Emerging trends in the food system: 2022 and beyond

Takeaways:

• In 2022, sustainability in the food system will be driven by corporations, due to their need to maintain land and soil health, and also their desire to move with trends. Consumers will then shift to more sustainable choices because of the availability of new products on the market. Sustainable solutions adopted by companies are likely to be a mix of new technologies as well as choosing better, more environmentally conscious ingredients.
• There has been a lot of investment in aquaculture recently, for instance a big increase in the number of startups and innovations which use seaweed. Therefore we are likely to see lots of ingredients sourced from aquaculture being introduced into mainstream products in 2022.
• The alternative protein market will continue to grow. However there is a recognition of the need to develop sustainable products which have the same taste, smell and texture as meat, and can be cooked in the same way as meat in order to appeal to consumers. Cell-based meat, grown in a lab rather than in a field, is an emerging trend in this area, and the technology has been attracting huge investments including from large meat companies.
• We are likely to see growth in the number of functional food brands available to consumers which support sleep and eye health in 2022. This is very much driven by continued consumer awareness about the role of food in health.

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