WHAT I WROTE ✍🏾
Food fortification is preventing deficiencies that affect 2 billion people
According to the WHO, an estimated 2 billion people suffer from micronutrient deficiencies globally. That’s ~25% of the global population so there is a decent chance that I could be one of them.
If you think micronutrient deficiencies are limited to developing countries, you would be surprised. Data shows that in the US population, 94.3% not meeting the daily requirement for vitamin D, 88.5% for vitamin E, 52.2% for magnesium, 44.1% for calcium, 43.0% for vitamin A, and 92% suffer from some form of vitamin deficiency.
The solution? Food fortification.
Food tech is much more than just fancy food products
A common misconception I come across a lot is that most people think food tech is just about coming up with fancy new food products, like plant-based meats or novel new ingredients such as microalgae.
But food tech is so much more than that. Food tech is innovation across the entire value chain of food from sourcing ingredients to delivering food right to your door.
The goal is to make our food system better in every way possible. That includes reducing food waste, increasing access to healthy food, and ensuring that every bite we take is sustainable and delicious.
GOOD READS 💡
More than 50 experts in food tech and alt protein predict how 2023 is gonna turn out 🔮
The sector’s most active investors (AgFunder, Agronomics, BIV, Blue Horizon, CPT, FoodLabs, SOSV, Unovis and others) and organisations (APAC-SCA, Food Frontier, GFI and more) had their say.
A key takeaway for me:
"APAC-based startups received just 5-7% of global alt protein funding in 2020 and 6-8% in 2021. That share has grown to an estimated 18-22% last year. It is a big shift, but APAC startups are still underinvested compared to the region’s share in the total protein market. Over 40% of meat and over 70% of seafood is consumed in Asia Pacific. It is the largest protein market in the world and the fastest growing."
👉🏾 See what the experts predicted
Oatly announced that it has added climate footprint labelling to select US products 🌱
This marks the first time the company is releasing such information in North America and reflects its belief in the role of consumer choice and education in shaping the future of food.
UK sees their first cultivated steak made from pork cells 🐷
(Also known as lab-grown, cell-based, cultured, or in-vitro meat, cultivated meat is a type of meat produced using animal cells rather than using whole animals.)
The company 3D Bio-Tissues created a cultured pork cutlet using their serum-free and animal-free cell booster which was deemed successful in appearance, taste, and texture by the 3DBT team after they cooked and ate it.
7 world-changing inventions people thought were dumb fads 🤡
A look at seven important inventions that many thought were dumb ideas - bicycles, automobiles, cheeseburgers, laptops and a few more!
EAR FOOD 🎵
Plant-based honey producer Melibio CEO, Darko Madrich, addresses the sticky issues of honey, monoculture honey production and what it takes to make plant-based alternatives:
Different ways of doing business, including cooperatives, B Corps, perpetual purpose trusts, stewardship ownership, DAOs, NFTs, and open source:
Catching up with Rachel Konrad, a former journalist who has spent the last decade-plus working for Tesla, Impossible Foods and now the Production Board:
Serial social entrepreneur, Sonalie Figueiras, tells us about her entrepreneurial journey and gives us an outlook on the plant-based & alternative proteins industry and why we should start with our plate to create a more sustainable future for our planet:
Thanks for reading! Have an awesome week 🙌🏾