The food industry is in the early stages of a massive transformation, powered by the combination of several major factors: food sustainability and supply concerns, consumers’ focus on health & wellness, and digital catch-up.
Agriculture finds itself at the intersection of two major challenges: improving yields to preserve global food supply while reducing carbon emissions. To achieve these targets, farming is relying on an increasing number of technologies including artificial intelligence, robotics and bioengineering.
Vertical farming, the evolution of farming, is also on track. Using city’s rooftops to grow vegetables or raise honeybees is a good start but indoor vertical farming is the way to go in order to reach mass production levels. New energy efficient lightning techniques coupled to sensors and automated computer-based management systems are giving life to this agricultural technique which delivers breathtaking results in terms of sustainability with 99% less water and 50% less energy usage.
Food security and traceability to prevent contaminations appear as another priority in an era where health concerns are high, food supply chains are global and new foods come to the market on a regular basis (notably plant-based alternatives).
At the consumer level, new behaviors are emerging with an emphasis notably on alternative proteins, that bring both nutritional and sustainability benefits, and tracking/coaching apps.
As food and health are increasingly intertwined, a new generation of wearable tech and nutrition apps is also rising to prevent and manage chronic diseases and, obviously, obesity.
Ultimately, with the generalization of DNA testing and algorithms to predict glycemic responses to different foods, personalized nutrition should become reality.
After an initial surge driven by consumer curiosity and “better for you” credentials, plant-based meat growth has stalled as consumers’ expectations in terms of taste, texture, price or degree of processing have not been met. Beyond Meat’s revenue have therefore been declining for six straight quarters. Amid this challenging demand environment, the business models of…
Driven by the growing awareness prompted by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, global sales of nutraceuticals have seen a substantial upsurge over the last few years. Nutraceuticals are defined as foods that combine the benefits of both nutrients and pharmaceuticals. They are generally categorized into two primary categories: Dietary supplements: vitamins, minerals, enzymes… Functional…
With the emergence of a new generation of weight loss drugs poised to reshape the healthcare industry, the landscape of consumer diets may also be on the cusp of a massive transformation, sending ripples through the food and beverage sectors. New weight loss drugs known under the acronym of GLP-1, embodied by Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic…
If plant-based food keeps struggling as illustrated by Beyond Meat’s underwhelming metrics in the second quarter, innovation in the alternative protein space keeps going unabated. This is hardly surprising, given that the long-term challenges of the food supply chain remain intact, namely the need to massively increase food production to meet rising demand (2 billion…
The concept of indoor vertical farming gained significant momentum during the Covid-19 crisis as lockdowns exposed the vulnerabilities of the food supply chain and highlighted the need for more reliable and local sources of food. This context, coupled with the sustainability benefits of indoor farms such as reduced water usage, pesticide elimination, and reduced transportation,…
If sales of plant-based meat stalled in 2022, there are nevertheless some sources of resilience in the plant-based category with dairy-free milk, and specifically oat milk, keeping growing at a robust pace as illustrated by the Q4 figures from SunOpta (+23% sales growth for its plant-based milks with volumes up double digit, including +37% for…
As alternatives to conventional proteins keep gaining attention from policymakers, food producers and start-ups alike to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and land and water usage, insects are gradually rising as a major sustainable option. When compared to beef, insect protein production consumes 90% less land, 50% fewer resources and produces up to 200 times lower…
A milestone was reached in the quest for electrification of the agricultural machinery industry in recent weeks, as CNH, the manufacturer of New Holland and Case IH equipment, unveiled its 120HP “T4 Electric Power Tractor”, the sector’s first all-electric light utility prototype with autonomous features. While autonomous features have already made significant inroads into the…
The agriculture industry has been slow to embrace new technologies and is still largely non-automated and non-digitized. But technology adoption now seems to be hitting an inflection point with artificial intelligence and robotics capabilities aimed at farming operations making a giant leap, as illustrated by the recent introduction of a fully autonomous tractor by Deere. These…
Despite the recent slowdown in the plant-based food category, alternatives to conventional meat keep gaining attention from policymakers, food producers and start-ups alike, amid livestock production producing high greenhouse gas emissions and requiring more land and water per calorie of food than crops. Accordingly, in his recent executive order on ‘biotechnology and biomanufacturing innovation’, Joe…
