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Every small progress of
food technology deserves our cheers – because it represents the future!

 ”

Text: Laurel

Source: foodaily daily food (ID: foodaily)

Just in the past year 2021, the global epidemic has fluctuated repeatedly, and the domestic new consumption movement continues to make rapid progress. The continuous release of economic dividends and consumption transformation have led to category fission, track differentiation and the birth of new species.

The development of the food industry is also changing with each passing day. The national strategy of “Rural Revitalization” drives agriculture to accelerate its modernization and digitization; The supply chain is becoming more and more mature, continuously improving the efficiency of industrial division of labor, so that start-up brands can fly high; The new business form represented by social E-commerce makes the retail channel sink infinitely, and then detonates new consumer demand.

In the overall upgrading of the industrial chain, technical factors are becoming more and more important. Technological progress has become the first driving force for industrial development, from promoting new processing and packaging technologies for categories, to agricultural preservation technologies and block chain technologies that practice the concept of sustainability, and then to the Internet of things, cloud computing and artificial intelligence that promote production and R & D efficiency.

As an important wind vane of economic development, unicorn enterprises are considered to be the concentrated embodiment of scientific and technological innovation. Digital Food Lab, a well-known European food industry insight and strategy consulting company, released the 2021 food technology Unicorn report at the end of last year. From this, we can have an overview of the prosperity of global food technology.

Source: Digital Food Lab

The report shows that the vast majority (67%) of Unicorn companies focus on logistics, including takeout and food online shopping platforms. Most of them are Chinese enterprises in this field, but at present, there are also technology companies in Europe. Although alternative protein and plant base have been paid attention to all the time, and four leading brands beyond meat, just, impossible and oatly have led the development, few start-ups in this field have reached the level of Unicorn. From the distribution map of Unicorn companies in various fields, it can be seen that Chinese and foreign enterprises learn from each other in different fields of food technology such as catering and retail, alternative protein and plant-based.

In terms of the number of unicorns, the United States has 35% of the food technology unicorns, leading the world; Europe and Asia account for 27% and 35% respectively, of which Asia is mainly concentrated in China (9) and India (3).

With the continuous advancement of economic globalization, the global food supply chain is experiencing deep integration. We urgently need to rely on food science and technology innovation to supplement the shortcomings of basic research and key core technologies, so as to better participate in global competition. Taking stock of the technologies that are and will affect the development of the food industry around the world is a key step to learn from the good and complement the weak points!

 

has not gone in the past: traditional technology hotspots still show strong magnetic force

Although intestinal health, protein replacement, sugar control and storage and preservation have become the old holes in the food industry, new technical solutions and corresponding new raw materials and packaging materials have been emerging.

1. Intestines, multi pronged approach to health

The epidemic not only makes consumers pay more attention to their health, but also makes the demand for health in the consumer market more subdivided. Doctor Chunyu × Huorun 2021 intestinal health white paper points out that more than 90% of the population are suffering from or have experienced gastrointestinal discomfort in the past, and students and working people have become the “main force” of intestinal problems. The digestive extension mentioned in foodaily’s recently released “top ten annual business hotspots of daily food” is to start from the outer edge of the intestine and drive the attention to general health.

Lactose intolerance is a common intestinal digestion and absorption problem. According to the report of 2021 China dairy index, about 190 million Chinese claim to have lactose intolerance symptoms, of which 65.7% believe that they can’t drink milk as long as they are lactose intolerant. In response to this situation, IFF launched nurica enzyme to decompose lactose in milk into prebiotic galactooligosaccharide (GOS) fiber, which can not only reduce lactose content, but also bring balanced sweetness and cool feeling of natural milk. More importantly, nurica enzyme can be directly added during milk processing and can ensure the uniformity of the product, because the GOS fiber produced remains stable throughout the shelf life. In addition, the use of the enzyme does not require significant pipeline changes or the addition of additional equipment.

How much attention the world pays to intestinal health may be seen from the incubation project of PepsiCo 2021. Three of the 10 projects are related to intestinal health. Biolemen’s natural 3D structure fiber can expand hundreds of times in the stomach and absorb sugar and fat. It also releases prebiotics in the intestine and promotes the growth of probiotics. It can not only reduce calorie intake, but also promote intestinal health. Biosustainlabs digest + is a product that goes beyond ordinary probiotic supplements. It constructs a perfect combination to maintain intestinal health and strong immunity: it contains Bacillus coagulans, pomegranate extract and guar bean fiber. Carbiotix AB provides consumers with personalized microbiome regulators through a series of intestinal health tests.

