I’d like to focus on three graphs on the distribution of FoodTech investments, how alternative proteins could learn lessons from the success of electric vehicles, and how the perception of alcohol is changing.

1 – Distribution of FoodTech investments

We just published our first report on global FoodTech investments. Beyond the clear decline in investments, we also see a clear evolution in their distribution in categories (AgTech, alternative proteins…, etc.) and geographies.

As shown on the map below, FoodTech investments are spread out worldwide. Some regions have specificities, such as Asia, which is highly concentrated in Delivery or Oceania, with 95% of the investments in AgTech and Food Science.

This map shows that for a global agrifood business (or a specialised investor) seeking to source insights and eventual partnerships from the innovation ecosystem, having a global focus is now required. Relevant opportunities in upstream (agriculture) and mid-stream (transformation, new products, new ingredients) are now emerging all over the world and the competition to work with the best players is global.
Identifying and evaluating them becomes an increasingly important task that DigitalFoodLab can help you with.

2 – What can alternative proteins learn from the success of electric vehicles?

I know, talking about electric vehicles (EVs) “success” is a bit complicated right now. However, they have achieved impressive growth over the past decade. This recent report draws a parallel between EVs and alternative protein ecosystems and tries to identify lessons for the latter.

As shown in this graph comparing the two ecosystems value chains, there are still many gaps to funding alternative proteins, notably for scaling up the production (beyond venture capital funding).

While reading this report, the most striking point is the amount of public support, both financial, and political (through positive and negative incentives) that EVs have received over the past decade. This has been fundamental to incentivize private investments, which notably require visibility and stability.

For alternative proteins, even if companies are receiving more and more public financial support, the willingness to invest on this ecosystem both financially and politically is still quite modest (to say the least).

3 – Alcohol is now seen more and more negatively

The chart below displays a recent update of a survey of American consumers concerning their attitude to alcohol. While we are used to reading about the (relative) decline of alcohol consumption in certain age groups, I find it fascinating to see how strongly opinions have shifted. For a very long time, things were stable, with a large majority of 60 to 70% of consumers thinking that moderate alcohol consumption was positive or neutral regarding their health. This reversed quite suddenly around covid lockdowns, and now 45% of these consumers think that even moderate consumption is bad for them. As shown in the details of the study, this is even stronger for younger generations, with two-thirds of them thinking that drinking is bad for them.

Now, what’s really interesting is what will come out of that. As for tobacco (or certain types of food), we know that we are complex creatures: we can know that something is damaging in the long-term without changing our habits. However, as measured by this study, it already translates in a strong willingness to drink less, and for more than 20% of consumers, the best option would be to stop drinking.

If this trends is confirmed, it expands the already huge opportunity around new beverages, from health-driven (notably around hydration) drinks to alternatives to alcohol.