Global investment company Temasek has launched the Asia Sustainable Foods Platform, which will focus on scaling up alt-protein production and accelerating the development of sustainable foods in the region.
The new initiative will support food-tech companies through every stage, from product development to commercialisation. It will provide R&D advisory and pilot-scale manufacturing facilities, larger-scale manufacturing capabilities, and market insights into commercialisation opportunities. The Platform will also invest in promising startups and provide companies with a network of connections.
Temasek has previously invested in a range of alt-protein companies, including Impossible Foods, Perfect Day, and Growthwell Foods. The Asia Sustainable Foods Platform is a logical next step in the investment company’s drive to create a more sustainable food system.
Partnerships
The Platform has already announced partnerships with two leading industry experts — German agri-food multinational CREMER, which has expertise in plant-based protein, and global nutrition leader ADM.
The CREMER partnership will help to increase the Platform’s manufacturing capabilities for plant-based products, particularly with regards to high moisture extrusion (HME) technology. Currently, very few Asian companies have significant HME capabilities.
The Platform will also form a joint venture with ADM to enable development and manufacturing of microbial proteins via precision fermentation. This will help both small and larger food-tech companies to scale up efficiently. ADM is already very active in the precision fermentation industry, having worked with companies such Nature’s Fynd and Air Protein.
“Our key differentiating factor is our end-to-end enabler, operator, and investor capabilities that provide bespoke solutions and support to aspiring food-tech companies at every stage of their growth cycle,” said Asia Sustainable Foods Platform CEO Mathys Boeren. “With our support to remove friction-to-adoption, companies can speed up their product development and pilot launch, as well as accelerate their commercial scale-up and go-to-market. In the end, it is our goal to delight consumers across Asia with tasty, fresh, traceable, and sustainable food.”
