Protein

A Roadmap for unlocking technology-led growth 
opportunities for Australia

2022



Citation and authorship

CSIRO Futures (2022) Protein - A Roadmap for 
unlocking technology-led growth opportunities 
for Australia. CSIRO, Canberra.

This report was authored by Sebastian Charnock, 
Sam Dalton, Lisa Jarrett, Mingji Liu, Audrey Towns 
and Katherine Wynn with input from over 70 
government, industry and research leaders.

CSIRO Futures

At CSIRO Futures we bring together science, technology 
and economics to help governments and businesses 
develop transformative strategies that tackle their biggest 
challenges. As the strategic and economic advisory 
arm of Australia’s national science agency, we are 
uniquely positioned to transform complexity into clarity, 
uncertainty into opportunity, and insights into action.

Accessibility

CSIRO is committed to providing web accessible content 
wherever possible. If you are having difficulties with 
accessing this document, please contact csiro.au/contact

Acknowledgement

CSIRO acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the 
land, sea and waters, of the area that we live and 
work on across Australia. We acknowledge their 
continuing connection to their culture, and we pay 
our respects to their Elders past and present.

The project team is grateful to the many stakeholders 
who generously gave their time to provide advice and 
feedback on this report. We thank members of the 
project’s Steering Committee and Advisory Committee 
and CSIRO’s Agriculture and Food Business Unit.

Copyright

© Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research 
Organisation 2022. To the extent permitted by law, all 
rights are reserved and no part of this publication covered 
by copyright may be reproduced or copied in any form or 
by any means except with the written permission of CSIRO.



Sponsors

Grain Corp logo
Meat and Livestock Australia logo
v2 food logo
Australian Trade and Investment Commission logo
Supported by
FIAL The Food and Agribusiness Growth Centre logo
The Food and Agribusiness Growth Centre
Grains Research and Development Corporation logo
Queensland Government logo
Government of Western Australia Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development logo
Department ofPrimary Industries andRegional Development
Victoria State Government logo

Foreword

Australia has long history in agriculture, and around 
the world we are recognised as leaders in agricultural 
excellence. CSIRO’s own history in agriculture spans more 
than 100 years, from ridding the land of prickly pear 
back in 1926, to helping transform our cattle industry 
through introduction of the Brahman breed, to now 
developing nutritious grains that combat chronic disease.1 

Today Australia has an opportunity to leverage its 
agricultural strengths to grow our economy in new 
markets, to extend our leadership in existing industries, 
and to sustainably produce and export more food 
to meet a growing global demand for protein. 

By 2050, the Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates 
we will need to produce 60 per cent more food to feed 
an expected 9.7 billion people. Currently, 75 per cent 
of the world’s food is produced from five animals and 
12 plants.2 This concentration makes our food system more 
vulnerable to threats like disease, pests, and weather. 
It also presents a tremendous opportunity when you 
consider the vast biodiversity and nutrient dense foods 
on the planet that could be incorporated into our diets. 

Protein is vital to our health, and as global populations 
grow and consumer preferences change, we will need to 
produce more of it, more sustainably, from more sources. 
But we can’t just do what we’ve done before – we need 
solutions from science to help create these new markets. 

As this National Protein Roadmap details, the solution is in 
agricultural and foodtech innovation to develop new and 
improved protein-based food products, and new ways to 
get more value from our traditional animal protein sources. 
As with any great innovation, it starts with a clear market 
vision of a better future for Australia, and targets our 
science at giving Australia an unfair global advantage. 

Building on our strengths in agriculture and our 
reputation as a clean, safe, and high-quality food 
producer, Australia has a huge opportunity to become 
a global leader in high quality, value-added protein. 
We estimate this is nearly an additional $13 billion 
market opportunity that will complement – not compete 
– with our traditional animal protein industries. 

Australia is already a significant global producer of 
premium protein products – like our beloved steaks, lamb, 
prawns, and barramundi – and there are opportunities 
to enhance our leadership. Our beef is so highly sought 
after in export markets that food fraud could impact 
our growth. This Roadmap outlines the opportunity to 
build on the premium status of our beef with technology 
to verify the provenance of a product at any point 
along the supply chain and uncover impersonators. 

But the protein market opportunity cannot be met by 
animal proteins alone. Australia already has strong 
cropping industries that our science can leverage to 
grow our plant-based protein output, and if we invest in 
our manufacturing capability, we can supercharge that 
growth. We export more than 70 per cent of the bulk 
protein commodities we produce – like grains, legumes, 
and meat – and ironically buy them back as finished products. 
We could capture significantly more value if we invest in our 
processing and manufacturing facilities to convert these into 
higher value products for international markets, just as we’ve 
demonstrated already creating companies like v2food to bring 
plant-based protein products onto the mainstream market.

Finally, this Roadmap also outlines other protein 
opportunities for Australia, like sustainable aquaculture 
with a new white-flesh fish industry, and non-traditional 
forms of protein like cultivated meat and yeast-based 
precision fermentation-derived products. 

There is room for growth across all protein sectors, 
but we will need to work together to achieve our goals. 
In 2021, together with our partners at the Department 
of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources; Meat & 
Livestock Australia; the Grains Research & Development 
Corporation and others, CSIRO launched a Future Protein 
Mission to co-develop new products and solutions to 
help our protein industries reach their full potential.

Australia has often been called the food bowl of Asia, but it’s 
time to become the delicatessen of the world – the source of 
high value, high profit, premium and trusted food products 
that others strive to copy, but simply can’t match. Wouldn’t it 
be great for Australia to be a world leader in food innovation? 
It’s now up to us all to help bring that vision to life, and this 
Roadmap outlines the key science and technology focus 
areas which will be the building blocks of our success.

Dr Larry Marshall
Chief Executive, CSIRO

1 CSIRO (2020) BARLEYmax. Viewed 14 February 2022 <https://www.csiro.au/en/research/production/food/BARLEYmax-BUcase-study>.

2 Searchinger T and Hanson C (2014) Closing the ‘Food Gap’ Means Renewing the Global Commitment to Crop Breeding . Viewed 14 February 2022, 
<https://www.wri.org/insights/closing-food-gap-means-renewing-global-commitment-crop-breeding>.




Size of the prize for 
Australian protein 

10.47 million
more 
consumers

For Australian protein 
products between 
2018 and 2030

65 million 
tonnes

Total domestic and 
export demand for 
Australian protein 
products in 2030

8.65 million 
tonnes

Additional demand 
for Australian protein 
products in 2030 
compared to 2018

Source: AgriFutures (2020) The changing landscape of protein production.

Demand is significant and 
can only be met through a 
combination of animal proteins, 
plant proteins and novel 
protein production systems.



Australian protein industries 
at a glance 

492,000 kt

of animal-based 
protein consumed 
globally.3

5,000 kt meat

> 4 billion eggs

≈ 9 billion L milk

produced in Australia.4

≈ 260 kt

of fisheries products 
(including fish, 
crustaceans and 
molluscs) produced 
in Australia.4

> $21 billion

in exports of Australian 
animal-based proteins, 
including dairy and 
live exports.4

28,000 
businesses

in Australian 
animal-based 
protein industries.5

≈ 210,000 
employed

in Australian 
animal-based 
protein industries.6

≈ $10 billion

in exports of 
grains, oilseeds 
and pulses.7

≈ $3 million

in exports of 
plant-based 
protein 
alternatives.8

≈ 550 
employed

in the Australian 
plant-based protein 
alternatives industry.8

3 OECD (2021) OECD Agriculture Statistics. Viewed 11 January 2021, <https://stats.oecd.org/BrandedView.aspx?oecd_bv_id=agr-data-en&doi=4bde2d83-en>. 
Covers beef and veal, pork, poultry, sheep and fish.

4 See Appendix B protein snapshots

.

5 Counted as businesses with one or more employees operating in livestock farming, fisheries and aquaculture, hunting and trapping, meat and seafood 
product processing and manufacturing, and dairy product processing and manufacturing. ABS (2021) Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and 
Exits. Viewed 11 January 2022, <https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/business-indicators/counts-australian-businesses-including-entries-and-exits/
latest-release>.

6 Counted as ‘sheep, beef cattle and grain’, ‘dairy cattle’, ‘poultry’, ‘other livestock’, ‘aquaculture’, ‘fishing’ and ‘hunting and trapping’ industries. 
Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (2020) Agricultural commodities and trade data - Australian economy - farm sector.

7 Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (2021) Agricultural commodities June quarter 2021: Value of agricultural, fisheries 
and forestry exports (fob), Australia.

8 Food Frontier (2021) 2020 State of the Industry Australia’s Plant-Based Meat Sector.



Technology-led opportunities 
for Australia 

Note: Four additional opportunities have been qualitatively explored in this roadmap but their economic size and potential growth have not been 
quantitatively assessed.

Sources: Estimate of current state for the Australian protein sector is taken from FIAL (2019) Protein Market: Size of the Prize Analysis for Australia; 
estimate of conservative scenario in 2030 for the Australian protein sector is taken from AgriFutures (2020) The changing landscape of protein production. 
All other estimates are CSIRO calculations.

*Estimate of current state for integrity systems for red meat exports is the current revenue Australia earns from red meat exports with its current integrity 
systems in place, estimates of conservative and ambitious scenarios in 2030 for integrity systems for red meat exports are the estimated 2030 export 
revenue from red meat exports with low (conservative) and high (ambitious) enhancement of these systems to enable traceability and verifiable credentials.



Executive summary

Our objectives

To create almost an additional $13 billion in science and 
technology driven protein opportunities for Australia by 2030, 
products and ingredients must meet or exceed consumer 
needs and the industry should focus on value-adding in 
areas where Australia has a competitive advantage.

To become a global leader in high quality, value-added protein, 
the focus should be on product quality and attributes, 
including health, welfare and environmental credentials.

Purpose of roadmap

To develop, in collaboration with stakeholders, a blueprint to guide 
investments in science, technology and infrastructure initiatives that 
contribute to the protein industry’s productivity and profitability, 
sustainability, regional prosperity and global competitiveness.

Why now for protein?

Growing global protein demand, changing consumer 
preferences, and increasing investment and innovation 
are all driving an intensified focus on the protein 
industry. Now is the time to build a sustainable and 
resilient Australian food system that delivers protein 
for discerning local and global consumers.

Why Australia?

Australia is well positioned to capitalise on the growing 
protein opportunity to become a global leader through 
growth and expansion of established products and 
markets, and the sustainable development of novel 
and differentiated protein products. The nation’s 
agriculture and food industry is supported by a 
strong history of research and production excellence, 
proximity to growing Asian markets, a reputation for 
producing premium and safe food products, strong 
biosecurity, and commitments towards growth and 
development of sovereign value adding capabilities.



