| Was this email forwarded to you? Follow us on LinkedIn and join our community today | | | Insightful 🤓 Inspiring 💡 That’s some of of the feedback we received on the 7th edition of Future Food Asia. We were delighted (yes we really were) to have to add more chairs since even more delegates came in as the conference was progressing. And whilst numbers matter, this is the level of engagement from delegates and speakers we are proudest of. Energizing ⚡️ Courageous 💪🏼 Honest 😇 It all started with the opening keynote by Dr Ismahane Elouafi, Chief Scientist at FAO, on the importance of science, technology and innovation for the transformation of agrifood systems in Asia Pacific. | | Dr Ismahane Elouafi, delivering the keynote at FFA 2023 | Sounding the alarm on the slow progress that has been made on the SDG goals – we are at the mid-way point, however the statistics are underwhelming with only 12% of KPIs on track, 50% moderately on track and 40% that have had no movement or regressed – she also highlighted some positives: Providing it is backed by strong science & innovation, the agriculture sector can be part of climate change solutions through its carbon sequestration abilities. Large investments in frontier science and technologies, like gene editing and biotechnology, can be transformative if they are made accessible at scale and with particular focus on the Global South. Science is essential to provide understanding of the differences of view on contentious issues, for greater policy coherence, shared ownership and collective action. FAO supports its 194 member countries on evidence-based international discussions, so regulators can make informed national decisions. In that spirit the use of the term “alternative proteins” is discouraged. The FAO will soon release their analysis on the cultivated meat opportunity.
As we started to unbundle how and where science & innovation had a critical role to play, honesty was of the essence at FFA: there is simply no other way to address complex & often interdependent challenges, as was evidenced by debates as diverse as Biodiversity : Why should investors care?, Can we turn agriculture from climate culprit to carbon sink? or Is Desert Agriculture the Next Frontier? Everybody enjoyed meeting the South Korean delegation and the word “courageous” should very much apply to our Korean speakers as well, as it can be a little intimidating to face the FFA crowd for the first time! Unsurprisingly, discussions on the Future of Proteins in Asia and how to produce them sustainably, triggered heated debates. Special thanks to Nimesh Kedia, Dalal AlGhawas, Saket Jhajharia and Sze Tan for elegantly moderating these discussions! It cannot be a complete coincidence that our 3 award winners illustrate three completely different but perfectly complementary and much needed solutions. | | Hailing from Freemantle in Australia, Xsights Digital has developed a patented XIoT tag that enables affordable and scalable tracking of livestock location and health monitoring, allowing for real-time data collection and processing. Pre-weaning and grower mortality is an issue plaguing the pig farming industry in particular. Xsights has the potential to reduce this loss, that amounts to about 20% on average. Steve Wildisen, Co founder and CEO added that this technology also has broader applications for the agrifood industry, including biosecurity, supply chain management, breeding optimization, and pasture & carbon management. Xisights bagged the USD 100,000 Future Food Asia Award 2023.
At a time where we are in dire need of solutions to tackle climate change, we cannot afford to leave this loss unaddressed, and waste precious resources, from feed to antibiotics, to grow animals that will never end on our plates.
Koralo from Münich, is the first company worldwide co-fermenting microalgae and mycelium of edible mushrooms. With their “New F!sh” Koralo enriches the choice of seafood we eat with superior taste, texture and nutrition at a competitive cost. Best positioned to take advantage of the growth and opportunities in Asia, Koralo won the inaugural Gateway to Asia Award. South Korea is the first Asian country that will enjoy their delicious products, and the tremendous energy and passion of Sina Albanese, its Co-Founder & Co-CEO, and ID Capital will further support their expansion strategy in the region. And finally, echoing the focus on China, and coming straight from Guangzhou, Tidetron’s founder Dr Zhiqian Zhang captivated the attention of the audience with the narration of his meteorical journey as an entrepreneur, taking their synthetic biology manufacturing platform from Zero to US$ 72M in 18 months. Anything we can write on Tidetron becoming quickly obsolete, we would simply like to congratulate them for being awarded a special award for the Fastest Growing Agrifood Biotech Startup in China. | | | | With the greatest appreciation for your participation at FFA 2023, and an immense thank you to our fantastic partners from all of us at Team ID Capital. | |
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