Charles Abel • A good read
Go tech, or go extinct Food-tech finance guru Paul Cautrecasas
PUNDITS pontificating on the appliance of science to food and farming are ten-a-penny. So how is Paul Cuatrecasas, author of this new book, any different? Chatting with him via Zoom he reckons Covid19 will profoundly affect the global food industry, and technology can help. Advances in drones, autonomous deliveries, in-store analytics, autonomous warehousing, artificial intelligence and robotics will all improve resilience. Most would agree.
“Tech, not capital, is the new lever for creating value.” GO TECH, OR GO EXTINCT: Hardback £19.99, Paperback £10.40, Kindle £5.79
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He then turns to food tech, including lab-meat, insect- and plant-based food, dairy substitutes, synthetic biology, vertical farming and urban agriculture. All threaten traditional farming – especially as production costs and retail prices start undercutting conventional foods, he says. But with just three years’ experience in food, and over 30 years in corporate finance, what really counts is how Paul thinks food businesses can exploit tech disruption. If you want to stretch your thinking about tech’s role in food, this book is for you. “Go Tech, or Go Extinct: How Acquiring Tech Disruptors Is the Key to Survival and Growth for Established Companies” distils current thinking into powerful insights, and some very pithy phrases. Admittedly, Paul’s passion for helping traditional businesses strategically engage with disruptive technologies dominates. As founder and CEO of London-based Aquaa Partners he has facilitated over 45 tech-based mergers and acquisitions, each worth between $1million and $1.5 billion. He shares his views on why firms are failing to innovate and why technology companies represent
10 • The Farmers Club Harvest 2020
the “new secret formula for non-tech corporate incumbents to delight their customers and leave their competition in the dust”. Gushing! He goes on “you’ll identify and seize smart ideas on how to invest and acquire to radically improve your positioning.” Or, more prosaically, you’ll be inspired to rethink your approach to tech-food. The book works at two levels. Factually, it briefly examines tech disruption. Plant-based Beyond Meat’s 47-fold value growth after IPO ($8bn value now), Impossible Foods’ plant-protein burger for Burger King, and Memphis Meats’ goal to have lab-grown meats, including fish, in supermarkets and restaurants by 2022 all suggest the trend is not going away. Inspirationally, the book then considers how to embrace food-tech. That may mean hedging, as Cargill has done by buying into Memphis Meats, or engaging, maybe producing protein/oil-rich substrates for farm-based lab-food facilities. The book then considers just how to strategically embrace tech: • Act like a start-up, even if you are in the oldest industry in the world • Acquire technology to bend your business culture to the future • Tech, not capital, is the new lever for creating value • Decide fast, invest in imagination, collaborate to innovate • Customers want you to innovate for them It’s sure to whet your appetite for food-tech. As Paul says, the future is tech, embrace it… or go extinct!