Strategic science and technology focus areas

1 Strengthening product integrity and market access


Continuing to invest in the essential R&D and infrastructure 
that underpin the global competitiveness of Australian 
protein products and ingredients. This will ensure 
Australian manufacturers have the systems needed to 
demonstrate and communicate the positive attributes 
of their products, whether through food safety measures, 
supply chain traceability, or compliance with local or 
international trading partner standards and regulations. 
This will in turn reduce technical trade barriers, 
position Australia favourably in trade negotiations and 
support Australia’s preferential access to key markets, 
such as expanding Australian red meat exports into 
new geographies. Although product integrity and 
market access are key strategic focus areas across 
Australia’s protein industry, this roadmap specifically 
explores integrity systems in the red meat sector.

2 Optimising quality and cost competitiveness 


Continuing to invest in the essential R&D and infrastructure 
that underpin the quality9 and cost competitiveness of 
Australian protein products and ingredients. This will 
ensure Australian manufacturers have the inputs needed to 
produce higher value products and that Australian protein 
is preferred by customers and consumers. While quality 
and cost optimisation is important across the protein 
industry, this report explores plant-based protein 
ingredients and crop breeding and pre-breeding.

3 Maximising resources and circularity


Transforming what is currently considered low value 
or waste into high value products and ingredients and 
incorporating circularity principles into the supply chain. 
This will capture value and increase producer and processor 
profitability through product and market diversification. 
Examples of opportunities to transform waste and 
lower value by-products into higher value products 
include red meat co-products for health and wellness 
markets and insect protein sources for food and feed.

4 Enabling the scale-up of high growth sectors


Identifying sectors that are currently relatively small in 
Australia but have high growth potential and supporting 
their scale-up. This will capture additional value and 
increase profitability, alongside more mature existing 
sectors. Examples of high growth sectors include local, 
sustainable white flesh fish and plant-based products.

5 Developing novel production systems


Identifying new methods for producing protein through 
targeted investments in R&D and infrastructure. 
This will involve having a focused and targeted investment 
portfolio aimed at capturing value, optimising resources 
and leveraging Australia’s comparative advantages. 
Examples of novel production opportunities include 
precision fermentation and cultivated meats.

The science, technology and infrastructure investment priorities identified 
for each of these opportunities are shown in Table 1. 

9 In this context, quality means meeting or exceeding customer expectations regarding the properties and attributes of food items, including its appearance, 
texture, flavour, nutritional content and its ethical and sustainable production. 



Ecosystem priorities

In addition to the strategic science and technology areas, this roadmap also sets out five priorities to guide activities 
for whole of ecosystem benefit and to monitor progress. For each priority, areas of consideration are identified. 

Producers, 
communities 
and regions

Producers, communities and 
regions recognise the role 
that the protein industry 
plays in food production and 
economic prosperity; and see 
being part of the Australian 
protein industry as attractive 
now and into the future. 

• Support primary producers with technology 
adoption, data and insights
• Develop an appropriately skilled workforce
• Engage and co-develop with Australian First Nations Peoples
• Support the development of regional 
communities to support agriculture 
• Stabilise high-protein crop price and demand


Customers and 
consumers

Customers and consumers 
are engaged and seek high 
value, high quality, and 
trustworthy Australian 
products.

• Conduct consumer sentiment and sensory research
• Develop consumer communication and engagement 
plans for non-traditional proteins
• Early community engagement for cultivated meat
• Support consumer acceptance of insect proteins 


Environment

Australian protein 
production increases while 
also protecting ecosystem 
health and biodiversity, 
and meeting consumer and 
market expectations for 
sustainability and biosecurity.

• Sustainability considerations for red meat production
• Whole-of-food-system view of healthy sustainable diets
• Consumer access to lower environmental 
impact food products and knowledge
• Understand impact through Life Cycle Analysis


Coordination 
and 
collaboration

The Australian protein 
industry sees the significant 
global opportunity 
for all types of protein 
and is coordinated and 
collaborative in pursuing 
this opportunity.

• Establish dedicated industry development 
for novel protein production
• Learn from international protein industry 
development (policy and scale-up)
• Engage with industry incumbents
• Share knowledge across industry
• Develop new business models and supply chains
• Coordinate and collaborate for animal protein product integrity
• Support cross-sector collaboration
• Facilitate the development of protein 
innovation clusters and accelerators


Policy and 
regulation

The Australian protein 
industry is well supported 
by policy and regulations 
that enable the industry 
to compete globally 
and deliver high quality 
products to local and 
export markets.

• Deliver streamlined compliance for protein exporters
• Review process for aquaculture farm licenses
• Provide regulatory clarity for new and novel foods
• Enable a safe but proactive regulatory 
environment for precision fermentation
• Develop science-informed food safety 
standards for cultivated meats
• Develop insect industry guidelines
• Continue policy and government infrastructure support




Table 1: 2022-2030 science technology and infrastructure investment priorities for identified opportunities

SCIENCE AND 
TECHNOLOGY 
FOCUS AREA

INDUSTRY 
OPPORTUNITIES

2022-2030 SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT 
PRIORITIES

Strengthening 
product integrity 
and market access

1: Integrity systems 
in the red meat 
sector

• Verify the biological and geographical origin of production
• Research and infrastructure to help establish and utilise data from production 
systems 
• Design new systems-based compliance 
• Conduct preventative risk assessments
• Support compliance infrastructure


2: Expanding 
Australian red meat 
exports into new 
geographic markets

• Support the development of logistics and cold chain management
• Research to support new product innovation 
• Maintain and enhance reputation for clean, safe and natural products


Optimising 
quality and cost 
competitiveness

3: Plant-based 
protein ingredients

• Optimise fractionation technology
• Secure capital for infrastructure 
• Obtain market information for plant-based products 
• Set supported production targets
• Support research infrastructure development
• Research to support technology and process development for protein extraction


4: Crop breeding and 
pre-breeding

• Develop supply chain infrastructure 
• Invest in R&D programs


Maximising 
resources and 
circularity

5: Red meat 
co-products for 
health and wellness 
markets

• Remap the carcase
• Research to understand new product markets and value chains 
• Research to understand customer needs and willingness to pay 
• Process engineering for co-product collection and transformation
• Support evidence-based claims
• Develop and demonstrate origin marker technology


6: Insect protein 
sources for food and 
feed

• Investigate feasibility of co-location and sharing
• Research to support insect waste management potential 
• Research to understand the nutritional profile of insects 
• Support progressive insect infrastructure scale-up
• Support regulatory process development for insects








SCIENCE AND 
TECHNOLOGY 
FOCUS AREA

INDUSTRY 
OPPORTUNITIES

2022-2030 SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT 
PRIORITIES

Enabling the scale-
up of high growth 
sectors

7: Scaling up local, 
sustainable white 
flesh fish production

• Investment in cross-sector infrastructure and services
• Identify suitable white flesh fish species
• Understand consumer expectations for aquaculture 
• Research to support aquaculture production enhancement
• Research to understand and address aquaculture-environmental interactions and 
climate impacts


8: Plant-based 
products

• Scaling up processing infrastructure
• Services and skills to support food manufacturers and start-ups
• Investment in collaborative R&D and prototyping facilities 
• Establish domestic ingredient supply chains
• Invest in plant-based product R&D


Developing novel 
protein production 
systems

9: Precision 
fermentation

• Investigate and support pilot scale facilities
• Support collaboration with adjacent sectors and infrastructure for precision 
fermentation scale-up
• Services for precision fermentation scale-up
• Research to support microorganism engineering and strain development and 
optimisation
• Research to support feedstock selection, optimisation, and process improvement
• Research to understand manufacturer and consumer needs
• Life Cycle Analysis to understand impact
• Research to understand nutritional profile of precision fermentation products
• Precision fermentation product development


10: Cultivated meats

• Optimise cell culture media
• Identify cell sources for cultivated meat
• Cultivated meat product development 
• Research to support food safety
• Research to inform bioprocess development
• Research to understand consumer preferences








Australia’s Protein Roadmap

Introduction

What is protein? 

Commonly referred to as the building blocks of life, 
proteins play many critical roles in the body, including 
helping to build muscle mass, make hormones 
and enzymes, and making and repairing cells. 

Rich dietary sources of protein include animal 
products (such as meat, fish, dairy and eggs) and 
plant sources (such as nuts, cereals and legumes). 
Other non-traditional sources of protein include insects 
and some cultured and fermented products – many 
of which are not yet common in Australian diets.

Figure 1: Protein sources

Australia has an opportunity to cement its international 
position as a protein leader and drive economic growth by 
responding to increasing global demand while minimising 
the environmental impact of protein production. Australia’s 
various existing and emerging protein industries will 
complement each other in growing Australia’s protein 
output to meet global demand and improve food security. 

This report aims to provide a blueprint for capturing the 
opportunities arising from the growth in the global demand 
for Australian protein. These include building on markets 
for traditional protein sources and positioning Australia 
as a global leader in the sustainable development of novel 
and differentiated protein ingredients and products. 
The report identifies several strategic focus areas that aim 
to showcase science- and technology-led value-adding 
for Australia’s protein industry. Specific opportunities 
are identified for these focus areas, as well as some of 
the challenges that need to be overcome to capitalise 
on these opportunities; however, the opportunity for 
Australia stretches beyond those identified within this report. 
By identifying research and development, infrastructure and 
ecosystem priorities, the report is designed to help inform 
the next series of investments amongst various stakeholder 
groups (e.g., industry, government and research). 

This report draws upon consultation with stakeholders 
from across the supply chain, international food and 
innovation organisations, CSIRO’s research expertise 
and various state and Commonwealth government 
departments (see Appendix A). Demonstrating the 
collaboration that will be required to seize growth 
opportunities and sustainably grow Australia’s protein 
industry, this research activity and resulting report has 
been sponsored by a diverse set of organisations from 
across Australia’s protein landscape (see page i).



Why now? 

Food is the single strongest lever available to optimise 
both human health and environmental sustainability.10 
Growing global protein demand, changing consumer 
preferences, and increasing investment and innovation 
are all driving an intensified focus on the protein 
industry. Now is the time to build a sustainable and 
resilient Australian food system that delivers nutritious 
protein for discerning local and global consumers. 

Global protein demand, measured in terms of total 
macronutrients consumed, is expected to increase 20% 
between 2018 and 2025 to 271 million tonnes,11 driven 
by a growing global population and a rising middle 
class. Meeting this demand is essential to improving 
global food security, and will require increased 
production of livestock (including fish), which will 
remain an important part of the global food system,12 
alongside complementary increases in plant-based and 
non-traditional protein sources (such as insects). 

Consumer preferences, globally and in Australia, are also 
changing presenting further opportunity for value-adding. 
For example, while Australia remains one of the world’s 
largest beef consumers, with 2020 per capita consumption 
averaging 23.4 kg,13 there has been a steady decline in this 
consumption over the past two decades.14 At the same time, 
other countries have witnessed increased consumption 
(China’s beef consumption rose from 3.19 kg per capita 
in 2010 to 4.19 kg in 202015). In Australia, approximately 
two-thirds of consumers have maintained their level of 
red meat consumption over the past 10 years, while 28% 
have reduced their intake and 9% have increased their 
consumption.16 Common reasons for eating less red meat 
are based on cost, followed by health, environmental 
and animal welfare concerns.17 Growing global demand 
and still significant domestic demand for red meat 
mean that even as per capita domestic consumption of 
red meat declines, the overall demand for Australian 
protein, including from both traditional and emerging 
plant and non-traditional sources, will remain high.

