Shaping the future of food

This is the sixth edition of our report on trends shaping the future of food. Each year, we gather all our knowledge on innovation all along the food value chain, from seeds to food products to grocery stores to health.

Innovation is coming from researchers and large corporations and, above all, from startups. Indeed, the entrepreneurial mindset is more agile and enables more risky ventures. While the food industry was long regarded as not disruptive enough for venture capital investments, things have changed. Even in the current context of tech investments decline, agriculture and food startups are getting heavily funded to reinvent how we grow food, shop and cook it.

Compared to last year’s edition, even if we added new trends that emerged during the year, the global evolution is less dramatic than it was previously. This is a visible consequence of the current lack of appetite of investors (and somewhat of large companies) to invest in long-term and unproven trends.

While the rhythm of innovation is slowing down in many categories, it is not always a sign of an imminent end or an eventual bubble exploding. It is instead a rationalisation of some excesses and elsewhere a sign of maturity. New challenges, such as scaling up these new technologies at an affordable price, are appearing, but again, they are also proof that in most segments of the value chain, things are moving forward.

Piece by piece, all the elements of the upcoming food revolution are taking shape. If we look at the big picture (precisely what we are trying to do with this report), it should lead us to a new stage where food is, at the same time, healthier for humans, animals and the planet.

From our analysis, we have identified 31 trends shaping the future of food. We have grouped them into six megatrends: the resilient farm, sustainable ingredients, food as medicine, the smart supply chain, digital retail, and food automation.