain disruptions and extreme climate conditions are causing price surges and accelerating a food security crisis long in the making.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAsia is home to ideas still in early stages of research but potentially transformative in feeding more people, with fewer resources, in the decades to come. Innovations such as lab-grown meat and 3D-printed food are at the forefront of efforts to rethink how, and what, we can feed the region’s next billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\nBy 2030 alone, Asia is expected to add 250 million people to its current population of 4.6 billion. <\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBy then, meat consumption will increase by 18%, but agricultural production will grow only 2% or less, according to a joint report by the U.N.\u2019s Food and Agriculture Organization and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.<\/p>\nAround 65% of the world’s middle class will be living in the region by 2030, according to a report by PwC, Temasek and Rabobank. Total spending on food in Asia is expected to double to $8 trillion, the report said, adding that “Asia is unable to feed itself.\u201d<\/p>\nThe numbers are opportune for investors with deep pockets and big ambitions. Temasek, a Singapore state-owned investor, has said traditional food solutions can “no longer meet the world’s demands.\u201d It has committed more than $8 billion to foodtech since 2013.<\/p>\nSome of that has been poured into Eat Just, which has also received funding from Mitsui & Co. and Khosla Ventures, as well as private investors such as Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang and Salesforce co-founder Marc Benioff. <\/p>\nValued north of a billion dollars, the company has raised more than $800 million so far. And as food prices have soared, it has received more attention from investors. “In the last three months, I got more phone calls, more emails, more direct messages, more introductions, more interest than I ever had at any time,” Josh Tetrick, co-founder of Eat Just, told Nikkei Asia last month.<\/p>\nOn a sunny Singapore afternoon last fall, in the trendy heritage neighborhood of Tiong Bahru known for its famed hawker center, Loo Kia Chee received a phone call. It was someone from Eat Just offering a limited-time collaboration with its cultivated meat division GOOD Meat, to serve up their nuggets with his curry.<\/p>\n“I was surprised,” Loo recalls. “I was the first one to get picked for doing this in Asia or the whole world,” and “before that, I didn’t know about the cultivated meat.”<\/p>\nThis spring, Loo made history by becoming the world\u2019s first hawker stall to serve lab-made chicken. Customers flocked to Loo’s Hainanese Curry Rice, his popular lunchtime haunt, for the novel treat.<\/p>\nLoo said he thought it tasted “like normal chicken \u2026 (and the similarity to conventional chicken is) I think 98%.” <\/p>\nAsked if he might make the cultivated meat his signature dish some day, Loo seemed receptive to the idea. \u201cIf the price challenges [that of conventional meat],\u201d he said, \u201cI will use it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAnimal agriculture in the Asia-Pacific region is responsible for 14.5% of global warming according to the FAO \u2013 more than the transportation sector. It also consumes a significant portion of the region\u2019s land and water. <\/p>\nGlobally, more than 70 billion land animals and one trillion fish are killed each year for food. <\/em><\/span><\/h3>\nAdvocates for food technology argue it could play a crucial role in easing these problems. <\/p>\n\u201cFoodtech has the potential to \u2026 reduce the pressure on land usage from crop and animal agriculture, reduce water consumption, increase yields to meet demands without resource limitation and improve the nutritional profile of products,\u201d said Gautam Godhwani, managing partner of Good Startup, which invests in alternative protein companies. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\nEat Just is among the pioneers of these technologies.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLab-grown chicken is born of cells from a biopsy, an egg or even a feather. <\/p>\nThe meat grows as the cells multiply in a stainless steel tank called a bioreactor. They feed on a broth that contains nutrients like carbohydrates, amino acids, minerals, fats and vitamins. \u201cInstead of growing the entire animal, we only grow what is eaten,\u201d Eat Just said in a statement.<\/p>\n\u201cThis means we use fewer resources \u2026 completing growth in weeks rather than months or years. Then, the harvested product can be used by chefs in multiple final formats, from less structured crispy chicken nugget bites, savory chorizo and sausages, to more textured products such as shredded chicken or grilled chicken breast.\u201d<\/p>\nEat Just has offered to consumers iterations aside from the nugget, including satay<\/em>, or grilled chicken skewers.