There is also growing consumer and investor 
interest in plant-based and non-traditional proteins, 
with meat alternative products becoming more 
embedded in the mainstream marketplace, providing 
additional and complementary protein options for 
consumers. While the market for these proteins 
is growing quickly, it is still relatively new and 
small compared to more traditional proteins. 

Consumers are increasingly basing their food purchasing 
decisions not only on price and brand, but also on 
high-value attributes that demonstrate the quality and added 
value of the food products. There is growing consumer 
interest and awareness of provenance and traceability, 
nutritional value, sustainability and environmental 
credentials (e.g., carbon footprint, sustainable packaging). 
This provides messaging opportunities for animal protein 
industries and opportunities for ambitious industry-wide 
programs for Australia to differentiate itself. In some 
cases, various credentials will also be requested by 
Australia’s trading partners and global trading rules,18 
making them essential for continued market access.

10 EAT-Lancet Commission (2019) Summary Report of the EAT-Lancet Commission. Stockholm.

11 FIAL (2019) Protein Market: Size of the prize analysis for Australia. Werribee, VIC.

12 Colgrave ML, Dominik S, Tobin AB, Stockmann R, Simon C, Howitt CA, Belobrajdic DP, Paull C and Vanhercke T (2021) Perspectives on Future Protein 
Production. Journal of agricultural and food chemistry 69(50), 15076–15083. DOI: 10.1021/ACS.JAFC.1C05989.

13 Meat & Livestock Australia (2021) State of the Industry Report: The Australian red meat and livestock industry 2021.

14 Meat & Livestock Australia (2021) State of the Industry Report: The Australian red meat and livestock industry 2021.

15 OECD (2021) Agricultural output | Meat consumption. Viewed 15 December 2021, <https://data.oecd.org/agroutput/meat-consumption.htm>. 

16 Meat & Livestock Australia (2021) Consumer sentiment research: Australian perceptions about the red meat industry. Viewed 17 November 2021, <https://
www.mla.com.au/marketing-beef-and-lamb/consumer-sentiment-research/>.

17 Meat & Livestock Australia (2021) Consumer sentiment research: Australian perceptions about the red meat industry. Viewed 17 November 2021, <https://
www.mla.com.au/marketing-beef-and-lamb/consumer-sentiment-research/>.

18 Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (2020) Global responses to climate change: opportunities for Australian agricultural 
producers. ABARES Insights (10).



Increased recent investments both in innovative protein 
businesses and sustainable production systems reflect 
demand for diversification. Focus on climate risk by 
investors alongside other environmental, social, and 
governance (ESG) elements is driving these investments in 
complementary, sustainable protein solutions which in turn 
can push Australia towards achieving its climate targets. 
For example, traditional protein and food companies are 
also investing in non-traditional protein, including Norco 
(Australia’s oldest dairy cooperative) investing in Eden Brew 
(animal-free dairy start-up), and JBS (a global food company) 
acquiring Vivera (a Dutch plant-based food manufacturer) 
and becoming the majority shareholder of BioTech Foods 
(a Spanish cultivated meat start-up). Protein companies are 
also investing in sustainable and regenerative production 
systems and value chains, including around soil carbon 
and fertility, biodiversity, reduced or eliminated chemical 
use and emissions reduction. An example is Danone 
and Nestle’s investments in regenerative agriculture.19 

Why Australia?

Australia is a significant player in the global protein 
market. The nation is well positioned to capitalise on 
the growing protein opportunity to become a global 
leader20 through growth and expansion of established 
products and markets and the sustainable development 
of novel and differentiated protein products.

Australia’s advanced agricultural (including aquaculture) 
sector produces a healthy surplus – estimated to feed 
around 60 million people annually.21 In 2020, Australia 
was the second largest beef and veal exporter after Brazil 
and the world’s largest sheepmeat exporter.22 Australia’s 
strong agriculture and food industry and commodity-based 
exports provide significant advantages in becoming a 
global protein leader. There are growth commitments 
across the agricultural industry that support and drive 
momentum for Australia’s protein opportunity, including 
the agriculture industry’s bold target to exceed $100 billion 
in farm gate output,23 or $200 billion in value-add by 
2030.24 CSIRO’s Future Protein Mission and the Australian 
Government’s National Agricultural Innovation Agenda25 
further support the opportunity, alongside the growing 
appetite for sovereign manufacturing and value adding, 
which has a significant focus on food manufacturing, 
as outlined in the Modern Manufacturing Strategy.26 
Additionally, Australia has strengths in crop exports, 
with total export value of grains, oilseeds and pulses 
at a five year average of $10.5 billion over 2015-20.27

Further advantages include Australia’s trade partnerships 
and proximity to rapidly growing Asian markets. 
Australia has a strong international reputation for 
being ‘clean and green’, producing premium and 
safe food products, including traceable, high-quality 
red meat production, which provides opportunities 
in premium markets.28 Australia’s reputation is 
important for maintaining long term market access29 
and enables Australian producers to command a 
premium price for their product. This reputation 
(derived from decades of traditional meat and grain 
exports) is enabled by Australia’s world class regulatory 
system, strong biosecurity and focus on food safety.

19 Danone (n.d.) Regenerative agriculture. Viewed 24 January 2022, <https://www.danone.com/impact/planet/regenerative-agriculture.html>. 
Nestlé Global (n.d.) Supporting regenerative agriculture. Viewed 24 January 2022, <https://www.nestle.com/csv/global-initiatives/zero-environmental-
impact/climate-change-net-zero-roadmap/regenerative-agriculture>. 

20 In this context, a global leader is a country that embraces strategic thinking, innovation and technology advancement through setting goals, prioritising 
them and taking responsibility to accomplish them; it focuses on skills and capability building to ensure its workforce has the tools to accomplish the goals; 
it prioritises sustainability and considers the environmental consequences of its decisions; and it prioritises long-term relationship building both internally 
and internationally through clear and diplomatic communication. As a result, a global leader is likely to have a relatively large per capita share of the export 
market in which they lead and is likely to be close to the technology frontier for that market.

21 CSIRO Futures (2017) Food and Agribusiness Roadmap. CSIRO, Canberra.

22 Meat & Livestock Australia (2021) Value of Australian beef exports falls in 2020. Viewed 9 November 2021, <https://www.mla.com.au/prices-markets/market-
news/2021/value-of-australian-beef-exports-falls-in-2020/>.

23 National Farmers Federation (2020) 2030 Roadmap: Australian Agriculture’s Plan for a $100 Billion Industry. Barton, ACT. 

24 FIAL (2020) Capturing the prize- The A$200 billion opportunity in 2030 for the Australian food and agribusiness sector.

25 Australian Government (2021) National Agricultural Innovation Policy Statement. Canberra.

26 Australian Government (2020) Make It Happen: The Australian Government’s Modern Manufacturing Strategy. Canberra.

27 Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (2021) Agricultural commodities June quarter 2021: Value of agricultural, fisheries 
and forestry exports (fob), Australia.

28 Deloitte Australia (2013) Positioning for prosperity? Catching the next wave.; CSIRO Futures (2020) Growth opportunities for Australian food and 
agribusiness: Economic analysis and market sizing. CSIRO, Canberra.

29 Meat & Livestock Australia (2021) Market access. Viewed 8 November 2021, <https://www.mla.com.au/marketing-beef-and-lamb/international-markets/
market-access/#>.



Australia’s biosecurity system enables international market 
access. One of the greatest disruptions to the global 
protein industry over recent years has been the emergence 
of African Swine Fever (ASF), which was discovered in 
China in 2018. ASF is a highly contagious and lethal virus 
for pigs (humans remain unaffected), transmittable when 
pigs come into direct contact with infected animals, 
indirect contact with contaminated objects or are fed 
contaminated pork products. ASF has never occurred in 
Australia. The emergence of ASF, particularly in China, has 
accelerated Chinese demand for imported beef, a trend 
that was already growing due to growing populations and 
increasing income levels. From 2017 to 2020, the volume 
of imported beef into China tripled with trade from Brazil, 
Argentina and Australia reaching unprecedented levels. 

Australia’s significant research capability and expertise 
across agriculture, food and health also helps to favourably 
position the nation. Australia has a long history of research 
excellence in agriculture and food, including in crop, 
livestock and aquaculture breeding; animal management 
and innovative farming systems; disease management; 
genetics; processing automation; waste to energy 
conversions; and food science. Health and nutrition are 
also research strengths, including the interplay between 
health, food and consumer choice, and in delivering 
innovation to food, health and wellness industries. 

In mature industries, such as the livestock industry, increased 
demand for protein will be met through technical innovations 
that enhance production efficiency and sustainability, as 
well as using currently under-utilised parts of the carcase.30 
Australia has significant research and industrial experience 
to draw upon in developing these technical innovations. 

Alongside research institutions, Australia also has a growing 
ecosystem of companies focused on developing innovative 
food processing technologies and creating new value-added 
foods and ingredients. There are numerous start-ups and 
established companies operating in Australia and working 
on developing novel and differentiated protein products. 

Focusing on science 
and technology

Science and technology innovation helps 
improve productivity, can provide social and 
environmental benefits, builds resilience, and 
enhances international competitiveness.31

Australia’s protein opportunity is considerable. 
Like all of CSIRO’s previous roadmaps, this roadmap 
explores how science and technology can drive 
the opportunities by supporting Australia’s protein 
industry to respond to increased global demand while 
minimising the environmental impact of production. 
The report identifies five science and technology 
focus areas and outlines example protein industry 
opportunities for each area. For each example 
opportunity, priorities for science, technology and 
infrastructure investment out to 2030 are identified.

Businesses have a vital role to play in driving protein 
related science and technology innovation, and can 
realise significant value in doing so. Science and 
technology innovation can help businesses create new 
products and services, increase the quality of existing 
goods and services, and be more productive and 
profitable. Innovation can also enable businesses to 
become more competitive internationally and can help 
businesses maintain a social licence to operate.32

While not a focus of this roadmap, businesses also 
have a vital role in driving non-R&D innovation such 
as business model innovation that helps to ensure new 
technologies can be translated into scalable, commercial 
outcomes that reach and meet the needs of consumers.

By targeting and investing in the application of research, 
science and/or technology alongside appropriate 
infrastructure, Australia can accelerate innovation, growth 
and, in some cases, sustained competitive advantage 
across the protein industry, from pre-farmgate through 
to domestic and export markets. To help support 
and build the Australian protein industry, several 
broader ecosystem priorities are also identified. 

30 Colgrave ML, Dominik S, Tobin AB, Stockmann R, Simon C, Howitt CA, Belobrajdic DP, Paull C and Vanhercke T (2021) Perspectives on Future Protein 
Production. Journal of agricultural and food chemistry 69(50), 15076–15083. DOI: 10.1021/ACS.JAFC.1C05989.