In late June, we argued that a reshaping appeared to be taking place in the sports and energy drink business following the end of the distribution deal between PepsiCo and Bang and reported M&A talks between Monster Beverage and Constellation Brands, a few months after Coca-Cola‘s acquisition of BodyArmor, at a $6.6 billion valuation. We…
Back in 2020, plant-based foods and beverages were all the rage, growing 45% year-on-year as consumers shifted their eating habits during the pandemic toward natural and organic products that are perceived as healthy. Two years on, it’s a very different story: the industry’s growth momentum has stalled to just 6% in 2021 and further deceleration…
Fertilizer names are currently a source of relative resilience in our Food Revolution portfolio as they ride an exceptional environment (strong farming demand, major supply disruptions) to deliver impressive quarterly figures and/or guidance. Nutrien and CF Industries just reported +64% and +173% Q1 revenue growth, respectively, and EBITDA up 3x or 4x the level achieved…
Agriculture machinery makers put a lot of efforts last year in developing their digital capabilities and autonomous driving technology, as illustrated notably by CNH’s takeover of Raven Industries for $2.1 billion and Deere’s purchase for $250 million of Bear Flag Robotics. These initiatives seem to be bearing fruit as Deere unveiled last week, during the Consumer Electronics Show…
The increasing climate change awareness over the last years, from both governments and consumers, has resulted in the fight to eradicate greenhouse gases becoming a global priority. As approximately one-third of CO2 emissions are attributed to agriculture, the sector has come under the spotlight to implement changes in the way it produces food. Among various…
On August 3rd, California water regulators voted a water restriction impacting thousands of farmers in the Sacramento and San Joaquin watersheds. Permission is now required to divert more than 55 gallons of water per day from rivers or streams. This (ridiculously low) limit further illustrates one of the worst droughts in California, which is in…
If nothing is done, there will be more plastics in the ocean than fish by 2050 according to the World Economic Forum. As a result, regulators and consumers alike are developing an increased awareness towards the issue of microplastic pollution that humans drink, eat and breathe. Accordingly, the packaging industry is set to undergo radical…
Leading agriculture machinery maker CNH announced yesterday the takeover of Raven Industries, a portfolio company, for $2.1bn including debt. Raven is mainly known for its precision agriculture and autonomy technology with a range of products covering machinery guidance & steering, field computers and data management. Raven is also active in two other businesses (engineered films and…
While it was already on an upward trajectory, consumption of plant proteins recorded a pandemic-related acceleration in 2020 with U.S. retail plant-based foods growing 27% to $7 billion and plant-based meat 45% to $1.4 billion. Consumption continued to be driven by rising awareness to natural organic foods which are perceived as healthier. As many meat…
The roller-coaster ride is set to continue for Beyond Meat, one of our largest Food Revolution positions, with significant disappointment and confusion last night following the company’s Q3 earnings report and McDonald’s announcement of its MacPlant burger (initial perception was that McDonald’s would develop plant-based burgers on its own). Even if we understand the short-term reaction,…
HelloFresh, the leading German online mealkit provider, just pre-announced impressive figures for Q3 with revenue expected up 120% to around EUR970m (vs. EUR836m initial guidance) and EBITDA expected to rise 7x to around EUR115m (vs. EUR73m initially). The company raised its full-year guidance accordingly, now forecasting 95%-105% revenue growth vs. 75%-95% previously. The read-across is…
Restaurant closures, bankruptcies, reopenings with restrictions… The restaurant industry has had a pretty rough time, to say the least. And things should remain difficult in the foreseeable future as Covid-19 doesn’t seem in a hurry to go away. In spite of this adverse environment, we have been investing in various restaurant software names since day…
After more than 20 years covering the Technology and Innovation space, we didn’t think we would one day spend some time researching companies offering lawn and garden products… Here we are, investing in the Scotts Miracle-Gro, a US company that spotted the hydroponic trend at an early stage and became, through its Hawthorne division, the…
The disruption of the global meat supply chain, which started a couple of weeks ago in the US with the Covid-related closure of meat processing facilities, intensified in recent days. Over the weekend, China’s customs suspended imports of poultry products from a Tyson meatpacking facility which was a coronavirus cluster. This move followed the discovery…
While it was already on an upward trajectory, consumption of plant-based meat recorded a major acceleration during the pandemic with Nielsen estimating that sales of fresh meat alternatives in the US were up 240% year-on-year over the March-May period. The disruption in the traditional meat processing industry clearly helped: some of America’s largest processing plants…
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ISIN
DE000US825X7
Currency
USD
Type
Active Equity
Issuer / Rating
Kepler – UBS / S&P A+
Inception Date
08.06.2020
Liquidity
Daily