The future of food
The synthetic protein revolution is on its way but what does it mean for New Zealand farmers and the economy they dominate? Mike Watson reports on the future of the food industry.
Bryan Hocken has always been a farmer.
He took over the 485 hectare rolling back country sheep and beef farm at Tarata from his father Merv in 1982 and recently passed it on to his son-in-law, Jarred Coogan.
The Toetoe Rd property has been in the Hocken family since 1946 and is regarded as one of the best farms in the region. But it may just be that the farming model of fields of grass dotted with animals overseen by a gumbooted farmer is headed for the history books.
Just as technology has changed manufacturing and service industries, so to is it changing farming and what we think of as farms today may look entirely different to the farms of tomorrow.
Protein substitutes that have the characteristics of meat and animal free dairy products are no longer laboratory curiosities. They are attracting billions of dollars in investment and are increasingly palatable both to the tastebuds and a society anxious about environmental and animal welfare issues.
For his part Hocken is not worried he’ll soon be out of a job to lab grown protein. He just sees it as another challenge for the farm that has faced plenty of others over his lifetime.
Hocken, in trademark shorts and black woollen singlet, is keen to show off the romney hoggets jumping around with delight.
‘‘They’re like a happy family, they love this grass,’’ he says.
What Hocken is really pointing out is the system of grass-fed protein as opposed to lab produced protein. In New Zealand animals are farmed outdoors all year round and grow fat on a diet dominated by grass. It’s about as natural as large scale farming can get. Synthetic meat producers can’t compete against that, he says.
Hocken, a Beef and Lamb farm council member, is not the only one who can see how well positioned farmers are to capitalise on these opportunities to market grass-fed protein as a superior product to anything coming out of a lab.
He is also aware the industry has been caught on the hop before when synthetic carpet undercut wool and sent the industry into a decline that it has never recovered from.
‘‘Synthetic carpets killed the wool industry and at the time we didn’t consider it a threat,’’ he says.
Unlike the synthetic carpet tsunami, the synthetic meat challenge is not being ignored by the red meat industry, he says.
He doesn’t agree New Zealand’s primary industry will go down the same path as Detroit’s motor industry that failed to move with the times and went from a leading industrial city to wasteland within a generation.
‘‘We don’t want that to happen here, and I don’t believe it will,’’ he says.
‘‘New Zealand is in a good position of being able to produce high quality grass-fed lambs for export.’’
To avoid a repeat of the carpet saga, the focus for the industry is supplying high quality meat to the high end market, he says.
And in a world protein market dominated by synthetics, that high end can go higher than ever before.
Growing the premium $1500 lamb is a scary thought, Hocken says, but not impossible.
There also needs to be a focus on educating the next generation that wearing wool and eating meat is OK, he says.
‘‘I’ve heard of country schools receiving letters from organisations wanting to come to the school to tell young children from farming families that shearing sheep is cruel.
‘‘It’s a pretty bold claim to make and we have to have to counter it by telling our story
better.’’ The ‘story’ is the industry working on promoting grass-fed high quality meat underpinned with a single quality assurance programme which is environmentally sustainable, he says.
‘‘It’s what we started 25 years ago when showed what we were doing was proper and squeaky clean.
‘‘If we didn’t do this we could have lost sight of what we had, which was the best product.’’
Hocken says the challenge for the industry is to market to the top end of consumers who will recognise the the value in a $150 steak as opposed to a $10 steak potentially derived from plant grown protein.
Otorohanga angus cattle breeder Tim Brittain recently won the country best steak cut at the annual Steak of Origin.
He says the increased activity around synthetic meat production is a wake-up call for the industry to push for better genetics to grow a superior product.
The onset of synthetic meat illustrates the need for New Zealand to differentiate its meat products at the premium end and promote what is unique, which is grass-fed healthy top end meat cuts, he says.
‘‘The synthetic burger will possibly fill some of the commodity space for mass production but the consumer who wants natural grass-fed meat will probably push away from this.
‘‘The focus is on moving away from the commodity beef market to prime, naturally raised product with emphasis on animal welfare.’’
The industry is taking the threat of synthetic alternatives seriously but the impact would not be great in New Zealand because the country only produces a fraction of the protein the world needs, he says.
The dairy industry is not ignoring threat from synthetic alternatives, either.
The synthetic milk process uses bio-engineered yeast to produce real milk protein by adding cow DNA to yeast cells, which are then combined in vats with fatty acids and water to produce milk.
The milk is just one of a string of synthetic, or value-added, dairy products being developed for the global market.
The demand for protein is
"Synthetic carpets killed the wool industry and at the time we didn’t consider it a threat."
Bryan Hocken
Sheep and beef farmer
‘‘It’s absolutely meat but it doesn’t have the aesthetic appeal because it’s not grown in a paddock.’’
Dr Corrina Tucker
Massey University environmental sociologist
‘‘Eight years ago I was laughed at. Now I think the risk is real.’’