Source: biosustainlabs official website

 

The importance of probiotics for intestinal health has been recognized by the majority of consumers. As one of the most key quality indicators of probiotic products, the number of live bacteria is gradually valued and claimed by major brands. Based on the possible inactivation of probiotics during manufacturing, transportation and digestion, Swiss manufacturer Omya International AG has developed a new mineral solution to improve the stability, performance and survival of probiotics before reaching the intestine. The new product solution is proved to be an effective stabilizer in spray drying, shelf life and in vitro digestion of active probiotics.

Lallemand, a probiotic supplier in France, launched nutrajit technology to embed the outer layer of probiotic tablets or capsules. It can form gel barrier in low pH value environment and protect probiotic formula from gastric acid. After reaching the intestine, it decomposes with the increase of pH, releases bacteria and plays a role. In addition to the inactivation factors of probiotics such as gastric acid and high temperature, the harm of oxygen to anaerobic bacteria can not be ignored. MIT has developed a polyphenol based coating (MPN) to protect anaerobic bacteria from oxygen. The coating is made of iron (III) ions and three polyphenols. Anaerobic intestinal probiotics Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron also has higher survival rate when it is coated with MPN and lyophilized without traditional cryoprotectants.

Source: nutrition insight

 

2. Hypoglycemic 0 anti sugar, how to embrace sweet friends?

Yuanqi forest has set off a sugar free upsurge in China. Hot words such as zero card, Zero sugar, sugar control and anti sugar show people’s unremitting pursuit of health. The 2020 technology inventory article released by foodaily last year summarized three directions of global sugar reduction technology. One year later, what new ideas for reducing sugar have emerged?

(1) Turning something into nothing: making healthy food lower in sugar

For drinks with high sugar content, reduce sugar by enzymatic or fermentation. The Israeli company better juice passes the fruit juice through a “chromatographic column” containing non transgenic microorganisms, which will convert the sugar (fructose, glucose and sucrose) in the fruit juice into dietary fiber and non digestible sugar. This process can reduce the sugar content in fruit juice by up to 80%. Sweet Y-3 launched by cohenson uses the fermentation process to reduce the conversion of lactose to glucose and naturally enhance the sweetness of yogurt. After using the product, each 100g yogurt can reduce the addition of 1G sugar at most, and can provide thicker and richer texture for dairy products.

(2) Fiber sugar substitutes: not only low in calories, but also good for health

The natural sweetener erythritol is on fire in Yuanqi forest. Nowadays, natural sweeteners have been used to replace traditional sucrose in the field of food and beverage. Facing the health needs of consumers. The sweeteners developed by some technology companies are not only natural, but also healthy. B.t. sweets, a start-up company, launched cambya, a sugar substitute made of soluble fiber, plant medicine and Siraitia grosvenorii. Sucrose can be replaced by cambya of the same quality during food production. Since soluble fiber is one of the main components of this alternative sugar, B.t. sweets said it can improve digestion and increase satiety.

Source: the spoon

 

The supply company, a British start-up, converts long-chain sugars in fiber plants such as corncob and wheat straw into oligosaccharides and sugars, and then combines them to form the so-called “fiber sugar”. This fiber sugar behaves like sucrose in food applications from cake to chocolate, with a sweetness of about two-thirds of sucrose and only 1.8 calories per gram. The founder said that it metabolizes like fiber and will be metabolized by intestinal bacteria after reaching the large intestine, which is a prebiotic effect.

(3) Can you reduce sugar by feeling sugar in another way?

There is a product that can reduce sugar only by changing the contact efficiency between sugar and tongue. That is the product launched by Israeli start-up Doux matok: sugar molecules can be more effectively diffused on the tongue by filling silica with many voids. Therefore, food companies can reduce the sugar content of their products by 40% without affecting the taste. As an upgrade, Doux matok replaced silica with an undisclosed, tasteless, calorie free mineral that the company says is more effective. Douxmatok said that products using incredo sugar will be on shelves in the United States in the second half of 2021.

