The 2019 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas revealed thousands of new and innovative advancements in technology. Surprisingly though, the focus was primarily on food and sustainability, and the unexpected winner this year was Impossible Food‘s famous plant-based Impossible Burger, which was named the Top Tech of CES 2019 by Digital Trends.
“Food has always been a technology; it’s just that it wasn’t branded like a technology,” Impossible Foods COO and CFO David Lee told CNBC.
Meat alternatives are expected to continue growing: market for meat substitutes was estimated to be worth $4.63 billion in 2018 and estimated to be reach $6.43 billion by 2023, according to recent research.
One of the reasons drawing tech companies towards food technology is said to be the recent scandals regarding online security and tech addiction: food technology has an obvious value and is always on demand, CNBC says. Additionally, investors and entrepreneurs are driven by the growth of demand in the food market, as well as by the need to create sustainable food options.
The pressure to find solutions to end world hunger and to protect the environment is higher than ever, especially after the United Nation’s report on climate change, which warns that the world has only 12 years to make significant changes in the global infrastructure and calls for urgent action.
