New Food Invest Asia Pacific Discussed Growing Investment in Alt Protein

More than 200 participants took part in the third edition of the New Food Invest conference series, which focused this time on the Asia Pacific region. The online conference was held on 15 February and co-hosted by global food awareness organization ProVeg International and business networking and investment platform Beyond Animal. 

“It was a fantastic opportunity for plant-based companies and investors to get together, to fully understand the landscape in Asia for plant-based companies and, of course, to get involved in dealmaking to accelerate innovative products to market,” Antje Raeuscher, co-head of ProVeg Incubator, ProVeg’s alternative protein accelerator, said. 

Focusing on the Asia Pacific markets, the conference covered the current state of affairs with alternative protein, sustainable finance and corporate investment in Asia as well as  panels focusing on China and India and those ingredients of most relevance to the Asian market. 

Among the organizations presenting was the Good Food Institute APAC, which revealed that investments into alternative protein companies in Asia Pacific rose substantially from 2021 to 2022 in all three pillars of alternative proteins: plant-based, fermentation, and cultivated. Year-on-year, total APAC alternative protein investments increased by 43%, from USD392m to USD562m. 

“There is strong interest in the plant-based market globally and it is a market that continues to grow at a swift pace, and especially in Asia Pacific, which is fast catching up with Europe and the Americas. Many companies and investors recognise the value of a conference like New Food Invest, which is exclusively focused on overcoming the challenges of the current funding environment and taking advantage of the opportunities that it offers,” Claire Smith, Founder of Beyond Animal, said.

Among the plant-based companies at the event were UMAMI, a Singapore-based, cultivated seafood startup, Shiok Meats, a cultivated meat and seafood company also based in Singapore, Eden Brew, a company specializing in animal-free dairy products, and Cultimate Foods, which makes a cultivated fat alternative for plant-based meat.