Research Articles

Singapore has become the first country on Earth to approve cultured meat for commercial sale. On December 2nd, the Singapore Food Agency said that the cultured chicken produced by San Francisco-based start-up Eat Just met the safety standards for use in nuggets, opening the door for a commercial launch in the country.

2020 has been a challenging year for the food and agriculture industries, however, the crisis caused by the COVID-19 outbreak has led to several opportunities in the global food and agriculture industry, particularly for alternative and novel food systems.

The recent IDTechEx report, "Plant-Based and Cultured Meat 2020-2030", explores the technologies and market factors that are shaping this emerging industry. Here are five things IDTechEx learned from this recent event.

Plants host complex communities of microbes, which can have a significant impact on crop yields and quality, both positively and negatively. Until recently, it was generally believed that almost all microbes were detrimental or neutral to plant life.

Vertical farming is growing quickly. The recent IDTechEx report, "Vertical Farming 2020-2030" explores the technologies and market factors that are shaping this rapidly expanding industry.

The recent IDTechEx report, "Genetic Technologies in Agriculture 2020-2030: Forecasts, Markets, Technologies", explores the use of genetic technologies within agriculture and the impact that they are having on global farming.

IDTechEx explore five companies at the forefront of the cultured meat revolution, based on analysis from the recent report, Plant-based and Cultured Meat 2020-2030.

Global agriculture is facing some serious challenges over the next century, with decades of reliance on chemical fertilizers and pesticides beginning to take their toll. IDTechEx discusses how agricultural biologicals could be part of the solution to these challenges.

In 2018, China enacted its "National Sword" policy, effectively banning the import of most waste plastics and materials heading for the nation's recycling processors in an attempt to stop the wave of soiled and contaminated materials that were overwhelming the country's processing facilities and threatening it with a major environmental problem.

Vertical farming, the practice of growing crops indoors under tightly controlled conditions, is continuing to expand rapidly.

Cultured meat, the idea that meat products can be artificially grown in a lab without requiring the slaughter of animals, has been attracting headlines.

Bioplastics, plastics made from a biological feedstock, could be a renewable and more sustainable alternative to fossil-based plastics. Unlike the vast majority of fossil-based plastics, many bioplastics are biodegradable, which could help provide a solution to the dizzying escalation in plastic waste seen across much of the world. And although bioplastics have historically struggled to deliver the same performance as fossil-based plastics, technology is increasingly closing the gap, creating highly functional plastics that do not cost the Earth. "Bioplastics 2020-2025", the recent report by IDTechEx, explores the emerging technologies around bioplastics and forecasts the future of the industry over the next five years.