Source: douxmatok official website

 

3. Storage & preservation: this ancient pursuit always has fresh solutions

Fresh food occupies an important position in the retail market, and there will always be a place for fresh food on the table. Freshness is the soul of fresh food. Due to the short shelf life, pay special attention to preservation during transportation and storage. The food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that one third of the world’s food produced each year is wasted or lost. With the development of scientific and technological intelligence, we can see that today’s storage and preservation methods are more scientific, automated and Internet of things.

The sterilization technology before the product leaves the factory largely determines the shelf life of food. Russian researchers have developed a cheap, safe and reliable surface disinfection technology for packaged eggs, which helps to kill bacteria on the eggshell, including Salmonella. The electron beam can sterilize the packaged eggs in 50 nanoseconds (billionths of a second), protecting the eggs from contamination during subsequent transportation and storage. It is also a Chinese enterprise making chicken related products. It has developed a non irradiation fresh locking technology for pickled pepper and chicken feet, sterilized through automatic process and environmental control, and won the first prize of 2021 science and technology award of China Food Industry Association.

Source: food ingredients

 

As a barrier between fresh food and the outside world, packaging is not only to avoid food damage, but also an important means to keep fresh. The invisible edible coating of surfresca, an Israeli agricultural technology start-up, can be applied to the surface of cherry tomato, cucumber, mango and other fruits to prolong the shelf life. The coating extends the shelf life of fruits and vegetables for several weeks through advanced modified atmosphere technology, so as to save plastic packaging. Also using the air conditioning technology is the resealable “Grab-n-Go” vertical bag launched by stepac, which can adjust the humidity, actively slow down the food maturation and aging process, maintain the freshness of fruits and vegetables and significantly prolong the product shelf life. Due to the advanced air conditioning technology, the built-in cold chain control of vertical bag can basically ensure the high visibility of packaged products under different supply chain conditions. At present, divine flavor, an American fruit and vegetable dealer, has used it to transport pumpkins, Persian cucumbers and sweet peppers from Mexico to the United States.

Source: food ingredients

 

Modified atmosphere packaging can also be used on bread with high moisture content. SOFRESH, an American company, invented an anti mildew packaging made of moisture activated materials, which injects natural extracts approved by the U.S. Department of agriculture into the film to release controlled active steam in the food packaging. Mold spores absorb steam and slow down metabolism. Steam is safe to human body, odorless and tasteless, leaving no residue. It can avoid the use of preservatives such as calcium propionate. It can extend the shelf life of about 10 days and reduce logistics and refrigeration costs. In 2022, SOFRESH will extend the technology to mold in berry packaging such as strawberries, raspberries and blackberries.

Source: SOFRESH

 

According to the research data of the U.S. Department of agriculture, at the retail end, 2% of all foods have to be discarded because of unsalable and beyond the shelf life, most of which are fruits, vegetables and dairy products, mainly due to poor inventory management. The food that consumers buy back and throw away because they haven’t eaten accounts for 1 / 4 of the total food supply. Aiming at waste in the family, robot manufacturer Simbe has launched tally 3.0 robot, which can carry out spectral imaging of agricultural products and meat and detect their freshness. For agricultural products, it can indicate the percentage of maturity and determine whether fruits or vegetables are rotten, damaged or scratched. For domestic waste, Australian researchers have developed a colorimetric sensor attached to food packaging to let consumers know when to eat. When food or drink is fresh, the sensor is blue; When the food should be eaten as soon as possible, the sensor turns purple; When food goes bad, the sensor turns red.

Source: Simbe official website

 

4. How can protein substitutes, which have high hopes, be more delicious and healthier?

In 2021, plant meat products such as plant meat moon cakes, plant meat hemp potatoes, plant meat shreds, plant meat bags and plant fund Marlin emerged one after another in the Chinese market. According to Euromonitor International, by 2023, the scale of China’s artificial meat market will reach US $13 billion. Almost half of the world. Kerry, a food ingredient company, pointed out in a research report on American plant meat released in 2019 that taste is still the first obstacle for plant-based alternative foods to win the favor of consumers. If plant meat and alternative protein want to further seize the market share, they must at least reach or surpass the same level of animal protein in taste, texture and price.