31 CSIRO Futures (2020) Value of science and technology.

32 CSIRO Futures (2020) Value of science and technology.



Roadmap outline

Strengthening product 
integrity and market access

Integrity systems in the red meat sector

Expanding Australian red meat exports into new geographic markets

Optimising quality and 
cost competitiveness

Plant-based protein ingredients

Crop breeding and pre-breeding

Maximising resources 
and circularity

Red meat co-products for health and wellness markets

Insect protein sources for food and feed

Enabling the scale-up 
of high growth sectors

Scaling up local, sustainable white flesh fish production

Plant-based products

Developing novel 
production systems

Precision fermentation

Cultivated meats

Industry opportunities

Science and technology 
focus areas

1

2

3

4

5

Ecosystem priorities

Producers, 
communities 
and regions

Producers, communities and regions recognise the role that the protein 
industry plays in food production and economic prosperity, and see being part 
of the Australian protein industry as attractive now and into the future. 

Customers and 
consumers

Customers and consumers are engaged and seek high value, 
high quality, and trustworthy Australian products.

Environment

Australian protein production increases while also protecting ecosystem health and 
biodiversity, and meeting consumer and market expectations for sustainability and biosecurity.

Coordination and 
collaboration

The Australian protein industry sees the huge global opportunity for all types of 
protein and is coordinated and collaborative in pursuing this opportunity.

Policy and 
regulation

The Australian protein industry is well supported by policy and regulations that enable the 
industry to compete globally and deliver high quality products to local and export markets.



1 Strategic science and 
technology focus areas

Australia is already a significant global protein producer 
and exporter, benefiting from well-established and 
sophisticated supply chain capacity and capability, 
particularly for animal-derived proteins (see Appendix B 
for snapshots on Australia’s protein sectors). As global 
demand for protein continues to grow, particularly 
in Asia, new domestic and export markets will open, 
triggering opportunities for Australia’s established 
protein industry, as well as the development of new 
Australian protein value chains that complement 
already existing animal and plant protein industries. 

Various estimates, scenarios and targets have been 
developed for the size of the opportunity for Australian 
protein producers from the domestic market and exports. 
For example, The Australian Farm Institute and AgriFutures 
estimated business-as-usual organic growth for Australian 
proteins at almost $20 billion by 2030 compared to 2018.33 
The vision of the Red Meat Advisory Council’s Red Meat 
2030 is to double the value of Australian red meat sales 
(domestic plus exports) by 2030, moving from $28.5 billion 
in 2018-19 to $57 billion in 2030.34 FIAL used scenario 
analysis to estimate that shifting Australia’s protein 
production mix to match projected global consumption for 
high-value proteins could create an additional $55 billion 
in 2025 compared to business-as-usual approaches.35 

This roadmap includes scenario-based market sizing 
estimates of a range of science- and technology-led 
opportunities for the Australian protein industry, 
which sum to almost an additional $13 billion by 
2030. This figure represents the difference between a 
conservative scenario based on expected organic growth 
versus what could occur through a more ambitious but 
still realisable growth scenario involving targeted science, 
technology and infrastructure investments. Not all 
opportunities discussed in this report have been sized.

Building on Australia’s current strengths as a protein 
producer, this roadmap identifies five strategic focus 
areas that showcase how targeted science, technology 
and infrastructure investment drive value-adding 
opportunities for Australia’s protein industry. 
Industry growth opportunities are identified within 
each of the five strategic focus areas and span the value 
chain, including pre- and post- farmgate. These focus 
areas and opportunities have been identified through 
stakeholder consultation and desktop research. 

By proposing actions to develop technologies 
(advancing their Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 
– Appendix C) and embedding these technologies in 
applicable infrastructure, this roadmap aims to position 
Australia as a global leader in the sustainable development 
of novel and differentiated protein ingredients and products. 

Figure 2 provides an overview of Australia’s potential future 
protein system, illustrating the interconnectedness and 
circular nature of the different parts of the system from 
pre-farmgate through to domestic and export markets. 

33 AgriFutures (2020) The changing landscape of protein production.

34 Red Meat Advisory Council (2021) Red Meat 2030.

35 FIAL (2019) Protein Market: Size of the Prize Analysis for Australia.



Figure 2: Vision of Australia’s protein system



1.1 Strengthening product 
integrity and market access

Continuing to invest in the essential R&D and infrastructure 
that underpin the global competitiveness of Australian 
protein products and ingredients will ensure Australian 
manufacturers have the systems needed to demonstrate 
and communicate the positive attributes of their products. 

These attributes or ‘verifiable credentials’ are increasingly 
required to meet consumer expectations and maintain 
market access. When making food purchases, consumers 
are increasingly basing their purchasing decisions not 
only on the traditional attributes of price and brand, but 
also on other high-value attributes that demonstrate the 
quality and added value of the food products. Examples of 
these attributes include carbon footprint, animal welfare, 
disease free status, water use efficiency, traceability and 
origin of ingredients, nutrition, sustainable packaging, 
presence of chemical residues, fair trade and organic. 

A meta-analysis of 80 studies concluded that consumers 
are hypothetically willing to pay a 30% premium for 
sustainable food products.36 This demand for high-value 
attributes is also being seen among Australia’s trading 
partners and global trading rules,37 making them essential 
for continued market access. For example, in response to 
the EU’s strict new feedstock requirements for biodiesel, 
Australian farmers adopted innovative lifecycle assessment 
techniques to demonstrate they grow low-emission 
canola, thus securing Australian canola’s largest export 
market worth $1 billion.38 Events such as this are driving 
Australian exporters to find innovative ways to rapidly 
respond and strengthen their integrity systems.

The next generation of agriculture and food technologies 
and tools including digital and advanced technologies, 
as part of Agriculture 4.0 and Industry 4.0, can deliver 
productivity, sustainability and traceability credentials 
that in turn strengthen product integrity. Such credentials 
can support Australia’s preferential access to key markets, 
reduce technical trade barriers and position Australia 
favourably in trade negotiations. Although product 
integrity and market access are vital for all protein types, 
the example explored in this roadmap is integrity systems 
in the red meat sector. The red meat sector in Australia is 
already a large, mature sector and most of its production 
is exported. By investing in the R&D and infrastructure 
that underpin product integrity and market access, 
there are significant opportunities to expand the reach 
of Australian red meat exports into new geographies 
and increase the sector’s global competitiveness.

36 Li S and Kallas Z (2021) Meta-analysis of consumers’ willingness to pay for sustainable food products. Appetite 163. DOI: 10.1016/J.APPET.2021.105239.

37 Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (2020) Global responses to climate change: opportunities for Australian agricultural 
producers. ABARES Insights (10).

38 CSIRO (2017) Australia secures $1.0 billion EU canola export market. Viewed 8 November 2021, <https://www.csiro.au/en/news/news-releases/2017/
australia-secures-$1-billion-eu-canola-export-market>. 



Opportunity 1: 
Integrity systems in the 
red meat sector

2030 opportunity

To expand and integrate integrity systems 
across the supply chain to deliver farm to plate 
traceability and trusted credentialling.

Potential market size39

Current state

• $15.3 billion in export revenue


Conservative 2030 scenario

• $16.5 billion in export revenue 


Ambitious 2030 scenario

• $17.1 billion in export revenue


Difference between conservative and ambitious 
scenarios: $570 million in export revenue 
(See Appendix D for the economic methodology).

Science, technology and infrastructure priorities

• Verify the biological and geographical 
origin of production
• Research and infrastructure to help establish 
and utilise data from production systems 
• Design new systems-based compliance
• Conduct preventative risk assessments
• Support compliance infrastructure






What is driving this opportunity?

Given Australia exports the majority of its red meat 
(e.g., 78% was exported in 2019-2020), there is an 
opportunity to further expand existing integrity 
systems for red meat products and deliver positive 
attributes and trusted credentialling. The demonstration 
of these high-value attributes, including trusted 
provenance and sustainability metrics will open new 
markets, and ensure market access is maintained if 
(and when) verification requirements are imposed 
on Australian products by export markets.

Currently, some credentials can be verified in Australia, 
such as carbon, water use and animal welfare. 
However, credentialling is not widespread across 
the industry and appears to occur on a case-by-case 
basis depending on the preferences of specific 
buyers. Further, the current compliance process for 
delivering verifiable credentials is often manual 
and costly, and places administrative and regulatory 
burden on participants across the value chain. 

Consumer and market expectations for verified product 
integrity, positive attributes and credentialling will likely 
drive innovation in the protein industry. Consumers 
(as well as quick service restaurants and hotels) are 
increasingly basing their food purchase decisions not 
only on the traditionally common attributes of price 
and brand, but also on quality, value-add and ethical 
attributes40 such as sustainability and animal welfare. 

Verification required for product credentials depends 
on public standards set by the importing country, and 
private standards set by individual importers of a product. 
However, there is a gap in the industry understanding 
of which positive attributes and credentials are 
most needed and demanded by consumers. 

39 Estimate of current state for integrity systems for red meat exports is the current revenue Australia earns from red meat exports with its current integrity 
systems in place, estimates of conservative and ambitious scenarios in 2030 for integrity systems for red meat exports are the estimated 2030 export 
revenue from red meat exports with low (conservative) and high (ambitious) enhancement of these systems to enable traceability and verifiable credentials.

40 Burnier PC, Spers EE and De Barcellos MD (2021) Role of sustainability attributes and occasion matters in determining consumers’ beef choice. Food Quality 
and Preference 88.



In export markets, Australia’s existing focus on the 
integrity of red meat products can help command a price 
premium. Australia’s strong focus on biosecurity and 
food safety, for example through the National Livestock 
Identification System (NLIS), has helped Australia 
obtain a competitive advantage in a global market.41 
Despite this, food fraud remains a costly challenge.42

A pilot project has been initiated to distinguish Australian 
beef and lamb from meat produced in other countries. 
However, challenges arise in maintaining traceability at the 
processor stage while still ensuring speed and efficiency.

Expanded and integrated digital integrity systems could 
manage and track criteria for how red meat products 
have been produced, including traceability and origin of 
ingredients, nutrition, sustainable packaging, fair trade 
and organic, labour conditions, carbon footprint, water 
use, animal welfare, chemical residues, and impacts to 
biodiversity and air quality. Critical to enabling traceability 
and credentialling is ensuring any new system is designed 
for all value chain participants. Further, providing real time 
access to this information may enable value chain participants 
to command better price premiums for their products. 
As such, this system must be real time, interoperable and not 
a proprietary system that has significant adoption barriers. 

To help realise this opportunity, Australia already has 
experience expanding integrity systems for the purposes 
of improving meat quality and profitability. For example, 
Meat Standards Australia (MSA) created a grading system 
to provide detailed feedback about each individual carcase. 
This consistent benchmarking system allows producers 
to evaluate and alter management practices to improve 
eating quality.43 In a similar manner, the Argyle Foods 
Group and Integrity Systems Company have collaborated 
to optimise supply chain management using performance 
data across an animal’s lifetime. The system uses the MLA 
Group Data Platform to connect a broad range of farm 
and livestock management data to inform decision making 
and improve the profitability of the red meat sector.44

Pursuing the opportunity to expand existing systems 
may become necessary as retailers and export markets 
are expected to increasingly demand traceability and 
credentialling as minimum standards. This expected 
shift means expanding existing integrity systems is 
unlikely to be something that the end user pays for 
directly. However, these verified credentials may also 
be valuable to help mitigate trade risks from fraudulent 
and counterfeit Australian products sold overseas. 

