The Future Advantage consultant and communicator told more than 200 farmers at Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s FarmSmart event in Christchurch that while not much had changed in the way food had been produced for the past 10,000 years, it was changing now.
Technology and science were creating change beyond business as usual.
“We are amidst an era of exponential change with new business models evolving, accelerating and converging at breakneck speeds.”
Industries globally from energy, transport and accommodation to banking, healthcare and media were having the rug pulled from under them.
The economic mainstay of agriculture was next on the chopping block – overtaken and displaced by disruptive technologies, science breakthroughs and new business models.
“It’s called cellular agriculture, reproducing animal cells at scale in the lab and using them to produce protein rather than growing the animal on grass.
“The $1000 meatball is rapidly coming down in price. In five years it will be two cents per gram,” Bosworth said.
The people at the helm were not dairy farmers, apple breeders or savvy winemakers.
“They are sneaker-wearing technology millennials and wealthy Tesla-driving Silicon Valley venture capitalists and well-funded research agencies.
“Most of these people have no background in agriculture, at least in the traditional sense, nor affiliation with NZ.”
Pastoral agriculture was a flawed business model, environmentally, financially and ethically and it was one that synthetic biology was more than capable of disrupting.
“The world is wising up to synthetic products. They are getting excited and can see more and more that agriculture is a flawed model.”
Synthetic protein was eight times better in calorie conversion, 10 times greater in reduction of greenhouse gases, water and land use and 15 times quicker in production compared to traditional beef.
“These are figures we really can’t ignore,” Bosworth said.
In panel discussion she challenged farmers to look at what they were farming and how it would stand up against the threat of technologies and innovations designing the new world of agriculture and food production.
Lincoln University Professor Caroline Saunders said there was huge opportunity for them.
“You stand up and actually wake the meat companies up and really get value-add. I see untouched premium markets.
“Absolutely, there are people who will pay for the attributes of NZ product, our research shows that, and opportunities in markets such as China and Asia as well.
“Technologies I accept but they are at least 10 years away so we have got time to get in there and change it,” Saunders said.
Farmers agreed the key challenge for red meat producers was to provide a product with a point of difference.
“We don’t want to feed 90% of the world and we don’t want 2c/kg – we have got to go and find the market for our product because it’s there,” North Canterbury farmer Mark Zino said.
Part of the challenge for farmers was the new generation coming in.
“And that’s a generation that won’t know what real meat is if we slip off the menu.
“Meat is meat and synthetic is synthetic, you have a good brand and quality with a fantastic story and you have got legs.
“The picture Rosie is painting is not a good picture but it’s the reality coming to us so if that’s the case we need to find the opportunity,” Zino said.
“So we have talked about what we should do – who’s going to do it?” Hawke’s Bay farmer Mark Warren asked.
“We do have an opportunity for niche markets but we have to be very clever.
“Provenance is the huge new trend. The story that comes from meat and how we produce it still needs to be stitched together.
“We haven’t got the money so we have got to work smarter and be the first out of the box to compete – our opportunity is the satisfaction from the eating experience,” Warren said.
Separating hype from the reality
Alternative proteins are the focus of a new Beef + Lamb New Zealand project aimed at better understanding the shifts in food and food production technology.
Chief executive Sam McIvor said the organisation was leading the charge on behalf of NZ sheep and beef farmers to identify the threats and opportunities for the sector and how to address them.
“We want to distinguish hype from reality and have an objective view on what’s happening in the alternative protein space.
“That will mean better understanding the technologies, business models and how quickly advancements are being made that could impact the NZ red meat sector,” McIvor said.
The project would also gather understanding of what consumers thought about alternative proteins and their acceptance of them.
“We will be reaching out to other organisations with food technology and consumer insight experience that have a deep knowledge and exposure to what’s happening in places like Silicon Valley and the Netherlands where protein alternative technologies and investment are being heavily focused today.”
