Boi starts industry study on plant-based food
The Board of Investments (BOI) has started an appraisal study for the plant-based food industry roadmap it is developing through a webinar with the University of the Philippines (UP).
In a statement, the BOI said the six-month Rapid Industry Appraisal (RIA) study would be conducted to better understand the industry’s status, performance and prospects, serving as a solid foundation in the formulation of the roadmap.
It added that it commissioned the study through a consultant who is an expert in the field,
The BOI said it partnered with the University of the Philippines through the College of Home Economics-Department of Food Science and Nutrition to conduct the study.
The webinar presented an overview of the local and global plantbased food industry and the opportunities for its further development.
“This is very timely as the pandemic has created a new culture of healthy eating that includes patronizing plant-based products,” said Shirley Guevarra, dean of the UP College of Home Economics.
BOI director for resource-based industries Raquel Echague highlighted that the BOI fully supports the administration’s direction to strengthen food value chains to achieve food security and shares the same aspirations with UP, the food industry stakeholders, the government agencies, and the entire nation towards developing the Philippine Plant-based Food Industry.
Food innovation expert and UP Diliman professor emeritus Maria Patricia Azanza said the Philippines is actively participating in the complex plant-based food supply chain locally and globally, which indicates the future opportunities that need to be captured and capitalized.
“Our present discussions are essential in the transformation of the plant-based food industry to become a legitimate working food system with sustainability and significant support from the various stakeholders” Azanza said.
The webinar featured some of the key players in the local plant-based food industry and the brands and products that they offer. Among these are Century Pacific Food Inc. and its brand unMeat, Universal Robina Corp. and its product Vitasoy, Monde Nissin Corp. and its brand Quorn and Worth the Health Food and its brand Umani.
Meanwhile, world-renowned protein technology expert and an interdisciplinary writer Henk Hoogenkamp Sr. also presented about plant protein transformation.
He said the better pathway to make people appreciate plantbased food is through hybrid transition or by offering products made up of combinations of meat and non-meat raw materials.
“If the consumers slowly transition from one system to another, it is much more likely to succeed,” Hoogenkamp said.
Food proteins expert and Moolec Science co-founder Henk Hoogenkamp Jr. discussed molecular farming which is being considered the fourth pillar of alternative protein along with plant-based, fermentation and cultured meat.
Molecular farming aims to upgrade the taste, nutrition, and affordability of food products by taking the specific gene of an animal and putting it into the seed to grow the crop and use it directly for food consumption.
Moreover, Department of Science and Technology Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD) deputy director Ninaliza Escorial presented the various programs, scientific research, and food innovations of the agency that set the direction for the research and technology development of the Philippine plant-based food industry.