Australia’s comparative advantages

The existing integrity practices and systems across the red 
meat supply chain place Australia in a favourable position 
to access export markets ongoing. Integrity practices 
across the red meat and livestock industry include plans to 
become carbon neutral by 203045 and the global leadership 
role Australia took against the use of meat and bone in 
ruminant feed.46 This, paired with national identification 
and traceability systems, can support Australia’s industry 
performance over time despite future increases to 
integrity requirements from red meat export markets.

41 Integrity Systems (2021) National Livestock Identification System. Viewed 18 January 2022, <https://www.integritysystems.com.au/identification--traceability/
national-livestock-identification-system/>.

42 McLeod R (2017) Counting the Cost: Lost Australia food and wine export sales due to fraud.

43 Meat & Livestock Australia (2021) Grading. Viewed 18 January 2022, <https://www.mla.com.au/marketing-beef-and-lamb/meat-standards-australia/msa-
beef/grading/>. 

44 Integrity Systems (2021) Turning data into dollars. Viewed 18 January 2022, <https://www.integritysystems.com.au/about/news--events/news/2021/new-
project-links-data-to-add-dollars-for-supply-chain/>.

45 Meat & Livestock Australia (2021) CN30: Carbon Neutral by 2030. Viewed 20 December 2021, <https://www.mla.com.au/research-and-development/
Environment-sustainability/carbon-neutral-2030-rd/cn30/>.

46 Meat & Livestock Australia (2019) Quality Assurance. Viewed 20 December 2021, <https://raremedium.com.au/quality-assurance/>.



Regional opportunities

Digital integrity systems can have numerous benefits for 
regional and rural areas demonstrating their importance 
to Australia’s red meat industry profitability long-term.47 
These benefits include improvements to industry 
connectivity and access to real time data which can 
reduce operational costs and on-farm risks by enhancing 
decision making.48 Other initiatives, such as soil and water 
geochemistry mapping of Australia’s agricultural regions 
(discussed below), could support regions’ ability to prove 
product origin and also demonstrate and communicate 
their region as a positive attribute to consumers.

Implications for the Australian 
agricultural and food system

Integrity systems can improve livestock management 
and associated business decisions; however, delivering 
products with additional attributes and credentials will 
require investment, participation and compliance across 
the supply chain. Improved data transfer through digital 
integrity systems can help enhance land and livestock 
management by improving operational efficiency, 
productivity and capacity to manage remote areas. 
This is because real time data (e.g., Internet of Things 
(IoT) agricultural technology sensors), machine learning 
and artificial intelligence feedback provided by product 
credentialling systems (such as traceability and grading) 
can help producers, processors, brand owners and 
retailers improve decision making. As positive attributes 
and integrity credentials are currently delivered on a 
case-by-case basis, notable investments would be required 
to expand and enhance digital and connectivity systems 
to verify additional attributes across the industry. More 
information regarding the participation and compliance 
required across the food system is discussed in section 2.4.

Existing infrastructure and R&D 
underpinning opportunity

Research supporting this opportunity is varied, from 
understanding consumer preferences in Australia and key 
export markets and associated product innovation, through 
to sustainability practices across the value chain, and the 
development and integration of digital and other systems 
to help irrefutably prove certain high-value credentials 
of a product. Due to the broad and varied nature of the 
supporting research for this opportunity, research providers 
across the nation have programs that may be relevant in 
supporting industry. These include universities, state and 
commonwealth research agencies, MLA, AMPC and CRCs such 
as the Food Agility CRC and the Future Food Systems CRC. 

Many technology systems and platforms underpin this 
opportunity. These include but are not limited to: 

• Simple barcode systems like those 
provided by GS1 Australia.
• Internet of Things (IoT) smart sensor networks, for example, 
smart cattle ear tags, temperature sensors in transport 
and spatial data collected from satellites or drones. 
• Digital systems like Integrity Systems Company’s (subsidiary 
of MLA) suite of programs that aim to guarantee the 
integrity of Australia’s red meat industry from food 
safety, quality assurance and traceability perspectives. 
These include the on-farm systems of the National 
Livestock Identification System (NLIS) and the Livestock 
Production Assurance (LPA) program, together with the 
electronic National Vendor Declaration (eNVD) system. 
• Novel printed systems, like the Sydney-based firm 
NanoTag Technology which uses printed micro-dot 
systems linked to a Voice Response Technology (VRT) 
scanning platform. The VRT relies on a small pocket 
reader that uses infra-red scanning to pick-up and 
analyse a unique micro-dot matrix pattern printed on 
the packaging of meat products. The pocket reader 
verifies the authenticity of the product, including its 
pack date, batch number and factory of origin.49


While R&D is enabling rapid innovation in this field, most 
systems rely on digital connectivity in some way. This requires 
strong regional infrastructure, including high speed and 
reliable broadband access in rural and remote areas. 

47 MLA (2021) Digital agriculture, Viewed 20 December 2021 <https://www.mla.com.au/research-and-development/digital-agriculture/>

48 MLA (2021) Digital agriculture, Viewed 20 December 2021 <https://www.mla.com.au/research-and-development/digital-agriculture/>

49 Condon, J. (2018) New technologies address beef counterfeit and substitution challenge. Beef Central. Viewed 22 November 2021 <https://www.beefcentral.
com/trade/new-technologies-address-beef-counterfeit-and-substitution-challenge-video/>; NanoTag Technology. (2021) Viewed 22 November 2021 <https://
www.nanotag.co/food>.



2022-2030 science, technology and 
infrastructure investment priorities

Verify the biological and geographical origin of 
production: Existing approaches for tracing agrifood 
products often depend on labels that are then tracked 
through the supply chain. Even when the labels are 
digitised, such approaches are unable to prevent the 
substitution of the product or counterfeiting of labels. 
Products that are fraudulently mislabelled as Australian 
erode trust in ‘Brand Australia’ as safe and high-quality 
products that fetch a price premium. Developing 
national provenance infrastructure as a publicly available 
repository for all underpinning information would enable 
the independent testing of agrifood products for their 
biological and geographical origin of production, and 
irrefutably verify supply chain information. By mapping the 
soil and water geochemistry and environmental isotopes 
of the Australian landscape at a fine scale, predictive 
mapping techniques can then be applied to these markers 
over time and space to create region-specific fingerprints 
enabling agricultural products to be traced back to their 
region of origin. Statistical models can link the elemental 
composition of foods to the digital ‘map’ of region-specific 
fingerprints stored on national provenance infrastructure. 

Research and infrastructure to help establish and utilise 
data from production systems: Developing trusted 
approaches to harvest and analyse real-time, sensor-based 
data from agricultural and food production systems will be 
important to drive productivity and evidence credentials 
for key selling features. These production system 
credentials include measures of animal welfare, organic 
farming practices, deforestation, Halal, among many 
others. Adoption of Industry/Agriculture 4.0 technologies 
to track this data across the value chain can support 
all participants to better align business decisions with 
efficiency or quality targets. For example, sensor-based 
red meat grading results can be provided to farmers to 
help improve breeding or specific livestock conditions. 
Further, satellite technologies may be able to predict soil 
biomass to help minimise the impact of livestock grazing 
on crop fields.50 An example of an initiative that aims to 
help interconnect and better utilise such productivity and 
compliance data in the agricultural supply chain is the 
proposed Australian AgriFood Data Exchange platform.51 
To help build trust between technology companies and 
farmers concerned about data sharing on the platform, 
data governance frameworks will be developed as part 
of the initiative which is further supported by data policy 
guidance included in the Australian Farm Data Code.52 

Design new systems-based compliance: Designing and 
testing new systems-based compliance processes that 
integrate innovations in automated compliance and 
verification, data privacy, automated data collection 
and analytics (including isotope ratio analysis, elemental 
analysis, genomics) can reduce risks around food safety 
and biosecurity throughout the production, processing and 
export of protein products. This is particularly relevant for 
processing plants, where compliance can transition away 
from duplicative audit-based systems to one of continuous 
assurance. The Australian Government has existing plans to 
improve traceability of agricultural exports and modernise 
export regulations and systems, through support for 
CSIRO’s Trusted Agrifood Mission. The Mission aims to build 
on Australia’s reputation as a trusted and reliable supplier 
internationally by developing new tools and technologies 
in key focus areas such as automated compliance.53

Conduct preventative risk assessments: Identifying 
emerging food safety hazards and biosecurity threats 
and developing novel risk assessment (e.g., molecular 
risk assessment) and management approaches could 
help to address risks before they impact market access. 

Support compliance infrastructure: Developing new 
science to automate the conversion of legislation into 
machine-readable rules will save time and improve 
compliance. Optimising and redesigning supply-chain 
processes with reliable and immutable data workflows 
will mean that compliance statements continuously 
and provably correspond to the tangible product. 
Designing new digital tools such as telepresence and 
sensor technologies could help to remotely augment 
export compliance audits of processing facilities. 
Together, these technologies can be used to build trust 
and potentially reduce or replace existing on-site audits.

50 Meat & Livestock Australia (2018) Integrating spatial technologies in a mixed farming system to increase production efficiency of crop grazing. Viewed 3 
February 2022, <https://www.mla.com.au/research-and-development/reports/2018/integrating-spatial-technologies-in-a-mixed-farming-system-to-increase-
production-efficiency-of-crop-grazing/>.

51 KPMG Australia (2021) New data exchange to revolutionise Australian agrifood. Viewed 3 February 2022, <https://home.kpmg/au/en/home/media/press-
releases/2021/09/new-data-exchange-revolutionise-australian-agrifood-sector-14-september-2021.html>.

52 National Farmers’ Federation (2018) Australian Farm Data Code. Viewed 3 February 2022, <https://nff.org.au/programs/australian-farm-data-code/>.

53 CSIRO (2021) Australian exports to capture greater value. Viewed 9 December 2021, <https://www.csiro.au/en/news/news-releases/2021/australian-exports-
to-capture-greater-value>.



CASE STUDY

Integrity systems in the red meat sector

This case study seeks to estimate the potential additional 
red meat export revenue that could be earned in 2030 from 
enhanced integrity systems as outlined in Opportunity 1. 
Due to a lack of data on the economic impact of enhanced 
integrity systems, an alternative method was developed 
to estimate the size of this opportunity. For further 
details and data sources please see the appendix.

1. Price premium consumers might pay for integrity 
systems-enabled verifiable credentials


Based on stakeholder guidance, consumers might 
pay a premium of between 3% and 7.5% for 
Australian red meat with verifiable credentials. 

