Organisation:
ID Capital, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Bühler Group, Dole Sunshine Company
Resource Link:
Published in 2022, Link
My Key Takeaways
We often think about upcycling for just fashion and consumer products but might there also be promising food upcycling opportunities in Asia too?
Sorry but what’s Upcycled Food?
Upcycled food “uses ingredients that otherwise would not have gone to human consumption, are procured and produced using verifiable supply chains, and have a positive impact on the environment.” – Upcycled Food Association
Food Upcycling Obstacles in Asia
Even before the food can be upcycled, there are already staggering upstream food losses in South and Southeast Asia (Pg 15) – an eye watering amount of more than 50% of vegetables and fruits are lost!
It’s also resource-intensive for small farmers to collect and store high volumes of agriresidues (e.g. sugar cane, palm oil) on a farm.
“Often, you’re competing with a tank of gasoline and a match, which is quick and cheap” (CEO, Sustinent)
Buzzing Interest in Insect Feed
Asia produces 89% of total farmed fish by volume globally in the last 20 years [FAO], driving the growth of insect feed often seen as nutritious and immuno-positive. Insect feed could appeal to consumers demanding less antibiotic use and ‘carbon neutral’ or ‘omega-3 rich’ eggs and fish.
Demand is expected to rise across Asia for some insects like the meal worm, crickets, grasshoppers and the black soldier fly (BSF). BSF is particularly popular due to the possibility of extracting chitin, which has several medicinal, industrial and biotechnological uses.
You can find on page 36 an ecosystem map of Black Soldier Fly players in Asia.
Verdict’s still out there for the ideal insect business model for Asia (Pg 36)
Centralised (Ynsect, Enterra, AgriProtein, Entocycle) versus Decentralised (Protenga’s smart insect farm, Loopworm’s indoor insect vertical farms adjacent to micro-breweries & bread manufacturers)
Country highlights for Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore with info on food waste statistics, initiatives, challenges and growth opportunities for agrifood players (Pg 20 – 23, 41 – 43)
In Singapore – just 19% of food waste gets recycled whereas 81% is incinerated!
Under the Singapore Green Plan 2030 which aims to reduce waste sent to landfills by 30% by 2030, large commercial and industrial food waste generators must segregate their food waste for treatment from 2024 onwards.
Notable projects would be Tuas Nexus – Singapore’s first integrated water and solid waste treatment facility. The facility allows the codigestion of food waste slurry (extracted from up to 400 tons of food waste per day) and used water sludge, thereby increase its biogas production and carbon savings.
In Indonesia, food loss is dominated by grains (e.g. rice, corn) with vegetables processing being the most inefficient with 62.8% loss!
See figure on page 23 for an overview of the country’s commodities production volumes.
Overview of Singapore’s Food R&D (Pg 24-25), notably initiatives by A*STAR Singapore Institute of Food and Biotechnology Innovation (SIFBI):
1) Natural Product Library of more than 160,000 specimens to help companies discover novel strains
2) Waste-to-Resource circular Bioeconomy programme
3) Two Singapore Standards for Food Waste Management
4) A*STAR-Westcom consortium converts mixed food waste to odourless fertilizer within 24h, saving up to 50% electricity from low operating temperature
Funding to fight food waste (Pg 38-40)
1) UN’s Food Loss & Waste Finance Facility for deal making and blended financing
2) World Bank’s 2-year US$77M Sustainability Bond
3) Dole’s US$2M nutrition solutions & sustainability fund
4) Singapore’s National Environment Agency’s (NEA) 3R fund
5) Nordic Innovation House – Singapore’s Water-Waste-Food Virtual Market Entry Programme
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Parting thought from the report…
If we can agree on transparent & understandable standards to measure carbon impact from food rescue in Asia, the benefits could perhaps be quantified, rewarded and further amplified through carbon credits.
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About Zhilin SIM
Having worked and lived in Singapore, the Nordics, China, Spain, UK, I’m now based in Paris.
I’m fluent in English, French and Mandarin, and I’m learning Arabic because it’s a beautiful and fascinating language.
My team creates and supports one-many initiatives connecting corporate and startup ecosystems in Europe to business and innovation opportunities in Singapore and Southeast Asia.
I’m passionate about horticulture, watercolour, startups/tech as well as French cuisine, Peranakan kueh techniques and other global cuisines.
Feel free to connect with me if you think my network in Europe and Asia could be of benefit to your business and innovation activities.
