Our food system is broken; our current modes of food production are unsustainable and cannot be scaled to double in order to meet the needs of a population that is expected to grow to 9.8 billion by 2050. This leads to a pressing need to rethink every part of the agri-food supply chain from farm to fork. In particular, the environmental and health implications of industrial animal agriculture are devastating. As the average consumer, notably millennials, are becoming increasingly conscious of this, we are seeing a shift towards healthier and more sustainable food products. With this increase in demand, it is estimated that alternative proteins will make up a third of the world’s protein consumption by 2050.
From reducing and upcycling food waste, unlocking novel ingredients and food processing methods, to creating more sustainable plant-based and cell-based alternatives, Brinc believes innovation is the key to feeding our population in a sustainable manner, and the meat, egg, & dairy sectors represent a $700 billion global market that is ripe for innovation and large-scale disruption.
Avant Meats cell-based fish maw (fish bladders popular in Asian soups)
Phuture Foods – plant based minced pork
Through accelerator programs in Food Technology & Alternative Proteins, Brinc invests in founders using technology to solve the deep-rooted inefficiencies in the food system and helps build their businesses to create a more sustainable food supply. Their portfolio companies include Phuture Foods, which is creating plant-based pork products catered to the Asian taste profile, GROUNDED, which is producing a clean plant-based protein shake, Journey Foods, which is an AI-driven cloud-based food database to support food producers in ingredient optimisation, Cerealthy, which is producing plant-based milks in a convenient powder form for use in coffee machines, Hakko Bako, which is building a smart fermentation chamber and Avant Meats, which is using cell technology to grow fish-based products in labs rather than harvesting from our oceans. The application for their Spring ‘20 Accelerator Program, through which they are looking to invest $80K USD in Food Tech startups from across the globe to add to their 110 portfolio teams, are open until February 15th, 2020 (This SAT!). Please spread the word 🙂
Article By: Natalie Lung, Program Manager at Brinc (natalie.lung@brinc.io)