2. Potential uplift in export prices


Using recent beef, veal and sheepmeat export prices, 
the potential export prices were estimated at between:

• $8.4 million per kt for beef and veal and nearly 
$8.4 million per kt for sheepmeat with the 
conservative 3% price premium and 
• $8.7 million per kt for beef and veal and around $8.8 million 
per kt for sheepmeat with the ambitious 7.5% price premium.
3. Calculating export volumes in 2030


Extending forecasted growth rates for beef, 
veal and sheepmeat exports out to 2030:

• beef and veal exports will increase to 
1,492 kt shipped weight (sw) in 2030
• sheepmeat exports will increase to 534 kt (sw) in 2030.
4. Proportion of red meat exports with 
verifiable credentials in 2030


It is assumed that between 10% (conservative scenario) 
and 50% (ambitious scenario) of Australian red meat 
exports will have verifiable credentials in 2030. 

Based on this approach, the two scenarios were developed: 

• The conservative scenario combines the low-price 
premium (3%) and the low proportion of red meats exports 
with verifiable credentials (10%) by 2030. This results 
in an estimate of $16.5 billion in export revenue. 
• The ambitious scenario combines the high price premium 
(7.5%) and the high proportion of red meat exports 
with verifiable credentials (50%) by 2030. This results 
in an estimate of $17.1 billion in export revenue.




Opportunity 2: 
Expanding Australian red meat exports 
into new geographic markets 

2030 opportunity

To grow the volume and value of Australian 
red meat exported into new and emerging 
South East Asian markets.

Potential market size

This opportunity has not been quantified. However, it is 
anticipated that expanding Australian red meat exports 
into new geographic markets will provide significant 
economic benefits to producers and consequent 
economic benefits across the red meat value chain. 

Science, technology and infrastructure priorities

• Support the development of logistics 
and cold chain management
• Research to support new product innovation 
• Maintain and enhance reputation for 
clean, safe and natural products






What is driving this opportunity?

Growing global demand for protein, particularly demand 
from nearby Asian countries, presents significant 
opportunities for Australia’s protein industry to increase 
export values and volumes through targeted and 
differentiated premium offerings. Influencing demand 
for higher-value protein products is Asia’s growing 
middle class and urbanisation rates. In 2018, 55% of the 
world’s population resided in urban areas, increasing 
to an expected 68% in 2050,54 with the Asian middle 
class set to increase from 2 billion in 2020 to 3.5 billion 
in 2030.55 While this growth in global demand can 
have implications on food security, Australia is in a 
favourable position to produce and export increasing 
amounts of food over the coming decades. 

Australia is well known for its red meat exports and was 
the second largest exporter of beef after Brazil in 2020.56 
While Australia already extensively exports to Asia, with 
its most valuable beef and veal export markets being 
China and Japan (2019-20), South East Asian markets 
represent a growing opportunity to stabilise Australia’s 
market position and target new areas of growth. 
As South East Asian markets develop and grow, the most 
attractive priority countries and cities for Australian red 
meat exports include Jakarta, Indonesia; Kuala Lumpur, 
Malaysia; Bangkok, Thailand; Ho Chi Minh City, 
Vietnam; Manila, Philippines; and Singapore. 57

Income and population growth are key drivers in the 
consumption of meat proteins.58 South East Asia is 
a fast-growing and diverse region with improving 
household incomes and changing consumer preferences. 
Consumers in these regions associate beef with 
superiority and good taste, with imported beef products 
associated with ‘premium quality’ and ‘better taste’, 
driving price premiums.59 Attractive consumer segments 
in this region include both affluent families with 
children and individuals between 18-44 due to their 
focus on nutrition, safety and premium eating, and 
therefore alignment to Australia’s red meat offering. 

54 United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2019) World Urbanization Prospects: The 2018 Revision (ST/ESA/SER.A/420). 
United Nations, New York. 

55 Buchholz K (2020) This chart shows the rise of the Asian Middle Class. Statista, Hamburg. <https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/07/the-rise-of-the-asian-
middle-class> (accessed 8 November 2021). 

56 Meat & Livestock Australia (2021) Value of Australian beef exports falls in 2020. Viewed 9 November 2021, <https://www.mla.com.au/prices-markets/market-
news/2021/value-of-australian-beef-exports-falls-in-2020/>.

57 Meat & Livestock Australia (unpublished). Australian red meat opportunity in Southeast Asia. 

58 OECD-FAO (2021) OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2021-2030: Meat. Rome.

59 Meat & Livestock Australia (2021) Global beef industry and trade report. 



While beef is mostly used in local traditional cuisines 
as a special family treat, international beef dishes 
such as Japanese beef gyudon, shabu-shabu, Korean 
bulgogi and western-style steak are becoming more 
widely adopted by urban South East Asian consumers.60 
Sheepmeat is widely featured in Malaysia, Indonesia, 
Singapore and Brunei during the Islamic festive seasons, 
particularly around the months of Ramadan and Idul Fitri.61 
This market is also an attractive Australian opportunity, 
in terms of maximising resources, as many of the desired 
cuts in traditional cultural dishes (e.g. thin sliced hot 
pots) differ from ‘western style’ centre of plate meat 
dishes which can help optimise carcase utilisation. 

Positioning Australia’s red meat industry to become 
the premium meat choice for convenient cook-ready 
meals is just one example of targeted and differentiated 
new product innovations for these markets. 
Safe, efficient and transparent supply chains can also 
add value to Australia’s product and reputation. 

Australia’s comparative advantages

Australia’s proximity to and familiarity with rapidly 
growing markets in Asia affords many advantages over 
other nations. The nation’s location and reputation for 
clean, green and premium produce can continue to 
be leveraged for growth opportunities for Australia’s 
exports. Further, the well-developed business relationship 
between Australia and South East Asia is also a key 
driver of beef trade between the two neighbours.62 
Also contributing to Australia’s advantage are temporary 
factors in other nations, such as the drought in the 
United States and disease outbreaks such as African 
Swine Fever in meat importing countries.63 

Regional opportunities

Growing Australia’s presence and premium offerings into 
South East Asian markets will provide opportunities to 
livestock and processing organisations across the nation. 
These organisations are generally located in regional 
Australia, with growth of these organisations contributing 
support for Australia’s regions and equally requiring 
the support of the community. North Queensland’s 
$10 million export hub development and improvements 
to the Townsville Port could help Australia’s expansion 
of red meat exports.64 Additionally, Western Australia 
offers large regional lands well suited to grass-fed meat 
production, and its close proximity to South East Asia 
provides shipping time and time zone benefits.65 

Broader opportunities in regional areas may be realised 
from investments into cattle supply chains, including 
the Australian Government’s $100 million Beef Roads 
Program. This program, designed to upgrade key 
roads necessary for transporting cattle, could help 
regional and rural areas by reducing freight costs and 
strengthening links to markets more broadly.66

Implications for the Australian 
agricultural and food system

New product development of differentiated and 
premium offerings for South East Asian markets may 
provide spill-over benefits for Australian markets in the 
form of new products. Stimulating greater demand for 
Australian red meat will require more efficient utilisation 
of the carcase (Opportunity 5) and will require integrity 
systems across the supply chain to deliver farm to plate 
traceability and credentialling (Opportunity 1). Increasing 
Australia’s red meat production will require increased 
commitment and action towards sustainability to do 
more with less, alongside increased production from 
Australia’s cropping industry to supply animal feed. 
If more crops are diverted towards human protein 
consumption (e.g., via Opportunity 3 and 8), implications 
for the system may include animal feed scarcity. 

60 Meat & Livestock Australia (2019) Red Meat Market Snapshot for South East Asia Beef and Sheep. Viewed 14 January 2022, <https://www.mla.com.au/
globalassets/mla-corporate/prices--markets/documents/os-markets/red-meat-market-snapshots/2019/mla-ms-south-east-asia-beef-sheep-2019-1.pdf>.

61 Meat & Livestock Australia (2019) Red Meat Market Snapshot for South East Asia Beef and Sheep. Viewed 14 January 2022, <https://www.mla.com.au/
globalassets/mla-corporate/prices--markets/documents/os-markets/red-meat-market-snapshots/2019/mla-ms-south-east-asia-beef-sheep-2019-1.pdf>.

62 CRCNA (2019) Capturing the ASEAN Agricultural Opportunity for Northern Australia.

63 Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (2021) Snapshot of Australian Agriculture 2021. ABARES Insights (2). DOI: 
10.1071/9780643094659.

64 CRCNA (2019) Capturing the ASEAN Agricultural Opportunity for Northern Australia.

65 Coriolis (2017) Western Australian Meat Industry Snapshot.

66 The Department of Infrastructure Transport Regional Development and Communications (2021) Northern Australia Roads Program and Northern Australia 
Beef Roads Program. Viewed 25 January 2022, <https://investment.infrastructure.gov.au/projects/key-projects/northern-australia-programs.aspx>.



Existing infrastructure and R&D 
underpinning opportunity

Research supporting this opportunity is predominantly 
facilitated by MLA. MLA conducts customised marketing 
and market access activities in country, and provides 
market research and trend analysis. Food engineering 
and meat science are underpinning research themes 
for this opportunity, alongside supply chain R&D 
which is supported by universities such as Deakin 
University through its Centre for Supply Chain and 
Logistics, Victoria University, and CRCs such as the 
Food Agility CRC and the Future Food Systems CRC. 

Australia currently exports red meat to over 100 
countries,67 and has significant existing supply chain 
infrastructure in place to facilitate this industry. MLA has 
offices located in significant export markets to promote 
and grow demand for Australian red meat, alongside 
Australia’s Austrade posts in relevant countries.

2022-2030 science, technology and 
infrastructure investment priorities

This opportunity will benefit from the development of 
research, systems and infrastructure to support Opportunity 1. 

Support the development of logistics and cold chain 
management: Logistics and cold chain management remain 
some of the key challenges to market access in South East 
Asia. Maintaining the integrity of meat from Australia to 
customers overseas is costly and carbon intensive and 
should be addressed through research into both logistics 
and appropriate product development. Priority research 
areas include improving shelf stability and integrity of 
products, which could be achieved via different processing 
and packaging technologies; and best practice and novel 
practices for sustainability of an end-to-end supply chain. 
New developments include biodegradable food packaging 
able to extend shelf life,68 automated cold storage systems 
for reducing waste,69 as well as technologies able to reduce 
or eliminate the need for refrigeration.70 The value of 
extended shelf life can be demonstrated from the United 
Arab Emirates’ (UAE) easing of shelf life restrictions 
in 2017 which was estimated to produce an additional 
$100 million in returns for Australia’s red meat industry.71

Research to support new product innovation: Alongside 
product innovation to help maintain integrity throughout 
the supply chain, new product innovation is required to 
support the red meat industry to meet the needs of new 
markets and address the demands of these consumers. 
Opportunities identified by MLA include meat products 
to help satisfy demand driven by consumers’ desire for 
food sharing occasions and special occasions, healthy 
options for growing families, safe and trusted meat 
products for peace of mind, convenient cook ready 
meals, snacking-on-the-go, and luxury experiences.72 

Maintain and enhance reputation for clean, safe and 
natural products: Australia benefits from a global 
reputation in the supply of clean, safe, and natural food 
products which is often viewed as a shared resource across 
the food and agricultural industry.73 Maintaining and 
enhancing this competitive advantage is vital to accessing 
new geographic markets in future. A variety of new 
developments could support or enhance Australia’s red 
meat offering and reputation. This includes developments 
to improve the safety of red meat products such as 
antimicrobial surveillance processes and technology 
investments, research into management of new diseases 
or improvements to integrity and traceability systems 
along the value chain (see Opportunity 1).74 Further, 
the development of products with clean labels could 
help address increasing health concerns over red meat 
and processed meat consumption. This could include 
developments that reduce or remove the need for additives, 
nitrates and phosphates to meet consumer health needs.75 

67 Meat & Livestock Australia (n.d.) International markets. Viewed 21 January 2022, <https://www.mla.com.au/marketing-beef-and-lamb/international-
markets/>.