At present, most of the oils in vegetable meat are coconut oil, rapeseed oil and other vegetable oils. Although they meet the needs of vegetarianism, the function of vegetable oil is not like animal fat. Because of the low melting point, vegetable oil seeps from meat early in cooking, so startups and established companies have been trying to solve this persistent problem. Fragrance company unable to hide greeds from the Dynarome TR, the fragrance is introduced to provide the natural, authentic and mouth watering cooking aroma for plant meat. Dynanome tr realizes “customized flavor release” at high temperature by customizing the composition of lipid phase, so that plant meat basically has no aroma at low temperature in the early stage of refrigeration or cooking, and releases attractive cooked flavor in the later stage of cooking and eating.

Mycorena mycoprotein, a Swedish company, has developed a fungus based fat component that reproduces the taste of animal steak. In addition to fat providing aroma, protein can also. Motif FoodWorks, an American start-up, launched hemami heme binding protein, which can provide “the flavor and aroma of real meat”, and can be used in fresh or frozen plant hamburgers, meat patties, sausages and other meat analogues. Although the main function of myoglobin in food is seasoning, it will show red when exposed to air, so it can also be used as a color additive to make plant meat closer to animal meat in terms of color, flavor and taste. In addition to color, ounje, developed by yemoja, a start-up company of marine ingredients, can also imitate the red juice of real meat in texture. Ounje comes from red microalgae and can be used in plant burgers and steaks.

Source: ingredients network

   

In recent years, algae has become a new source of plant protein that can meet the needs of manufacturers and consumers: it can be produced naturally in large quantities anywhere, and can have low carbon footprint and high nutrients. Tofurky, an American vegetable meat producer, is working with Triton algae innovations to bring algae based artificial meat to the market. Triton’s “basic red” algae, rich in protein, vitamin A and iron, will become the key components of new product formulations in the future. Sophie’s bionutrients, a Singapore company, announced that it had developed the world’s first microalgae based artificial milk without dairy products, which can be safely eaten by patients with lactose intolerance.

The world’s first microalgae based artificial milk without dairy products source: Sophie’s bionutrients

 

Mushroom tastes are naturally layered and can simulate the taste of meat, so many companies have developed it into plant meat. Fable food, an Australian plant meat company, mainly uses mushrooms as raw materials to launch instant mushroom meat products such as hand torn pork, braised beef and beef brisket. The key to fable’s breakthrough from a large number of plant meat brands is the cost advantage. At present, the price is about $19 / kg, which is equivalent to the price of some pork in the supermarket. Meati, an American start-up, chose the roots of mushrooms to make complete cuts, such as sliced steak on salad or chicken breast fried with bread crumbs.

Source: meati

 

Different from plant meat, cell culture meat uses animal muscle and fat cells as raw materials for large-scale and low-cost cell culture in vitro. Compared with plant meat, cell culture meat has higher technical barriers and longer commercialization cycle, but it can better restore the taste and taste of animal meat. Cellx, a Chinese cell culture meat company, demonstrated cell culture meat pieces with fiber sense and three-dimensional structure in China in September 2021. Cellx uses biological scaffold technology to make cell culture meat not only in the state of minced meat, but into meat pieces with tissue structure. 3D bioprinting technology can not only make cells structured, but also meet people’s customized needs in the future. For example, by adjusting the ratio of muscle fat to make it show different meat texture.

Source: cellx

 

the future has come: new opportunities derived from aging, carbon neutralization

I always feel that the macro words such as aging and carbon neutralization are far away from us, but when I see the census data and the introduction of double carbon related policies, and see major industries and enterprises involved, I have to sigh: the future is really coming.

1. Aging and coping with aging are taking place

The global population aged 65 and over is growing faster than the young group. According to world population Outlook: the 2019 revision, by 2050, one in six people in the world will be over the age of 65 (16%), compared with 11 (9%) in 2019. Aging is a problem and challenge that every country will encounter, so we should pay attention to aging and the elderly.

Due to the inhibition of anabolism, the elderly need more protein intake per meal. Weight loss and muscle attenuation are key indicators of disease-related malnutrition in the elderly. Muscle loss is often accompanied by more serious complications. In order to meet the key nutritional needs of the elderly, major food companies have launched products. Arla foods has introduced a pure food with unique nutrients β- Lacprodan blg-100, a lactoglobulin (BLG) ingredient, contains 45% more leucine (the main muscle amino acid) than the commercially available isolated whey protein. The high amino acid content of lacprodan blg-100 means that it can promote the synthesis of muscle protein, minimize the loss of muscle mass and maintain physical activity.

