The Plant-Based Boom - A New HighCapacity Manufacturing Solution to Keep up with Consumer Demand

The global food industry is facing the enormous challenge of feeding a population of 10 billion people, a number we are expected to reach by 2050.

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Our food supply chains are very complex, comprising multiple steps, from the farm to storage, transport, processing, retail and ending eventually on the consumer’s plate. The way we produce out food takes its toll on the planet, taking up 70% of the world’s available freshwater for agriculture in addition to a tremendous amount of energy, and contributing to nearly a quarter of global green-house gas emissions. Despite all of this, one-third of all food produced ultimately goes to waste.

With population growth comes an expected change in demographics. A shift towards more urban lifestyles, with the majority of the world eventually living in cities, suggests an increase in purchasing power. With the growing awareness among consumers of balanced and protein-rich diets, there is a tendency towards putting as much protein on the plate as possible. Looking at our existing protein value chain, it is estimated that with livestock farming, 45% of protein produced worldwide is lost during the conversion of plant protein to animal protein. Beyond these inefficiencies, the overproduction of animal-based protein for human consumption has been the leading cause of the most recent pandemics, from COVID-19 and SARS to swine flu and bird flu, among many others.