2025-04-24 06:45:06
Gulfood: The invisible protein sector
I wrote this blog sitting in an office in Bangkok (this was weeks before the March earthquake), getting ready to present at a trade show. The weather was pleasant but humid, a sharp contrast to the dry, warm weather I experienced in Dubai in February, where I attended Gulfood 2025.
That tradeshow is on a different level: 100,000 visitors, more than 5,500 exhibitors and 24 halls. Nearly a million products were on hand.
The first day, I was shellshocked by the overwhelming number of companies and products, but I found my way around. There was a definite buzz in the air and the networking opportunities were great.
I could write for hours about the innovations I saw, but I’ll highlight just two realities that struck me: (1) Not only do we have to feed about 9 billion people by 2030 but also, as I heard in one presentation, 1.8 billion dogs and cats that will need to be fed, as well(!); (2) talk of alternative proteins was almost nonexistent. It didn’t come up.
I believe alternative proteins will be part of the solution in the future. Right now, though, as an industry, we need to realize that the world is in the middle of three dislocating transitions: An energy transition, a mobility transition and a food transition.
At this point, alternative protein, in particular, is being squeezed by decreasing sales and investment as well as geo-political changes on a magnitude we haven’t experienced in a long time. In the U.S., currently still a leader in biotechnology, at least three states have already banned cultivated meat and there are more lining up to do the same.
Meanwhile, in China, cultivated meat is part of that country’s five-year plan. Furthermore, the Chinese government supported the construction of a cultivated meat innovation center. Since 2022, I have visited Asia regularly, and the amount of optimism around its alt-protein sector is mind-boggling.
And so I have questions: Will China take over as a leader in biotechnology? Will the U.S. shut down innovation within its borders? Will those cultivated meat companies in the U.S. waiting for regulatory approvals close up shop or take their innovations to another country?
Meanwhile, other national priorities are gaining financial priority: In the coming years, global money will be redistributed away from social programs and food development as countries, especially in Europe, begin to increase spending on military programs. Great Britain has already raised military spending to 2.5% of GDP. Other countries will follow, and this will have huge implications for alternative proteins.
Amidst these significant changes in our interconnected world, we can only hope that the alternative protein industry continues its steady, if incremental, growth, and that rational decision-making prevails as local and global crises unfold.
Karsten Schellhas is a meat and alt-protein product consultant with 30+ years of experience in meat processing and operations and alt-protein product development in North America and Europe.
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