Australia’s Food and Beverage Accelerator (FaBA) has released a new report exploring the challenges, economic impact, and sustainability of the country’s precision fermentation industry.
More than 70 authors from industry, government, and academia contributed to the white paper, highlighting precision fermentation as a crucial technology to transform the food system with tailored and sustainable proteins, fats, and other compounds beyond alternative proteins.
“Our primary recommendation is to develop a National Food Plan that would unify efforts in regulation, innovation, and promotion”
The comprehensive paper outlines key recommendations to boost the sector, including forming a national food plan and appointing a food minister. It highlights regulatory frameworks as essential to promote innovation while ensuring safety and maintaining public trust. Other recommendations include establishing common international standards, boosting investment in large-scale manufacturing, and standardizing methods to assess environmental impact.
“Our primary recommendation is to develop a National Food Plan that would unify efforts in regulation, innovation, and promotion of precision fermentation,” Professor Esteban Marcellin from FaBA told The University of Queensland.
“This approach would enable streamlined approvals, better integration with traditional agriculture, and a coordinated strategy to build a robust industry.”
$30 billion in annual revenue by 2040
Precision fermentation enables the production of individual food ingredients without relying on agriculture and molecules that occur in small amounts in nature. It also makes possible the development of proteins and fats without animal farming; novel variants that outperform their natural counterparts; and colors, flavors, and compounds for biodegradable materials.
According to the authors, these novel ingredients present significant opportunities for cost reduction and the development of new markets for innovative food products, fueling the country’s economic growth. The report mentions a CSIRO and Main Sequence Ventures report on the topic, which estimates that precision fermentation could generate up to $30 billion in annual revenue in Australia and create over 50,000 jobs by 2040.
Concurrently, the non-profit Cellular Agriculture Australia‘s latest precision fermentation report states that fermenting the country’s $2 billion sugar crop into dairy fats and proteins could generate AUD 50-$80 billion, which is 14 to 22 times the current value of the sugar industry, adding high value to raw materials.
Australia and New Zealand’s precision fermentation ecosystem includes dairy protein developers Eden Brew, Daisy Lab (NZ), All G Foods, and Noumi; Eclipse Ingredients (human equivalent compounds, Nourish Ingredients (fats), and CMDO Cauldron Ferm, which manufactures multiple proteins.
“This technology can enhance and diversify our food supply – imagine microbial strains precisely engineered to yield high-quality protein. We are on the brink of producing tailored, sustainable food sources,” Professor Esteban Marcellin added.
Transforming the food system
FaBA’s report “Precision Fermentation: A Future of Food in Australia” also aims to guide industry leaders, stakeholders, and policymakers with insights and an outlook on the urgent challenges faced by the industry, such as high initial costs, commercial scaling, regulatory hurdles, consumer acceptance, and ethical concerns.
“As a global society, we must innovate and transform the food system if we are to address some of the greatest challenges of our time. Precision fermentation represents a promising approach, alongside conventional food production, for the future of Australia’s food and beverage industry,” FaBA Director Dr. Chris Downs told The University of Queensland.
The full report can be downloaded here.
