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CSIRO Future Proteins Program - Making Future Food Connections
Jeannine Malcolm ● 2024-07-20 ● Event
Jeannine Malcolm ● 2024-07-20 ● Event
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CSIRO, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation is Australia’s national science agency. They actively engage in programs of research across Australia, identifying and promoting innovation in fields such as food security, sustainability, energy and resources, human health and nutrition and communication technologies. CSIRO not only work within the bounds of Australia, but also extend their activities to collaborations with research institutions and government agencies worldwide.
CSIRO Venture Exchange Program Future
Food is a bi-lateral program between Australia and Singapore. It is designed to help companies with a focus on "future food" systems and technologies to engage with the respective ecosystem. The hope is that mutually beneficial opportunities for research, product development, investment and marke penetration can be identified. The 3-month 2024 pilot program was an opportunity for companies to mutually engage with Australia and Singapore’s agrifoodtech ecosystem and to secure collaboration opportunities in research and beyond.
The programme included:
2 x Market Visits:
• Singapore: 22-26 April 2024 to coincide with Food & Hotel Asia Expo
• Australia (Sydney): 27-31 May 2024 to coincide with CSIRO Protein Futures 2024
Cohort & Networking Events
Mobius Farms was invited to apply for this pilot as a consequence of their involvement in CSIRO’s Innovate 2 Grow program. We were attracted to the program because of the opportunities for connection with potential researchers, collaborators and investors as well as gain more detailed insights into the Asia Pacific market for insect based products.
Mobius Farms were delighted to be selected for the Future Protein Inaugural cohort, particularly being the only insect protein, and non-human food focused business.
Market Visit Singapore
The National Singapore Food Agency have declared a policy to "sustainably produce 30% of our nutritional needs by 2030." With just 1% of Singapore’s land set aside for farming, their innovative quest for sustainable, intensive and novel food production is remarkable! This investment was evident in some of the research and commercialisation facilities we visited including FoodPlant, Nurasa and Bühler Group's Protein Innovation Centre. Much of the focus was on the development of plant-based products using soy protein for human consumption.
Side visits for Mobius Farms included the Marine Aquaculture Centre and Pontus Research Facility on St.John's Island, Republic Polytechnic, National University of Singapore, Mandai Wildlife Park and A*STAR Singapore Institute of Food and Biotechnology Innovation (SIFBI).
The CSIRO VEP cohort also participated in pitch events at Cargill and the Food & Hotel Asia Expo which was vast!!
Market Visit Australia
CSIRO’s Protein Futures Symposium in Sydney hosted over 200 researchers, policy makers and industry representatives who attended to hear about the challenges facing protein production in the future. Climate change, geopolitics and increasing resource pressures are pushing innovators to explore opportunities across plant, animal and novel protein industries. Suprisingly, insect protein was not a talking point, with the spotlight being shone on precision fermentation and consumer attitudes towards ‘alternative proteins’.
Outcomes
Mobius Farms identified a few core objectives for this program: to identify potential partners for product development of insect-based products including pet food and frass fertiliser as well as novel, high value biopharma products for human and animal health.
We found the warm reception and willingness to collaborate from the Singapore entities very refreshing and motivating as compared to the often competitive and siloed environment in Australia. The level of interest shown in our venture was very encouraging and we can see great potential for working together over the coming years.
The most valuable part of the experience was being exposed to a range of different research organisations both in Australian, and in Singapore. These connections may not be appropriate for our current stage of development, but remain opportunities for us in the future.
Watch this video to learn more about the Venture Exchange Program.
Thanks to Joshua Soo, Shirly Kalush and the team at Agrifood Futures for their tireless service to the CSIRO co-hort. To Max Sim, Amelia Fyfield and Dr Christine Pitt for their planning and support. And to the other start-up founders: Gavin Keeley, Aarti Tobin, Ellie Whelan, Matthew Kronborg, Penny Brereton, Olivia Said, Siobhan Coster, Simon Davis, Birdie Scott Padam, Jonathan Ho 🌿🍄and Illtud Llyr Dunsford for their spirit of generosity, kindness and encouragement
About Us
Mobius Farms turns waste into value using insects. From hyper local food waste recovery systems to natural substitutes for anti-biotics in animal production; from sustainable protein sources for livestock feed to functional fertilisers for farmers - Mobius Farms aims to build resilience into our food systems through our insect derived technologies.