Future Foods: Alternative Sources of Protein with Ynsect, Meatable, and Plantik Biosciences

Today, agriculture is among the greatest contributors to global warming, emitting more greenhouse gases than the transportation industry, with methane released from cattle rearing largely responsible. Yet, by 2050, food production needs to increase by 70% to respond to population growth. This discrepancy means that we are in dire need of a new food system that will not overwhelm the planet despite our growing demand for food.

In this episode, we tackle the future of food with Antoine Hubert (co-founder & CEO of Ÿnsect), Ying Shao (co-founder & CEO of Plantik Biosciences), and Daan Luining (co-founder & CTO of Meatable). We discover the new breeding technologies for plants and meats that Ying and Daan are respectively developing. We learn about insects as an alternative source of protein with Antoine and dive into the most interesting innovations in food today.

Topics:

[00:22] — Introduction with Roxanne Varza

[01:22] — Ying on what cannabis has to do with the future of food

[02:53] — Ying on what Plantik does with cannabis

[03:54] — Daan on Meatable’s lab-grown meat

[05:02] — How does Meatable’s technology work

[05:56] — How does Meatable compare to other alternative meats on the market

[07:25] — Ying on the importance of producing crops differently today to respond to food scarcity

[08:45] — Daan on the environmental footprint of traditional cattle production

[10:47] — Company stage and product timeline for Meatable

[12:35] — Company stage for Plantik Biosciences

[13:35] — Ying on consumer attitudes around cannabis and gene editing

[16:25] — Daan on consumer attitudes towards cultured meat

[18:48] — The perspective from animal activists

[20:47] — On regulations: working with low THC vs. high THC plants, gene editing techniques, food in general

[25:09] — Meatable starting the first European trade association for cellular agriculture

[25:52] — Other innovations in the food space and other opportunities left to be addressed

[30:23] — Introduction of Antoine

[30:42] — Antoine on why Ÿnsect grows insects for animal feed rather than human consumption

[32:05] — Why what animals eat matters

[33:33] — Doing more with less: on vertical farming

[34:04] — Antoine’s background: from agricultural engineering to starting his own NGO to raise awareness around food waste before starting Ÿnsect

[35:35] — How the idea of Ÿnsect came about

[36:50] — On the research that goes into Ÿnsect

[39:44] — Going through food regulations

[41:05] — Ÿnsect’ product vs. traditional fishmeal

[41:53] — The commercial side of Ÿnsect

[42:48] — Production, company, and market evolutions since the beginning

[44:25] — On Ÿnsect's $372M Series C with Astanor Ventures, Upfront Ventures, Robert Downey Jr.’s FootPrint Coalition, and many more from around the world

[47:07] — Algae, biotech, and other technological developments in the food space

[47:42] — On the importance of fighting food waste and changing consumer behaviour

[51:41] — In 2050, how will we be eating?

STATION F: The Podcast is hosted by Roxanne Varza, and produced by Cindy Yang. Art is by Gaëtan Lefebvre.

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