Source: Dairy reporter

     

Cosmox launched chrytri from chrysanthemum, which can not only improve muscle function and muscle production, but also reduce muscle decomposition by inhibiting Atrogin-1 and MuRF1 (which can increase muscle atrophy by activating protein hydrolysis). It can be used in drinks and nutrition bars. Ingredient MitoPrime L- ergosterol, developed by NNB Nutrition, helps restore mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), and increasing MMP is believed to help combat age-related muscle degeneration in the elderly. Mitoprime is produced by natural fermentation process. It is suitable for food, beverage, powder and capsule. At present, it has applied for a patent in China. In addition to muscles, the joints of the elderly are also easy to age with age. Studies have found that 70% of people over the age of 60 have osteoarthritis. Natural eggshell membrane (NEM) launched by American raw material suppliers is one of the few globally recognized joint health ingredients. Studies have shown that it can reduce joint pain and stiffness in patients with grade 2 and 3 knee arthritis.

2. Should the food industry also embark on the journey of carbon neutralization?

In the context of the rapid awakening of Chinese consumers’ environmental awareness, for food enterprises, carbon neutralization is not a icing on the cake public welfare project, but a necessary move to practice social responsibility and meet consumers’ demand for sustainable products. Globally, the world’s leading food enterprises have developed “in full swing” in the field of carbon neutralization and have been widely recognized by consumers, investors and other people from all walks of life. At the same time, we are also pleased to see that although domestic enterprises started late, many enterprises are eager to try.

(1) Visualize carbon reduction, starting with packaging

Compared with the “whole chain carbon reduction” carried out by industry giants, many food enterprises start from the packaging that is most easily perceived by consumers. A study by IgD shopper Vista found that 41% of consumers reduced or stopped using disposable plastics, and 63% thought that reusable or recycled packaging was “very important” for them when choosing products. Consumers’ strong willingness to pay for green packaging has prompted food enterprises to reduce their carbon footprint from three aspects: recyclability, degradability and carbon emission reduction.

• Recyclable

On the road of recyclable packaging, technology is indispensable. In 2021, PepsiCo cooperated with pulpex, a packaging technology company, to launch the world’s first 100% recyclable paper bottle. With sustainable and renewable wood pulp as raw material, it is treated with food grade water-based coating to prevent leakage and provide oxygen and moisture barrier. The top cover is also recyclable. French biodegradable plastic manufacturer lacips cooperates with citeo, an environmental non-profit organization, to launch plastic free paper coating packaging and develop a cellulose matrix coating solution. Plastic free paper is completely biological and can ensure the full recyclability of paper. Aptar announced that its Neo sealing solution for the infant formula market is now made from food grade renewable raw materials. Polypropylene bottle caps are made from renewable materials that can be purchased sustainably from different types of renewable resources – such as used edible oil and residues from petroleum processing. Coveris, a sustainable packaging manufacturer, and ornua foods, a manufacturer, have launched a series of lightweight, fully recyclable bags for the grated cheese of Tesco, a British retailer. From a mixed three-layer nylon laminate (one of the most difficult to recycle materials) to a fully recyclable polyethylene (PE) single-layer structure with built-in barrier properties. The weight of each bag of plastic is reduced by 680 mg to further reduce carbon.

Source: Pepsi Cola official website

 

• Easily degradable

In order to prevent the proliferation of plastic waste, the EU has passed the disposable plastic directive, which completely prohibits the use of disposable tableware, straw and other plastic products in 2021. To this end, many European companies have launched bio based plastics, such as the plant protein based bio plastics developed by xampla, a technology company affiliated to Cambridge University, the alternative packaging materials made of popcorn production by-products developed by the University of gothentine in Germany, and the Swedish company unicup Scandinavia AB has launched a new bio based cover made of spruce and pine, Coca Cola cooperates with Changchun Meihe technology and UPM to launch the first 100% plant plastic beverage bottle made of plant p-xylene (BPX) and corn sugar. For the existing plastic waste, some companies have come up with countermeasures: the University of Edinburgh uses E. coli to convert PET plastic into vanillin, a commonly used seasoning in the food industry, and the French biotechnology company carbios uses a new enzymatic process to recycle food grade PET plastic bottles.

