INSIGHT
UPFRONT ALTERNATIVE PROTEINS
45c/l
45c/l
45c/l
45c/l
45c/l
45c/l
$3/l Cost of production for alternative milk protein = 6.7 x cost of milk production.
The opportunity of alternative proteins Fake meat and other alternative proteins are growing in popularity as consumers take into account climate change. But Phil Edmonds finds reasons to doubt the threat of alternative proteins and sees the opportunity for New Zealand food producers.
E
vidence has emerged recently suggesting NZ food producers are losing interest in the threat posed by alternative proteins, and the impact their further development could have on demand for our pastoral agriculture. This diminishing concern (if it ever was elevated) comes despite no let up in the global investment in ‘new food’ designed to reduce the need for animal protein, along with relentless enthusiasm for its climate change-busting qualities. Are we right to rest easy and accept the threat is misplaced or overblown, or should we instead be thinking how alternative proteins present NZ farmers with an opportunity to diversify, and build resilience in their business? The answer might come down to how much the government can be convinced that alternative proteins align with its vision of growing the value of New Zealand’s food production. Each year in June KPMG publishes 14
Golden Bay dairy farmer Wayne Langford has planted a wheat crop as part of a push to be more sustainable onfarm.
its Agribusiness Agenda which, based on responses from industry players and stakeholders, identifies the most important issues facing the sector. The Agenda ranks the issues and compares the results with previous years. Noteworthy in this year’s findings was ‘tracking the global evolution of alternative proteins’ experienced the second largest decrease in priority among all issues considered.
The explanation given by KPMG was the fall in priority might simply be due to the sector coming to terms with the emergence of novel foods and the new competition for traditional commodities does not pose the same sense of fear as it has done in the past few years. It may however be that farmers and the wider food producing sector feel like they have more immediate concerns than the pressures posed by new alternative foods. Not only have there been Covid-19related to disruptions to deal with (access to imported materials and labour), but the Government’s legislative programme to address climate change and water reform is also an increasingly pressing preoccupation. And on top of that, the current robust demand for New Zealand’s existing agricultural output is not helping to train thoughts on a world where pastoral production is under threat.
Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2021