68 Packaging World (2019) Biopolymer materials and technologies flourish. Viewed 21 January 2022, <https://www.packworld.com/issues/sustainability/
article/13373842/biopolymer-materials-and-technologies-flourish>.

69 Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2018) Automation and Robotics in Thailand.

70 Field M and Prof. Consulting Group (2021) Final report Review of Pressurised CO2 technology (Farther Farms) and its ability to reduce reliance on a chilled 
supply chain - Literature Review.; Prof. Consulting Group (2021) ASAP IXON technologies platform literature review.; 915 Labs (2020) A Healthier Way to 
Process Food. Viewed 3 February 2022, <https://www.915labs.com/>.

71 Meat & Livestock Australia (2020) Opportunities in the Middle East. Viewed 2 February 2022, <https://www.mla.com.au/news-and-events/industry-news/
opportunities-in-the-middle-east/>.

72 Meat & Livestock Australia (unpublished). Australian red meat opportunity in Southeast Asia.

73 Hatfield-Dodds S, Hajkowicz S and Eady S (2021) Stocktake of Megatrends shaping Australian Agriculture (2021 Update).

74 Meat & Livestock Australia (n.d.) Food safety and traceability. Viewed 21 January 2022, <https://www.mla.com.au/research-and-development/food-safety/#>.

75 Tobin A, McDonnell C, Olivier S, Knoerzer K and Sikes A (2020) Review of emerging (food industry) clean technologies for potential high value red meat 
opportunities.



1.2 Optimising quality and 
cost competitiveness

There are many aspects to consider in optimising 
the quality and cost competitiveness of Australia’s 
growing protein industry. Some of these aspects are 
addressed in other sections of this report, for example 
strengthening product integrity (section 1.1), or maximising 
circularity through developing novel co-products 
from lower value red meat materials (section 1.3). 

While quality and cost optimisation is important across 
the entire protein industry, examples of optimising quality 
and cost competitiveness explored in this roadmap include 
plant-based protein ingredients and crop breeding and 
pre-breeding for favourable downstream characteristics 
beneficial for animal feed and plant-based food products. 
Ensuring Australian manufacturers have the inputs needed 
to produce higher value products and that Australian 
protein is preferred by customers and consumers 
requires continued investment in the essential R&D and 
infrastructure that underpin quality (nutrition, taste, 
texture, functionality, etc.) and cost competitiveness.

If Australia is to successfully produce the ambitious 
levels of plant-based products described in this report 
(see Opportunity 8: Plant-based products), the entire 
supply chain, including the ingredients and crop 
breeding need to be considered. Currently, many of the 
ingredients used in Australian plant-based products 
are imported and Australian manufacturers of the 
finished products have little control over the quality 
and cost of these ingredients. The opportunities in this 
section focus on developing a domestic end-to-end 
supply chain for Australian plant-based proteins. 

Opportunity 3: 
Plant-based protein ingredients

2030 opportunity

To produce locally made protein concentrates 
and isolates to meet domestic consumption, 
replace imports and expand into a broader range 
of products for local and export markets.

Potential market size

This opportunity has not been quantified. However, 
it is anticipated that producing locally made protein 
ingredients will provide significant economic 
benefits to producers and consequent economic 
benefits across the plant food value chains.

Science, technology and infrastructure priorities

• Optimise fractionation technology
• Secure capital for infrastructure 
• Obtain market information for plant-based products
• Set supported production targets
• Support research infrastructure development
• Research to support technology and process 
development for protein extraction






What is driving this opportunity?

Protein ingredients, such as protein flours, concentrates 
and isolates, are a key component in the manufacture of 
most plant-based food products. As demand for these 
products rises, so does the demand for protein ingredients. 
Protein ingredients can also be used in a range of other food 
products such as yoghurts and cereals as a fortificant, or sold 
as a powder product. The global protein ingredients for meat 
alternatives market (including plant-based and microbial 
sources) is expected to grow from US$1.5 billion in 2020 to 
US$2.5 billion in 2026.76 While plant-based food products can 
be made using minimally processed grains and semi-processed 
grains (e.g. pulse flours) as inputs, this opportunity focusses 
on higher protein purity concentrates and isolates. 

76 Frost & Sullivan (2021) Global meat analogues protein ingredients growth opportunities.



There is a significant opportunity to develop new, 
market-differentiated products that are competitive in 
the growing landscape due to taste, texture, function 
and nutritional attributes; in turn, there is opportunity 
to develop ingredient offerings that deliver these 
attributes. Most plant protein ingredients currently used 
and consumed in Australia are imported, which has risks 
associated with quality, lead times and logistics of offshore 
purchasing. There is an opportunity to create a new industry 
in Australia that replaces imports of protein ingredients, 
provides new export opportunities and generates economic 
growth. By using Australian grown materials, final 
manufactured foods will support local value chains and 
have benefits associated with Australian Made labelling and 
improved country-of-origin claims. This could also allow 
for the development of new technologies and domestic 
R&D capabilities in the value-added plant protein sector.

Australia’s comparative advantages

Australia’s advantages related to this opportunity include 
the existing and potential production scale of crops that 
are well-suited to processing to produce high quality 
protein ingredients. Australia’s proximity to Asia also 
provides advantages for export and access to markets. 

Regional opportunities

Investing in regional infrastructure is advantageous for 
this opportunity. Building crop processing, fractionation 
and manufacturing facilities close to the growing source 
can improve the economics of transporting inputs and 
products. For example, connection to the inland rail 
will enable efficient goods transportation. Locations 
should consider planned facilities or hubs for plant-based 
products; and the crops grown in a given region and 
their suitability to fractionation and use as a protein 
ingredient (the main crop types grown by region are 
displayed in Figure 3, page 37). Locations should also 
consider closeness to market, particularly in the case 
of ingredients and products intended for export. 

Implications for the Australian 
agricultural and food system 

Protein extraction operations embedded as part 
of a supply chain could provide price floors and 
stabilise prices for bulk commodity crops.77 

Whether through contracts with manufacturers or market 
predictions, improved consistency of demand for protein 
ingredients could enable farmers the confidence to grow 
such crops with greater certainty and secure offtakes 
for their produce. If a significant portion of commodity 
crops are used for downstream processing, this may 
reduce the supply for other parts of the agricultural 
system. However, increasing overall crop production 
for in-demand crops may mitigate such impacts.

Existing infrastructure and R&D 
underpinning opportunity

Plant protein flours, concentrates and isolates are extracts 
of increasing protein purity derived from plant material. 
To obtain a concentrate or isolate, crops undergo a series 
of processes where protein is extracted from the plant in 
high concentration. Currently, chemical or ‘wet’ extraction 
is the most mature technology used.78 Dry fractionation 
is an emerging process which requires substantially less 
solvent. The resulting protein isolate or concentrate is used 
in the manufacture of plant-based food products; used as a 
fortificant additive in a variety of products (e.g., yoghurts, 
cereals); or sold as a commercial protein powder product. 

Many research organisations support the development of 
an Australian protein ingredient industry with dedicated 
R&D. These include, but are not limited to CSIRO, 
universities and state governments. While Australia has 
protein extraction research experience and infrastructure, 
it has very limited domestic commercial isolate and 
concentrate production. Most plant protein isolates 
currently used and consumed in Australia are imported. 
Operational and publicly announced fractionation plants 
are described in Table 2 (current at time of writing). 

Stakeholders have cited that protein extraction infrastructure 
is a limiting factor for the growth of the industry, particularly 
for SMEs. The plant-based protein ingredients and crop inputs 
case study described in Opportunity 8 (section 1.4) provides an 
overview of the projected protein product demand and current 
infrastructure. Despite the current lack of infrastructure, 
the industry is geared to ramp up in the coming years. 

77 AgriFutures Australia (2020) The Changing Landscape of Protein Production: Opportunities and Challenges for Australian Agriculture. Wagga Wagga, NSW.

78 Kumar M, Tomar M, Potkule J, Verma R, Punia S, Mahapatra A, Belwal T, Dahuja A, Joshi S, Berwal MK et al. (2021) Advances in the plant protein extraction: 
Mechanism and recommendations. Food Hydrocolloids 115.



When exporting products made using plant protein 
ingredients (such as the meat, dairy and milk alternatives 
discussed in Section 1.4) existing animal product cold 
supply chains could be leveraged. Alternatively, it may 
be more efficient to transport the protein ingredients or 
flours as a dry powder for rehydration and assembly at 
the export destination. This option may save transport 
costs but would entail spray drying technology to achieve 
a dry powder, and infrastructure to process the powder 
and produce the end product at the destination.

Table 2: Australian fractionation facilities

FACILITY

DESCRIPTION

LOCATION

Australian Plant 
Proteins wet 
fractionation 
facility

Wet fractionation for the extraction of proteins from pulses to produce an 85-90% protein powder, 
operating at 1,500 tpa scale. Australian Plant Proteins (APP) primarily uses faba beans, though has also 
made isolates from yellow peas, mung beans, chickpeas, red lentils and yellow lentils. APP successfully 
optimised faba bean powder production through a CSIRO Kick-Start project.79 Then in 2021, APP secured 
a $45.7 million investment to allow the company to double its protein output by early 2022.80

Horsham, 
VIC

Unigrain 
fractionation 
facility81

With construction set to be underway in mid-2022, the facility will process 40,000 tpa of field peas and 
faba beans, with potential for later expansion. It will be the first fully integrated pulse-milling and dry 
fractionation process in Australia.

Ballarat, 
VIC

Wide Open 
Agriculture 
protein isolate 
facility

The $1.6m pilot plant will produce food-grade modified sweet lupin protein and be used to refine the 
process and develop new intellectual property. It will also investigate the use of modified lupin protein 
for plant-based burgers, drinks, and other foods. It will expand to other crops such as chickpeas, lentils 
and faba beans.82 Curtin University originally developed the prototype process which was translated to 
a pilot-scale process at CSIRO’s Food Innovation Centre.83 In December 2020, Wide Open Agriculture 
and research partners were able to produce food-grade, lupin protein isolate using industrial grade 
food processing equipment.84

Kewdale, 
WA

Multiple 
fractionation and 
manufacturing 
facilities85 

Led by Australian Plant Proteins, in partnership with Thomas Foods International and AGT Foods 
Australia, a $378m project has been announced for the construction of three new plant protein 
manufacturing facilities. This is expected to increase South Australia’s total pulse protein production 
to 25,000 tpa. The project is also supported by federal and state funding.