Sir Peter Gluckman
Chief Science Advisor to the Prime Minister
‘‘Increased activity around synthetic meat production is a wake up call.‘‘
Tim Brittain
Angus breeder
rocketing in China and India as growing middle class look to improve their standard of living with a diet of more cheese, milk and meat.
Synthetic meat and milk use less land, and less natural resources such as water.
Commentators believe it could be 10 to 15 years before the impacts of non-animal protein alternatives will be felt but that’s still crystal ball gazing and could equally be longer than that or sooner before synthetics are mainstream.
How the consumer will react to lab grown meat is still unknown, Massey University environmental sociologist Dr Corrina Tucker says.
‘‘We know from surveys that females and older generation are opposed to it. In fact most people don’t like it because it’s unnatural.
‘‘It’s absolutely meat but it doesn’t have the aesthetic appeal because it’s not grown in a paddock,’’ Tucker says.
Alternative protein producers were attracting consumers who wanted high quality food without traditional farming’s environmental impact, the Prime Minister’s chief scientific advisor Sir Peter Gluckman told a conference in October.
Gluckman told the conference the rise of synthetic protein was an existential threat to New Zealand’s current economy. "Eight years ago I was laughed at. Now I think the risk is real,’’ he said.
Environmental issues, greenhouse gas emissions and growing populations were driving the change, he said.
Massey University human geography masters graduate Mike Moet says the
‘‘We do not know of any substitute that manages the nutritional profile of milk produced by dairy cows.’’
Simon Sankey
DairyNZ Taranaki acting regional leader
‘‘Inevitably some consumers will swap meat-based protein for synthetic based protein.’’
Nick Carey Green Meadows Beef
rise of synthetic milk could be forestalled by tough regulations aimed at protecting the traditional dairy farmer.
‘‘The US regulatory environment is dairy friendly and could put up barriers to make it harder for synthetic milk establishing in the market,’’ Moet says. That could happen here, he says. Dairy giant Fonterra says as a global dairy nutrition company it is committed to innovative, sustainable food production and providing strong returns to farmers.
‘‘We’re constantly looking at openings in the market and that may include alternative proteins, such as synthetic foods,’’ it says in a statement.
The statement says global demand for food is expected to increase 50 per cent by 2050.
And while alternative protein sources may ultimately meet some of this growth in demand, Fonterra believes the ‘‘natural goodness of dairy, combined with its unique nutritional value means it will remain the premium nutrition of choice’’.
DairyNZ, which represents dairy farmers, sees strong consumer demand for naturally produced New Zealand milk and other dairy products continuing into the future.
‘‘We believe the science and research into substitute food products is worthwhile, especially with the world’s growing population and the need to feed more people than ever before,’’ DairyNZ Taranaki acting regional leader Simon Sankey says.
But there are international markets where consumers pay a premium for New Zealand dairy products, he says.
‘‘Because our cows live natural lives, mostly out of doors, and they are predominantly grass-fed with the result that the milk they produce is nutritionally superior, and, most say, tastes better.’’
The industry invested $14 million in research and development, much of which is aimed at increasing production while lowering the environmental footprint of dairy farming, he says.
‘‘DairyNZ scientists and farmers are aware of the emergence of products that are developed in the laboratory and being promoted as a substitute for milk.
‘‘At this stage, however, we do not know of any substitute that manages the nutritional profile of milk produced by dairy cows.’’
Dairy Companies Association of NZ, Dcanz, represents major dairy companies in New Zealand, such as Fonterra, Danone, Miraka and the Dairy Goat Co-operative,
Dcanz executive director Kimberley Crewther says there is still strong demand from consumers for naturally produced dairy products including from developing economies, such as China, where the younger generation are consuming more protein in their diet.
‘‘Pasture based grazing is well positioned and there is significant demand for naturally grown dairy products,’’ she says.
‘‘You can’t ignore the increasing research being made into synthetic foods but we can focus on the improving sustainability, and nutritional value of naturally produced dairy products,’’ she says.
The alternatives do not not stack up as well as natural products, Crewther says.
The rapid global interest in the production of alternative proteins has not escaped Nick Carey, of Green Meadows Beef.
He recently attended a food trade fair in Germany where alternative protein was being promoted, and munched on minced balls made from crickets.
‘‘It is the buzz word in the industry at the moment and we are following its development with interest,’’ he says.
Carey says all industries are facing disruption.
The key for New Zealand producers is to be mindful of what tomorrow’s consumers want, he says.
‘‘It is inevitable some may choose to swap meat-based protein for synthetic based protein.
‘‘However, it is impossible to quantify how many that will be.
‘‘The real meat consumers that are left will focus on food quality, premium products and ask the questions like ‘where does my meat come from?’, ‘what have the animals eaten’ and ‘how have they been treated?’.’’
Green Meadows is well positioned to satisfy the demands from those consumers, he says.
‘‘The point of difference with our company is that we can ensure we can supply grass fed beef to customers who want it.’’