Growing food insecurity poses a threat to many nations worldwide that are potentially undoing decades of progress toward meeting the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
Prior to the pandemic, factors such as climate change, natural disasters, locust infestations, armed conflict, etc., contributed to an increase in poverty and famine. Now, the situation has gotten worse over the last two years as a result of lockdowns, lost livelihoods, and disruptions in the food supply chain.
Moreover, price inflation and the Russia-Ukraine war have exacerbated the mounting food insecurity and fear of a food catastrophe, leaving millions of people in dire need of food.
Hence, amidst the grave situation of looming food scarcity, global leaders and agriculture industry experts are placing their hopes on the emerging advanced technology in food manufacturing and supply chains as well as innovations in foodtech.
Severity of Global Food Security Threats
The World Bank reports that all nations, regardless of income level, have experienced inflation of more than 5%; the majority of those affected are low-income nations (94%) and high-income nations (70%).
Recently, the Ukraine-Russia war has changed trade, production, and consumption, which has led to price increases and exacerbated both inflation and food insecurity causing more burden on the already fragile global food supply chain.
Additionally, the expanding population, which is anticipated to increase from the present 7.6 billion people to 9.8 billion by 2050 and 11.2 billion by 2100, poses another danger to food security. According to the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), the world could run out of food in 2027 due to the rapidly expanding global population.
The World Bank conducted a quick phone poll in 83 countries in 2022 and discovered that households' calorie intake and nutrition were affected during the pandemic. The effects of food insecurity on children's health and cognitive growth are long-lasting. The crisis has interrupted the food supply chain, which harms food production and makes resources more expensive and scarcer.
Children in nations experiencing food crises are more likely to be malnourished due to a lack of food, inadequate newborn feeding techniques, a high rate of childhood illnesses, a lack of sanitation, and a lack of safe drinking water.
According to United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), acute malnutrition affects one kid every minute in nations experiencing crises due to global hunger. Children are suffering from an alarming degree of severe malnutrition because of rising prices brought on by the war between Russia-Ukraine and the economic consequences of the pandemic.
Innovations in the Food Industry Worldwide
The most promising solution to the present food shortage crisis and other concerns related to sustainability in the food and beverage industry seems to be the emerging food technology trends and innovative foods.
For instance, food tech firms and brands are incorporating waste reduction techniques as well as zero-waste workflows due to environmental concerns. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic had a strong influence on boosting Industry 4.0 technology adoption across the entire food value chain and raising food quality. With the use of robotics, e-commerce, and electronic food management technologies, food companies are digitizing their manufacturing lines.
A few of the latest examples of such incorporations of food tech in different parts of the world have been discussed in the article.
Upsurge in Israeli FoodTech Innovation
Israeli businesses are inventing amazing solutions to the food industry's biggest problems, like feeding an expanding population with decreasing food supply and developing meals without harming the environment.
These solutions range from fish manufactured from plants to 3D-printed meat. These innovations have led resulted in the production of plant-based meat, which arguably tastes as good as real meat.
Hadar Huberman, Lead for the Clean Growth Sector at the U.K.-Israel Tech Hub, explains, "the start-up nation has been coping with obstacles from the get-go. The nation had many challenges to solve, with the sword of survival hanging above its neck due to the threats made (and carried out) by its neighboring countries, combined with suffering from hot weather, a lack of natural resources, swamps, and a huge desert. It appears that Israel has stepped up to enable the world's adaptation and mitigation of the changing climate."
Today, Israel is home to more than 400 food tech businesses, more than 100 of which specialize in alternative proteins. Even though start-up status applies to more than 40% of these businesses, their ground-breaking technology has the potential to influence how one’s food will be produced in the future. MeaTech, Aleph Farms, Redefine Meat, Future Meat, and ChickP are just a few of the fascinating Israeli businesses that are revolutionizing the world's cuisine.
Bangkok to Emerge as the New "Food Tech Silicon Valley"
Bangkok is being encouraged to become the next "Silicon Valley" of food tech by the Thailand National Innovation Agency (NIA) in light of the present international security problem.
The "Space-F" program of the agency intends to increase investment in the Thai food industry. The effort, which has been going on for approximately three years, has been particularly helpful in times of crisis.
To establish Bangkok as a leader in food technology, the NIA has suggested using deep technology. The Space-F project aims to help the NIA achieve economic success not just in Thailand but also internationally. By enhancing the nine major food tech trends covered by the project, i.e., health and wellness, alternative proteins, smart manufacturing, packaging options, novel foods and ingredients, biomaterials and chemicals, restaurant technology, food safety and quality, and intelligent food services, it intends to achieve this.
A platform for entrepreneurs to expand their companies alongside the food sector by embracing deep tech and innovation has been provided by the NIA's investment in food tech start-ups as part of its program.
The organization's executives anticipated that the worldwide food tech market would reach a value of around $205 trillion by the end of 2025, and it would have enormous potential for future expansion.
Additionally, they are convinced that global deep tech in food and agriculture will continue to expand at the same rate as e-commerce and fintech, enabling Thai businesses to benefit from robust supply chains.
Conclusion
Food innovation is a very broad concept and an inexorable phenomenon that affects all parts of the supply chain and forces businesses to do everything in their power to make food more wholesome, delicious, and sustainable while addressing the threat to global food security.
Interested to know more about the growing technologies in your industry vertical? Get the latest market studies and insights from BIS Research. Connect with us at [email protected] to learn and understand more.
