PICTET ASSET MANAGEMENT
June 2021 | WealthDFM
Better for you, better for the planet –
food after Covid Covid-19 has disrupted the food’s sector’s supply chains and is set to change consumer eating habits for good says Mayssa Al Midani, CIIA, Senior Investment Manager of the Pictet-Nutrition fund
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pending an entire day in the fresh air and sunshine, having the freedom to roam in outdoor space of some 108 square feet, and being able to feast on delicious wildflowers in open pastures untouched by pesticides or herbicides. This is the leisurely daily routine that the “girls” – or hens – at Texas-based food company Vital Farms enjoy in return for producing their highly prized eggs. It's a scene you'd expect to come across in a small organic farm, the sort run by a family committed to ethical
The food industry now has to cater to the needs of a more demanding customer base - one that cares less about convenience and more about the nutritional and ethical aspects of what it buys and eats
WealthDFM.com
production. Vital Farms certainly started out that way. But it is now going big. So big in fact that, last year, the ethical food company secured a valuation of USD1.3 billion in one of the sector's most-anticipated initial public offerings. The food industry will soon be full of companies like Vital. That's because the firm's success owes much to some powerful trends unleashed by Covid-19. Two stand out. First, food producers are having to re-configure their supply chains after the pandemic disrupted global trade. It's an environment where complex international sourcing and distribution networks are under pressure and under scrutiny. Second, the food industry now has to cater to the needs of a more demanding customer base - one that cares less about convenience and more about the nutritional and ethical aspects of what it buys and eats. In a few years, the food industry could look very different, according to members of the Nutrition Strategy Advisory Board. It might consist almost
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