<\/p>\nStill, these remain early days for the industry. Even foodies in Singapore, the world\u2019s only country to approve the sale of lab-grown meat, will have to wait a few years until Eat Just\u2019s meat is readily available at the city-state\u2019s famed street-food hawker stalls. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\nEat Just\u2019s samples are available through invitation-only events, pop-up tastings, and limited offers of food delivery.<\/h2>\nA Nikkei Asia reporter invited to the Marriott tasting in Singapore said the nuggets differed only slightly from traditional meat in that they were \u201cunnaturally smooth\u201d while also being softer and less chewy. He said the satay, <\/em>served up for the first time this May, looked and tasted even closer to traditional chicken than the nuggets.<\/p>\n“A very concrete goal of our company is to, in our lifetime, have a system where the majority of meat doesn’t require slaughter and deforestation,” said Tetrick, best known in the U.S. for commercializing a liquid \u201cegg\u201d product made from protein-rich mung beans.<\/p>\nHis company is also working on beef. The red meat is the top driver of deforestation, according to conservation organization WWF, causing more than double the forest conversion generated by the next more damaging crops such as soy, palm oil and wood.<\/p>\n\n\u201cIf cattle were a country, it would rank third after the U.S. and China with regards to greenhouse gas emissions.\u201d <\/strong><\/span>
The region\u2019s population is projected to increase by 700 million in the next three decades. Widening income gaps, supply chain disruptions and extreme climate conditions are causing price surges and accelerating a food security crisis long in the making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asia is home to ideas still in early stages of research but potentially transformative in feeding more people, with fewer resources, in the decades to come. Innovations such as lab-grown meat and 3D-printed food are at the forefront of efforts to rethink how, and what, we can feed the region’s next billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By then, meat consumption will increase by 18%, but agricultural production will grow only 2% or less, according to a joint report by the U.N.\u2019s Food and Agriculture Organization and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.<\/p>\n
Around 65% of the world’s middle class will be living in the region by 2030, according to a report by PwC, Temasek and Rabobank. Total spending on food in Asia is expected to double to $8 trillion, the report said, adding that “Asia is unable to feed itself.\u201d<\/p>\n
The numbers are opportune for investors with deep pockets and big ambitions. Temasek, a Singapore state-owned investor, has said traditional food solutions can “no longer meet the world’s demands.\u201d It has committed more than $8 billion to foodtech since 2013.<\/p>\n
Some of that has been poured into Eat Just, which has also received funding from Mitsui & Co. and Khosla Ventures, as well as private investors such as Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang and Salesforce co-founder Marc Benioff. <\/p>\n
Valued north of a billion dollars, the company has raised more than $800 million so far. And as food prices have soared, it has received more attention from investors. “In the last three months, I got more phone calls, more emails, more direct messages, more introductions, more interest than I ever had at any time,” Josh Tetrick, co-founder of Eat Just, told Nikkei Asia last month.<\/p>\n
On a sunny Singapore afternoon last fall, in the trendy heritage neighborhood of Tiong Bahru known for its famed hawker center, Loo Kia Chee received a phone call. It was someone from Eat Just offering a limited-time collaboration with its cultivated meat division GOOD Meat, to serve up their nuggets with his curry.<\/p>\n
“I was surprised,” Loo recalls. “I was the first one to get picked for doing this in Asia or the whole world,” and “before that, I didn’t know about the cultivated meat.”<\/p>\n
This spring, Loo made history by becoming the world\u2019s first hawker stall to serve lab-made chicken. Customers flocked to Loo’s Hainanese Curry Rice, his popular lunchtime haunt, for the novel treat.<\/p>\n
Loo said he thought it tasted “like normal chicken \u2026 (and the similarity to conventional chicken is) I think 98%.” <\/p>\n
Asked if he might make the cultivated meat his signature dish some day, Loo seemed receptive to the idea. \u201cIf the price challenges [that of conventional meat],\u201d he said, \u201cI will use it.”<\/p>\n
Animal agriculture in the Asia-Pacific region is responsible for 14.5% of global warming according to the FAO \u2013 more than the transportation sector. It also consumes a significant portion of the region\u2019s land and water. <\/p>\n