Source: unicup Scandinavia ab

• Carbon reduction and emission reduction

For some specific foods and packaging, there are other ways to reduce carbon emissions: AB InBev launched “the lightest beer bottle in the world”, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 17% per bottle; Ultrathinpe Tec developed by Nordic packaging material manufacturers can make the plastic content in disposable paper cups less than 5%; Elopak launched pure Pak aseptic cartons. The aluminum layer was completely removed in the middle, and the carbon footprint was reduced by 28%. Coincidentally, China Jindian also launched 0 aluminum foil aseptic brick packaging in 2021 to reduce the carbon footprint and help achieve carbon neutralization.

Source: Elopak

 

(2) Waste utilization: seemingly useless, it actually contains baby

The food loss caused by the production and processing of food enterprises accounts for 5% of the total food loss. The by-products are basically in the same place and at the same time, which is the easiest to collect and carry out efficient waste utilization and transformation. A British study shows that breweries in the European Union deal with about 3.4 million tons of waste barley grains every year, so the utilization of beer waste has always been a research hotspot: Corona beer reuses the remaining barley straw in the beer manufacturing supply chain to make new packaging materials, and the water and energy consumption of the new process have been reduced by 90%; AB InBev’s arabinoxylose extracted from waste grains can be used as a new source of prebiotics. Studies have shown that it may increase the level of bifidobacteria in human intestines.

Source: Corona

 

(3) Subversive breakthrough
of “making things out of nothing”

Last year, two disruptive breakthroughs by Chinese scientists made us look forward to the future.

In September, Tianjin Institute of industrial biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences realized the de novo synthesis of carbon dioxide to starch for the first time in the world. Intuitively, in theory, the annual starch output of a bioreactor with the size of 1 cubic meter is equivalent to the average output of corn planting on 5 mu of land. In addition to using carbon dioxide, the feed Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences has synthesized protein from industrial waste gas carbon monoxide for the first time in the world, and has formed a 10000 ton industrial capacity. This technology will greatly alleviate the import demand of feed protein in China.

Photo source: biological exploration

 

Returning the carbon emitted into the air to the cycle of production and life can not only recycle the carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide from industrial waste gas, the main culprit of global warming, but also produce food for human survival, so as to greatly promote the development of low-carbon bioeconomy, open up a new paradigm of food manufacturing based on renewable energy technology, and achieve the global carbon peak Carbon neutralization plays an important supporting role in achieving the goal. Maybe we don’t need to grow potatoes to Mars in the future. Collecting carbon dioxide in the atmosphere can solve the problem of food and clothing for exploring space.

 

takes root downward in order to obtain the infinite possibility of upward

With the popularization of AI, transgenic and 5g technologies, scientific and technological agriculture has gradually been highly expected by capital and industry. For example, Alibaba, Jingdong, pinduoduo, Netease and other Internet manufacturers have joined the army one after another, looking forward to using the Internet to help new agriculture. Food is safe in the world and agriculture is stable in the country. Globally, technology is the core support for the Netherlands, Israel and other countries to achieve strong agricultural output in a limited land area. The scientific research team of academician Zhao Chunjiang of the Chinese Academy of Engineering pointed out that smart agriculture is a modern agricultural production mode with information, knowledge and equipment as the core elements. It will become the commanding point of modern agricultural science and technology competition and a new business form of agricultural development in the future. There are different technological explorations in 2021 at home and abroad for different industrial subjects of smart planting industry and smart breeding industry.

1. Facing the Loess and facing the sky, it gradually becomes history

Cultivated land has always been the lifeblood of food production, but the plant factory, a new agriculture that does not need land and subverts the traditional agricultural planting method, is changing or is about to change our dining table. The plant factory innovation team of the Institute of urban agriculture of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences cooperated with Qian Qian team of the China Rice Research Institute to successfully achieve an important breakthrough in receiving rice in about 60 days under the plant factory environment, shortening the rice growth cycle of more than 120 days under the traditional field environment by half. This also provides a new technical way to accelerate crop breeding. Future crops, an Israeli Dutch joint venture, has established an 8000 square meter automatic indoor vertical farm with nine floors in Westland, the Netherlands, which is known as the “greenhouse center” in Europe. In the face of the continuous emergence of plant factories, American lettuce producer revol greens has launched a plant fertilizer specially used for plant factories. The fertilizer is completely from plants and does not contain the usual source of animal by-products in organic nutrients.

