The Good Food Institute APAC

Our Operations team in Singapore just got even bigger and brighter! 🎉 Before joining GFI APAC, Michelle worked in human resources within the tech and energy transition consulting sectors. She also holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from Kwik Kian Gie School of Business in Indonesia. In her new role, Michelle will focus on cultivating a thriving workplace culture while supporting our organisation's growth as we continue to reimagine and diversify Asia’s protein supply! Please join us in welcoming Michelle Vinnetan as our new People & Culture Specialist 👏 Victoria Law Mirte Gosker

From Forged Parfait to foie gras bagels: Singapore's alternative protein scene is on a roll 🍽️ 🇸🇬 Last year, Australian cultivated meat startup Vow made waves in the Lion City when they debuted their Forged Parfait, a light and creamy pâté made with cultivated quail. Now, the company is expanding its local offerings to include bagels topped with cultivated foie gras, which The Straits Times food critic says adds “a savoury, lightly gamey silkiness.” 👉 Full review from reporter Cherie Lok: https://lnkd.in/gFXsPc5C This latest creation is part of a broader shift towards innovative food solutions that have a lighter environmental footprint but don’t compromise on the taste, texture, and indulgent flavours consumers crave. Would you try a bagel with cultivated foie gras? Let us know in the comments!

China’s drumbeat in support of protein diversification has only crescendoed over the past month. Dig into our latest newsletter for all the details! ⬇️

🇦🇺 Funding opportunity for alternative protein pioneers in Australia! 🔬 The Australian Academy of Technological Sciences & Engineering (ATSE) is offering $6.3 million worth of grants to researchers and businesses driving impact and innovation in national priority areas. If you're an alt protein researcher, scientist, startup, or agri-tech company looking to accelerate the transition to a more sustainable food system, this is a golden opportunity to secure funding and collaborate with global experts across the APAC region. 🤝 👉  Learn more & apply here: https://lnkd.in/gw-JYJtS Eclipse Ingredients, Vow, Eden Brew, All G, Nourish Ingredients, Noumi, Cauldron Ferm, Change Foods, Cellular Agriculture Australia, Magic Valley

🌏"Unlike renewables and other climate technologies, alternative proteins are not yet benefitting from the kind of massive government investments and green-financing schemes that have enabled clean-energy startups to bridge the Valley of Death and migrate from the lab bench to industrial-scale manufacturing," says GFI APAC Managing Director Mirte Gosker. Governments and private investors around the world need to rapidly ramp up financing for alternative proteins to help the industry scale and maximise its climate-mitigation potential, she adds. Singapore is taking tangible steps to further de-risk the sector, as demonstrated by the recent launch of the Bezos Centre for Sustainable Protein @NUS, which will conduct open-access scientific R&D aimed at resolving technical bottlenecks. 🔬 The government has also been proactive about disseminating regulatory best practices with other countries, in an effort to develop a more standardised regional rulebook for novel foods like cultivated meat. This could, if successful, allow startups to roll out products in multiple markets at once and accelerate global commercialisation. 👉 Full story by Liang Lei at CNBC: https://lnkd.in/d_FRk2nQ Mihir Pershad Umami Bioworks Mycosortia Anli Geng Singapore Polytechnic Jungle Kitchen Surekha Yadav Jayaroopa Jeyabarathi

🇸🇬 “In an era when protein production is under greater strain than ever, we must all look to countries like Singapore, which are pioneering technologies that make more with less.” - GFI APAC’s Mirte Gosker Life-cycle assessments show that by harnessing protein directly from plants, microbes, and cultivated animal cells, rather than feeding massive amounts of crops to animals, alternative protein products can reduce meat’s greenhouse gas emissions by up to 98 percent. ⬇️ As Ingredients Network notes, institutions like Singapore’s Bezos Centre for Sustainable Protein are exploring breakthrough ‘hybrid’ formulations that blend nutrient-dense plant proteins with small amounts of cultivated meat or fat to develop scalable models for such foods. Gosker says that, “This potent combination could deliver a flavour punch that closes the taste and price gap with conventional meat—with a tiny fraction of the carbon footprint—and provides a template that can be replicated around the world.” 👉 Full story: https://lnkd.in/gBfqNvqp Bezos Centre for Sustainable Protein @NUS

