Jack Keeys | March 16, 2021 from GlobalHQ on Vimeo.
Imagine a world where you can have the DNA in your saliva analysed to provide full dietary recommendations that match your genetics and the latest scientific advancements in human nutrition.
Imagine a world where your fridge records and remembers every item you place in it, makes online grocery orders for you when those products are running low and provides recipe recommendations based on the ingredients you have, customised to the number of people you’re catering for.
Well, that’s the world we already live in.
Check out companies and products like Nourished, Gene-Food and Samsung’s latest Family Hub Refrigerator
The future of food isn’t waiting decades or even years ahead of us, the future is already here.
The good news for New Zealand producers is that the world is not evolving equally. While some markets such as wealthy areas of the US and Europe are entering a new phase of customised and automated nutrition, other markets such as parts of Asia and Africa are still growing their appetite for quality imported meat, dairy and horticulture products.
This puts NZ in an exceptional position where we have a platform which we must use as a launchpad for the future.
We’re already positioned excellently for the continued growth in demand for high-quality primary produce to developing markets.
We are world-leading producers of high-quality dairy, meat and horticulture products. This is achieved through the implementation of science and a focus on quality in the design of our food production systems.
We have world-leading environmental efficiency of food production, which is enhanced further by our predominantly pasture-based and outdoor systems and targeted land-use.
We are world-leading in our international reputation for safety. A reputation that has further increased since the covid-19 pandemic.
NZ produces over 21 billion litres of milk, processes over 30 million animals for meat and exports over 1.38m tonnes of fruit. Though we may not be able to feed the world, we do produce enough food to feed parts of the diet of hundreds of millions of people with some of the highest quality, most environmentally-friendly and safest food in the world.
As scientific advancement, technological enhancement and health and nutrition expectations all accelerate simultaneously, the future of food is here – but is only going to accelerate as well.
So, what should be NZ’s role in a food system where nutrition is grown in a laboratory, controlled by artificial intelligence and customised to an individual’s health requirements and taste preferences?
Firstly, science and technology are unlikely to break the barrier of physics, including laws such as the conservation of energy, which means we won’t be producing food from nothing anytime soon. In this case, access to natural resources is a significant competitive advantage in future food production. NZ is positioned as a world leader in renewable energy, with the potential to harness significantly more of our wind, solar, tidal, hydro and natural gas renewable energy sources. Synthetic nutrition is highly energy intensive, and using renewable energy sources greatly reduces the footprint of these foods. NZ can use this platform of abundance as a launchpad and become the destination for food innovation and processing, with potential to attract massive investment to develop our infrastructure and deliver value as a global future food hub.
Secondly, NZ already has the beginnings of a food innovation system. With organisations such as AGMARDT, Callaghan Innovation and FoodHQ, combined with those such as the Sprout Accelerator and the Food Innovation Network. By integrating these organisations with our universities and science institutions and telling an aligned story, NZ can become the Silicon Valley of food – but better.
To achieve this, there are some key actions for NZ to focus on:
•Increase national investment into renewable energy generation.
•Develop our current food hubs into further interconnected international food innovation centres.
•Articulate our aligned value proposition and encourage investment from early international collaborators through reduced regulatory barriers or incentivisation schemes.
NZ is a world leader in food production. Remaining a global leader of food production in this world of rapid change will require constant adaptation, smart investment and a focus on both domestic and international collaboration.
Let’s continue to strive to achieve not becoming the best country in the world, but the best country for the world.
