The nature of these modern food production technologies is that they allow for constant iteration, and therefore improvement, of products. The possibility space for what can be produced using these technologies is infinite.

The companies that we see today producing animal food alternatives through precision fermentation are certainly innovators with outstanding products that may lead the disruption, precipitate the collapse of industrial animal agriculture and become the producers of the world’s most popular food products. Or they might not. It is notoriously difficult to predict which companies will be successful in the long run.

There is the whole gamut of existing animal foods that have yet to be replicated and replaced by modern foods, but there is also the enormous possibility space of completely new, never-before-seen foods that can be conceived of and created.

Companies that embrace disruption (in the food sector as well as others), remain competitive, and constantly improve and innovate have a good chance of being successful.

Explore the evidence...

• Precision Fermentation farms will be the new food farms, however, the future of Food-as-Software, where code for microorganisms can be downloaded just like apps, and engineered to produce an infinite number of potential products, will open up business innovation and create an entirely new food system. Watch RethinkX Co-Founder Tony Seba describe this in more detail.
• The protein universe that awaits us with the rise of Food-as-Software is infinite. The companies we see today are the future, and many more will arise as we develop and expand our technology capabilities. Learn more about the domestication of micro-organisms and the infinite protein universe to come on p13-16 of our Rethinking Food & Agriculture report.
• However, the successful food and agricultural businesses of today may not be the ultimate winners. Incumbent businesses are often handicapped by incentives, mindsets, and organizational structures and processes that favor incremental improvement over disruptive innovation. As the markets they operate in are disrupted, they have the potential to adapt, but that is no guarantee they will.. Learn more about the impacts of the modern food disruption on the current supply chain on p43-44 of our Food & Agriculture report.
• To learn more about the opportunities for the new supply chains, read p45-47 of our Food & Agriculture report.
• Visit our Periodic Table of Precision Fermentation to explore the wide range of companies producing PF products today.

Witness the transformation

We are on the cusp of the deepest, fastest, most consequential disruption in food and agricultural production since the first domestication of plants and animals 10,000 years ago. The impact of this disruption will be profound, and the possibility space is infinite.

Learn more about the disruption and transformation of the food & agriculture sector.

Published on: 12/07/23