ICYMI: We are accepting applications for GFI’s student-led Alt Protein Project (APP) till 28 March! 🧑🎓 🌏 The APP is a global movement dedicated to turning universities into engines for alternative protein education, research, and innovation. Some groups have chosen to design course materials and advocate for alternative protein curriculum development, while others work with principal investigators and researchers to start alternative protein-enabling research or launch alt protein startups. 🚀 Interested? Watch this recording of our recent information session (https://lnkd.in/g7hKvt8C) or browse through our website to check your fit for the Alt Protein Project (https://lnkd.in/gKkT8EWb). Apply here: https://lnkd.in/gndSv_cQ

🚨 New research on cultivated meat safety! A major advantage of cultivated meat is its potential for improved microbiological safety by removing animals from the food manufacturing environment—but how do current practices stack up? 🤔 A recent review by Dean Powell, Dan Li, Benjamin Smith, and William Chen examined contamination risks, mitigation strategies, and industry challenges. Some key findings of this publication: 🔹 Microbial contamination is a real challenge for some companies. The average batch contamination rate among six companies operating above the small-flask scale that responded to an industry survey was 19.5 percent over 12 months. [These contamination rates were reported during R&D production runs. All cultivated foods undergo rigorous safety assessment and are confirmed safe from contamination before entering the market.] 🔹 Personnel, equipment, and the production environment were the most common contamination vectors, with bacteria as the most frequently reported contaminants. 🔹 Safety planning is still maturing—only a minority of surveyed companies had a fully implemented food safety and risk assessment plan. 🔹 Despite challenges, the industry can leverage existing best practices (HACCP, GMP, GCCP) from food and biopharma, but industry-specific guidelines are needed as the sector matures. This paper also included: ✅ A review of contamination sources across cultivated meat production ✅ An industry survey on safety practices (thanks to 17 cultivated meat companies for contributing!) ✅ A microbiological challenge study on Listeria in post-harvest cultivated poultry cell mass As cultivated meat scales, safety remains a top priority. More research is needed to refine contamination control strategies and maximise the technology’s safety benefits. 📄 Read the full paper here: https://lnkd.in/gp2wu4q8 Future Ready Food Safety Hub @ NTU A*STAR - Agency for Science, Technology and Research

RESOURCE SPOTLIGHT: Have you checked out our Precision Fermentation Communication Guide⁉️ 💬 GFI APAC and Cellular Agriculture Australia collaboratively developed a one-stop guide, with input from over a dozen APAC industry stakeholders, to help a broad range of stakeholders in the precision fermentation space communicate in a clear, compelling, and consistent manner across various contexts, including: 📰 Public communications, such as press releases, websites, and social media 🧑🤝🧑 Responses to public inquiries or concerns 🏷️ Product development, including labelling and branding 📄 Framing of advocacy documents ⚖️ Regulatory applications Communication Guide 👉 https://lnkd.in/g62eFdpk Looking for a quick scan of what the Communicate Guide offers? Check out the cheat sheet version 👉 https://lnkd.in/gnqjYbDF Adam Leman Ph.D. Lucas Eastham

🌱 🥩 🐟 Kids, parents & the future of protein: What do they think? A new consumer perception study in Singapore explored how children (9 - 15 years old) and their parents  (38 - 56 years old) perceive plant-based, cultivated, and insect proteins. 🔍 Key findings: ✅ Plant-based meat was the most familiar and accepted category. 🤔 Cultivated meat sparked curiosity—kids wanted to know how similar it is to conventional meat. 😬 Insect proteins were met with hesitance, despite their historical consumption in the region. 💡 Parents saw alternative proteins as a way to add dietary variety but had concerns about ‘naturalness’ and novel technologies. Taste, price, and health impacts were at the top of both groups' minds. Understanding these perceptions is crucial to shaping the future of food!  Full manuscript: https://lnkd.in/gnVHH9Fg Authors: Nandini Anant Arunika Pillay Siti Amelia Juraimi Florence Sheen, Ph.D Anna Fogel Mary Chong Benjamin Smith Aimee Pink