Source: Institute of urban agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences

     

Traditional land farming is also embracing various new technologies. Dajiang and Jifei UAVs are busy over farmland and can be used in pesticide / fertilizer sowing, farmland mapping and other fields. Bee vectoring, a bee company, uses commercially raised bees to provide targeted pest management solutions, and uses bees to carry biological control components to improve yield and reduce diseased fruits. Soilcares developed by agrocares can quickly analyze nutrients in soil, monitor and evaluate soil fertility on site and give suggestions to managers.

Photo source: agrocares

 

Recently, due to the attention of national strategy, the stagnant GM industrialization began to start quietly. International first-class seed agencies have already started gene editing and intelligent design breeding to realize the accuracy, intelligence and engineering of breeding. John Innes researchers in the UK re encode the tavit2 gene in wheat, so that more iron is transported to the endosperm and consumers can absorb more iron from wheat flour. Pairwise, an American company, uses gene editing technology to the DNA of blackberries and black raspberries to remove thorns from seeds and shrubs, making the fruits seedless and easier to pick.

Source: fooddive

 

2. The black technology of the breeding industry can meet your needs of no meat and no joy

In 2021, the most elated news of China’s breeding industry is that the new Shengze 901 white feather chicken variety independently developed by Fujian Shengnong company has obtained the review license for officially selling provenance chickens, breaking the provenance blockade that China’s white feather chicken provenance has been 100% dependent on imports for decades. This enables us to control the pricing and supply right of chicken, and can provide guarantee for the stability of China’s chicken supply market. “Solving the problem of seeds and cultivated land” is one of the eight key tasks of China’s economy in 2022, because seed source is the chip of agriculture. Grain is safe in the world, and planting is the first. We expect more enterprises to break through the blockade of foreign seed sources and further improve China’s seed industry chain.

Photo source: Shengnong

 

The impact of animal husbandry on global warming has been a headache. According to a 26 year research report published by the Ministry of environment of New Zealand, 49.2% of New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture, of which the dairy industry, the country’s pillar industry, accounts for 22.9% of the total emissions, mainly methane and nitrous oxide emitted by dairy cows. Scientists at the Institute for global food security (IGFs) at Queen’s University in Belfast fed seaweed to farm animals to reduce methane by at least 30%.

Source: livekindly

 

The meta universe and blockchain that exploded in 2021 have also been applied to the aquaculture industry. Cows wearing VR glasses saw green fertile fields, as if they were in a summer pasture, their mood was improved, and their milk yield increased by 5kg. Aquaculture enterprise kvar ø y Arctic has created a system that uses blockchain technology to improve transparency and traceability, so that customers can trace fish eggs to packaged products at every step. Using the new system, the data of salmon roe, salmon production, sea fishing, harvest and processing are integrated into the system.  

Source: Xinzhiyuan

   

summary

Don’t be afraid of floating clouds to cover your eyes. If the scenery is long, you should look at it.

In each annual technology inventory, we can see the progress of scientific research, the prairie fire of commercial technology and the exploration and breakthrough focusing on the future. These technologies, like countless color lines, carefully weave the future of the food industry.

Let’s focus on every day and step of food technology, witness more dazzling product innovation, brand rise and industrial upgrading, and witness the great journey from a food power to a food power!

Reprint authorization and media business cooperation: Amy (wechat: 13701559246);

Join the community: Cherry (micro signal: 15240428449).

Commercial hot spots

For the sixth consecutive year, foodaily released the annual business hot spot of the food industry – exploring the development law of categories from 200000 new products around the world, studying the changes of global consumption, studying the changes of new consumers and consumption demand in combination with the in-depth insight into the Chinese market, and exploring the new value brought by the two new consumption drivers of technological reconstruction and brand interest, Focus on the prospective discovery of category cracks / innovative products to assist new consumer entrants in anchoring market segments and category fission opportunities, and provide inspiration and decision-making reference for product innovation in the next year. (click the picture to view the detailed introduction)

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