Advocates for food technology argue it could play a crucial role in easing these problems. <\/p>\n
\u201cFoodtech has the potential to \u2026 reduce the pressure on land usage from crop and animal agriculture, reduce water consumption, increase yields to meet demands without resource limitation and improve the nutritional profile of products,\u201d said Gautam Godhwani, managing partner of Good Startup, which invests in alternative protein companies. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Lab-grown chicken is born of cells from a biopsy, an egg or even a feather. <\/p>\n
The meat grows as the cells multiply in a stainless steel tank called a bioreactor. They feed on a broth that contains nutrients like carbohydrates, amino acids, minerals, fats and vitamins. \u201cInstead of growing the entire animal, we only grow what is eaten,\u201d Eat Just said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis means we use fewer resources \u2026 completing growth in weeks rather than months or years. Then, the harvested product can be used by chefs in multiple final formats, from less structured crispy chicken nugget bites, savory chorizo and sausages, to more textured products such as shredded chicken or grilled chicken breast.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eat Just has offered to consumers iterations aside from the nugget, including satay<\/em>, or grilled chicken skewers.<\/p>\nStill, these remain early days for the industry. Even foodies in Singapore, the world\u2019s only country to approve the sale of lab-grown meat, will have to wait a few years until Eat Just\u2019s meat is readily available at the city-state\u2019s famed street-food hawker stalls. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\nEat Just\u2019s samples are available through invitation-only events, pop-up tastings, and limited offers of food delivery.<\/h2>\nA Nikkei Asia reporter invited to the Marriott tasting in Singapore said the nuggets differed only slightly from traditional meat in that they were \u201cunnaturally smooth\u201d while also being softer and less chewy. He said the satay, <\/em>served up for the first time this May, looked and tasted even closer to traditional chicken than the nuggets.<\/p>\n“A very concrete goal of our company is to, in our lifetime, have a system where the majority of meat doesn’t require slaughter and deforestation,” said Tetrick, best known in the U.S. for commercializing a liquid \u201cegg\u201d product made from protein-rich mung beans.<\/p>\nHis company is also working on beef. The red meat is the top driver of deforestation, according to conservation organization WWF, causing more than double the forest conversion generated by the next more damaging crops such as soy, palm oil and wood.<\/p>\n\n\u201cIf cattle were a country, it would rank third after the U.S. and China with regards to greenhouse gas emissions.\u201d <\/strong><\/span>
Still, these remain early days for the industry. Even foodies in Singapore, the world\u2019s only country to approve the sale of lab-grown meat, will have to wait a few years until Eat Just\u2019s meat is readily available at the city-state\u2019s famed street-food hawker stalls. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
A Nikkei Asia reporter invited to the Marriott tasting in Singapore said the nuggets differed only slightly from traditional meat in that they were \u201cunnaturally smooth\u201d while also being softer and less chewy. He said the satay, <\/em>served up for the first time this May, looked and tasted even closer to traditional chicken than the nuggets.<\/p>\n“A very concrete goal of our company is to, in our lifetime, have a system where the majority of meat doesn’t require slaughter and deforestation,” said Tetrick, best known in the U.S. for commercializing a liquid \u201cegg\u201d product made from protein-rich mung beans.<\/p>\nHis company is also working on beef. The red meat is the top driver of deforestation, according to conservation organization WWF, causing more than double the forest conversion generated by the next more damaging crops such as soy, palm oil and wood.<\/p>\n\n\u201cIf cattle were a country, it would rank third after the U.S. and China with regards to greenhouse gas emissions.\u201d <\/strong><\/span>
“A very concrete goal of our company is to, in our lifetime, have a system where the majority of meat doesn’t require slaughter and deforestation,” said Tetrick, best known in the U.S. for commercializing a liquid \u201cegg\u201d product made from protein-rich mung beans.<\/p>\n
His company is also working on beef. The red meat is the top driver of deforestation, according to conservation organization WWF, causing more than double the forest conversion generated by the next more damaging crops such as soy, palm oil and wood.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf cattle were a country, it would rank third after the U.S. and China with regards to greenhouse gas emissions.\u201d <\/strong><\/span>