Temasek, Singapore’s state-backed investor, is pushing further into agriculture technology as the city-state turns to lab-grown meats and milks to achieve greater food security.
The fund has invested over $8bn in the sector, including in more than 30 start-ups, almost a quarter of which have achieved a valuation of more than $1bn. Life-science and agribusiness investments make up 10 per cent of the fund’s portfolio, said Anuj Maheshwari, managing director of Temasek’s agribusiness unit.
The fund’s push into the sector comes as Singapore’s government pursues a “30 by 30” goal of producing 30 per cent of its food domestically by 2030.
The coronavirus pandemic has reinforced the south-east Asian city-state’s reliance on importing most of its food. Singapore, a country of 5.7m that is slightly smaller than New York City, has little arable land and imports more than 90 per cent of the food it consumes.
Investors including Temasek are also attracted to the prospect of producing meat without animal slaughter or environmental damage, and the sector has enjoyed increasing investment flows over the past several years alongside plant-based alternatives.
Temasek chief executive Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara, who took over the $282bn fund last month, will oversee a commitment to halve the net carbon emissions of its portfolio compared with 2010 levels by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050.
Funds globally are piling cash into ESG investing, whereby investors consider environmental, social and governance practices as part of their decision making. But some companies’ heavy promotion of sustainability has been criticised as “greenwashing”.
Temasek on Monday established the Asia Sustainable Foods platform to speed up the commercialisation of sustainable food, assist companies expanding in the region and educate consumers.
“We would like to find as many companies as possible that we can invest in,” said Maheshwari.
Rapid population growth and urbanisation on top of environmental challenges in Asia have created a greater need for alternative foods and innovative farming technologies than at a global level, he added.
Temasek also announced partnerships on Monday with Archer-Daniels-Midland, the US food processing group, and German logistics company Cremer to grow alternative food sources, including plant-based proteins and fermentation-based products.
Singapore became the first country to approve a lab-grown meat product last year. US start-up Eat Just Takeaway.com, one of Temasek’s investments, produced the lab-grown chicken nuggets from animal cells, which it served in several local restaurants this year.
Temasek’s portfolio also includes alternative milk start-up Perfect Day, indoor farming company Bowery and Apeel, the group behind the invisible plant-based edible skin which dramatically extends the shelf life of foods including avocados, citrus and other fruit.
But other countries have been reluctant to embrace lab-grown proteins and a number of start-ups, including Eat Just Takeaway, have struggled to attain regulatory approval in their home markets.
One ESG investor based in the city-state said Singapore could provide a template for other regulators.
“When Singapore, which is known for being risk-averse, is approving products like lab-grown meat for commercial use, it makes other regulators around the world take note,” the investor said.