Australian food-tech startup All G Foods announced plans to expand into Asia-Pacific with Singapore and China being its first targets. The company is focused on precision fermentation, a process that can most easily be described as a refined form of brewing that allows for the multiplying of microbes to create specific products.
In other words, precision fermentation can produce meat, fish, milk and eggs without any intensive agricultural processes. It also differs from lab-grown meat which requires animal cells to create an edible product.
All G Foods believes its cultured dairy products offer better nutrition and taste first than current cultured dairy product offerings and plant-based alternatives. Given the latter’s growing popularity across Asia, the Australian food tech startup is eager to offer consumers an alternative.
“By expanding into Asia Pacific, we aim to share our technology, drive innovation, and contribute to addressing the region’s food security for growth populations. Dedicating my career to precision fermentation has been an honor but delivering it to markets such as Singapore and China to address real world challenges and demands, will be a pinnacle of my work,” Dr. Jared Raynes, Chief Scientific Officer of All G Foods, stated in a press release.
The startup brought in US$25 million in Series A funding last year on top of the $15 million seed funding that closed in 2021.
Also Interesting: The first plant-based meat produced in Asia is set for a Singapore launch
Interesting Analysis
All G Foods seems to be ignoring lessons that lab-grown meat producers in Singapore have already learned. You need to have a product, and preferably a competitive one, before making noise. Saying you have the technology to do something and then making people wait years for it to be viable is a bad strategy.
Folks in Asia have grown tired of waiting for lab-grown meat to be readily available. By the time it reaches the masses, many consumers will have already been turned off by the amount of hype that has made the topic all sizzle and no steak.
The technology behind precision fermentation is sound but by All G Foods’ own estimations, it is years away from being a cost-effective alternative. The technology still needs to be developed. A bait-and-switch PR campaign does little to make you think the food tech startup is serious.
Speaking of not being serious, their press release came with this headline: All G Foods: Australian Food-Tech Makes Waves in APAC with their Unapologetic Approach to Precision Fermentation.
Yikes! For starters, your company isn’t making waves. You can’t disrupt something without a viable product. Ideas are great. Something tangible is better. Secondly, what is an unapologetic approach to precision fermentation? This is preposterous marketing speak. It’s also a huge red flag that All G Foods may not have what it takes to advance in this space.
Make no mistake, precision fermentation is a very real thing that could solve many food-related challenges. However, All G Foods would be better served working on education instead of shouting about itself.
Keep Reading: Grocerdel uses technology to make farm-to-fork possible in Cambodia
