Inspiring a Lifestyle Without Limits for Gen Z: Fermenting with Precision

Gen Z: The Emerging Sustainability Generation

In today’s world, there is a growing concern and need for more sustainable practices globally. This is especially true for Gen Z, who continues to demonstrate strong support for companies that prioritise sustainability over convenience and price. According to a Deloitte survey, Gen Z is adopting more sustainable behaviours than any other group: 50% reduced how much they buy, and 45% stopped purchasing certain brands because of sustainability or ethical concerns1.

For food suppliers and the global food chain, this offers new challenges and opportunities. The food industry accounts for more than one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to a 2021 study backed by the UN.2 And in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, animal agriculture unfortunately wins the race, taking 9 of the top 10 spots for the highest emitters per kilogram. 3 If there was ever an industry squarely in the bullseye of Gen Z, it is the food industry.

Food Technology and Precision Fermentation

Knowing that we need to continue to feed a global population that only continues to climb (we hit 8 billion last year and will add another billion by 2050, by the way),4 the industry needs to reconcile the growing demand for food production with greater sustainability. In this regard, food technology with its ability to cultivate and culture food materials for higher nutritional value, shelf-life and sustainability, is of a critical nature. And precision fermentation, in particular, could be the silver bullet in food technology that helps marry the sustainable desires of new generations with the realities of demand in a growing world.

Precision Fermentation: Adopting Goodness from Nature

The natural process of fermentation, which humans have used for thousands of years to produce foods like bread, cheese, and beer, is where precision fermentation got its start. However, as opposed to traditional fermentation, precision fermentation allows scientists to engineer microorganisms to produce specific proteins, including animal proteins. So now, for the first time in history, we have the ability to use this technology at scale to produce nature's identical proteins.

Reconciling Science with Nature for New Generations

For All G Foods, precision fermentation means leaning into the natural roots of fermentation. It’s not about replacing nature, but rather reconciling it with science. We believe nature has already provided us with the perfect blueprint for nourishment, so, guided by world-leading scientists, our approach is to pay homage to this perfection with precision fermentation, using the latest technology to expertly replicate its genius. This allows us to deliver a “Lifestyle Without Limits” to Gen Z.

We believe Gen Z should have the freedom to choose. Younger generations should not have to exclude dairy from their diet at the expense of a less sustainable lifestyle. They also should not have to wait another decade for a technology to offer them these options when a natural process such as fermentation can already provide for them.

We also believe that as much as Gen Z deserves precision fermentation, the world needs it. According to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation, agriculture would have to ramp up considerably at the expense of environmental impact to meet the growing food demand of the over nine billion people who will exist by 2050 and their expected dietary changes.5

A win for Gen Z, for industries, and for the planet

While the case is clear for precision fermentation to meet Gen Z’s demands, it also has a role in evolving and saving our important agricultural systems and supply chains. For us at All G Foods, precision fermentation offers brilliant opportunities for the traditional dairy industry, whereby our technology can elevate the sector to deliver more efficient ways to provide for people and the planet.

Our guiding belief is that if we can serve as a beacon that aligns with the natural shift of younger generations’ desire for greater sustainability, our precision fermentation technology can create a movement that has the power to establish new standards that maintain choice for younger generations while exponentially increasing environmental sustainability—all the while keeping nutritional values at the core of the matter.

We strongly believe precision fermentation is the future of food. And we thank Gen Z for walking hand-in-hand with us to champion it.

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