Multiple 
sites, SA





2022-2030 science, technology and 
infrastructure investment priorities

Optimise fractionation technology: Existing plants 
operating or planned at scale are wet fractionation 
facilities. Wet fractionation is a commercially established 
technology that has been employed for protein 
extraction in many countries. Wet extraction presents 
the drawbacks of high energy and water costs, as well 
as the use of solvents. To support the positioning of 
any novel end-products as ‘clean and green’, investment 
will be required in new technology treatments and 
handling processes to remove solvents from the 
products as well as mitigate their environmental 
impact. This technology development effort could be 
alongside the use of renewable energy sources. 

Dry fractionation involves the extraction of protein from 
crops without the use of solvents. Dry systems yield benefits 
of greater water and energy efficiency; however, they present 
the challenges of low product protein concentration, which 
can typically reach 60% protein compared to the 80-90% 
achievable with wet extraction processes. Further, dry systems 
currently yield a product with more unwanted flavours than 
wet fractionation. However, dry fractionation approaches 
could be complemented by breeding and pre-breeding 
approaches (discussed below) to enable a product 
which has better sensory and nutritional characteristics. 
Combined wet and dry fractionation systems have also been 
suggested to potentially maximise the quality of the protein 
extract while ensuring the most sustainable operation. 

79 CSIRO (2021) Australian Plant Proteins: Optimised faba bean protein extraction. Viewed 24 December 2021, <https://www.csiro.au/en/work-with-us/funding-
programs/programs/csiro-kick-start/app>.

80 Berry K (2021) Australian Plant Proteins secures $45.7m investment. Viewed 17 November 2021, <https://www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au/news/
australian-plant-proteins-secures-45-7m-investment>.

81 Grain Central (2021) Unigrain to build pulse fractionation plant. Viewed 17 November 2021, <https://www.graincentral.com/news/unigrain-to-build-pulse-
fractionation-plant-at-smeaton/>.

82 Cotton I (2021) Wide Open Agriculture to proceed with construction of $1.6m lupin protein pilot plant. Viewed 20 December 2021, <https://smallcaps.com.
au/wide-open-agriculture-proceed-construction-lupin-protein-pilot-plant/>.

83 Janakievski F, CSIRO, Dwyer S and Wide Open Agriculture (2021) Cracking lupin wide open: from test sausages to protein ingredient. ECOS.

84 Wide Open Agriculture (2020) Food-grade lupin protein produced at pilot-scale using industrial equipment.

85 Berry K (2022) $378m project to quadruple plant protein manufacturing capabilities. Viewed 7 March 2022, <https://www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au/
news/378m-project-to-quadruple-plant-protein-manufacturing-capabilities>.



Secure capital for infrastructure: Capital is a key barrier 
to scaling infrastructure, particularly for start-ups and 
SMEs. For example, the capital cost of a fractionation 
plant is in the order of $50 million and building times 
can be up to two years. Each additional level of scale 
presents risk to companies. To connect funding with 
investment opportunities, joint ventures could be 
conducted between large companies seeking to invest, and 
smaller companies with technology seeking to scale-up. 
Attracting and incentivising investment is also important. 
The Australian Government’s Modern Manufacturing 
Strategy is an example of a policy measure to support 
the development of new infrastructure.86 Consideration 
could be given to attracting international investment 
from companies already active in plant-based foods who 
are looking to establish supply chains within Australia.

Obtain market information for plant-based products: 
Investment has been constrained by a lack of market 
information on the size and scale of the opportunity 
within Australia and overseas. Market information is 
also needed on the ease of substitution between protein 
sources in different types of products. Further, the 
demand for Australian plant-based products enables a 
greater understanding of the gap between existing plant 
processing capacity and the anticipated need towards 2030. 
Industries bodies could assist in providing this information. 

Set supported production targets: 
Setting government-supported targets for protein 
manufacturing to meet a given global market share 
for protein ingredients could provide certainty for 
infrastructure investments. Announcements could be 
made to establish facilities to meet such targets and 
seek investment into protein production companies. 

Support research infrastructure development: 
New processes and products could be supported through 
the development of incubators and joint research programs 
between research and industry. Facilities with multiple 
capabilities, such as wet and dry extraction equipment, 
extruders and advanced fibres could be established. 
This could take the form of shared R&D facilities for 
various food start-ups to hire and use, with links to 
universities and research institutes to access talent and 
R&D expertise. Such a pilot facility could take the form 
of a research and innovation hub dedicated to plant 
proteins, where plant-based food development and 
protein ingredient R&D can be conducted together.

Research to support technology and process development 
for protein extraction: New fractionation technologies are 
still being developed and tested. R&D for both emerging and 
established processes can help refine technologies, develop 
new high-quality products, improve cost-competitiveness of 
products, and enable expansion into other protein sources. 
In the long-term, product and processing innovations 
will be important to be internationally competitive.

There is significant potential for R&D to achieve more efficient 
processes and higher value products. Broadly, the value 
of the protein product is impacted by its protein content, 
nutrition, allergenicity and organoleptics (taste and texture). 
General R&D priorities for plant protein ingredients include:

• Improved extraction (higher efficiency or quality 
products) and more sustainable extraction (e.g., water, 
energy use); e.g., dry milling, hydrodynamic cavitation 
and ultrasound-assisted extraction. Emerging 
fractionation approaches, such as dry fractionation, 
could reduce costs and water usage requirements.
• Extraction from a wide range of plant sources including soy, 
lupin, chickpea, faba bean, lentils, mung bean and field pea. 
Many of these crops are regionally adapted and investment 
could be made on the basis of crop growing location.
• Removal of anti-nutritional components and unwanted 
flavours for use in plant-based products. The presence 
of ‘off-flavours’ results in additional processing and 
additive requirements, increasing production costs, 
potentially reducing consumer acceptance and 
driving negative perceptions of end products.
• Isolate functionality. Isolate products which have favourable 
characteristics, such as binding or emulsification properties, 
are potentially more valuable for use in a wider range of 
plant-based products. This could also include designing 
new blends of different protein types (such as cereal and 
pulse blends) to optimise nutrition and functionality. 
• Valorising waste streams. High quality isolates can 
be directed to high value food products. By-product 
streams (e.g., fibre and starch) can be diverted for 
other uses to improve overall price point of the protein 
product. Stakeholders recommended planning waste 
stream offtakes ahead of time to prevent inefficient 
value chain changes later down the track.
• Upcycling of other industry waste streams.
• Integration of Industry 4.0 principles and 
technologies, such as automation, robotics, 
IoT, deep learning and analytics.


86 Australian Government (2020) Make It Happen: The Australian Government’s Modern Manufacturing Strategy. Canberra.



Opportunity 4: 
Crop breeding and pre-breeding

2030 opportunity

To expand domestic production of higher protein 
crops with favourable downstream characteristics.

Potential market size

This opportunity has not been quantified. However, it 
is anticipated that improvements to crop performance, 
resilience and quality will provide significant economic 
benefits to producers and consequent economic 
benefits across the plant food value chains. 

Science, technology and infrastructure priorities

• Develop supply chain infrastructure
• Invest in R&D programs






What is driving this opportunity?

Australian grown high value crops are important inputs 
for downstream uses across Australia’s agriculture and 
food system, including for animal feed, plant-based 
food products, and commodity sale. Improving the 
performance, resilience and favourable characteristics 
of desired crops is therefore advantageous for the 
sector. Increasing the overall yield of crops could also 
provide benefit by increasing wholegrain exports.

Breeding and pre-breeding programs can be used 
to develop differentiated crop varieties with various 
traits and advantages. For example, crops can be 
developed that have higher protein content; or that 
have fewer off-flavours, off-colours, allergens and 
antinutritional factors, rendering them more suitable 
for downstream processing. These attributes can make 
it easier to extract protein ingredients that are of higher 
protein concentration making them more valuable 
as a versatile ingredient for food manufacturing. 

Breeding and pre-breeding can also be used to make 
crops that are more resilient or adapted to a broader 
range of environments, allowing expansion of cropping 
in new regions to increase overall production volume. 
For some high protein crops, increased volumes will 
potentially be valuable to meet demand for local 
production of plant-based ingredients and foods. 

Similar to the discussion of integrity and traceability 
systems along the red meat value chain (Opportunity 1), 
another increasingly sought after attribute in international 
markets for grains is low-emissions credentials. Crops could 
potentially be designed with characteristics to increase 
carbon deposition in the soil. Having robust methods 
for greenhouse gas measurement and accounting is also 
becoming increasingly important for market access.

Selective crop breeding is one aspect of the broader 
equation in maximising crop outcomes for input 
into the food system. Management practices are 
also important in maximising yield, quality and 
protein content of crops. Management of crops 
needs to be responsive to the environment and local 
ecosystems, as well downstream market signals. 
A broader range of research and technologies apply 
to optimising crop management and supporting 
primary producers and supply chain stakeholders. 



Australia’s comparative advantages

Australia has significant capacity and experience in 
crop breeding. Australia has a globally recognised 
grains industry at scale, which provides a platform for 
development of inputs to concentrates, isolates and food 
products. Australia has significant crop exports, with total 
export value of grains, oilseeds and pulses at a five year 
average of $10.5 billion over 2015-20.87 Most breeding 
in pulses and legumes to date has focused on yield or 
agronomic traits, not protein content or quality. 

Regional opportunities

This opportunity centres around regional cropping of 
protein rich plants. High protein crops that are commonly 
used for plant-based foods and protein ingredients include: 
soy, chickpeas, lentils, faba beans, mung beans, lupins, 
and higher protein grain varieties. The opportunities for 
specific crop types vary depending on their suitability 
to environmental conditions by region. Table 3 provides 
an overview of strong plant protein candidates. 

Table 3: Protein crop candidates

CROP

PROTEIN CONTENT

PLANT-BASED PRODUCT CHARACTERISTICS88

Soy bean

~40%89

Emulsifying; beany, off-flavours present. Common allergen. 

Chickpea

19-24%

Slight beany flavour, easily masked; buttery, starchy texture; minimal colouring. 
Uncommon allergen.

Lentil

14% (green), 27% (red)90

Emulsifying; foaming; mushy texture; nutty flavour; various colours. Possible allergen.

Faba bean

25%91

Emulsifying; nutty, creamy flavour.

Mung bean

26%91

Minimal beany flavour, easily masked. Possible allergen.

Lupin

35%91

Emulsifying; foaming; mild beany off-flavour. Common allergen.

Field pea

18%91

Thick texture; earthy, savoury flavour; off flavours present. Uncommon allergen.

Wheat

~10-13%91

Elastic, chewy; doughy flavour; brown colour.

Canola

17-26%92

Emulsifying; off colour and flavour.

Sunflower 

15%93

Nutty, neutral flavour. Green/brown colour.

Hemp seed

20-25%94

Nutty, slightly green or hay-like flavour.





Figure 3 provides an overview of major growing regions 
for various crop types across the country. The overview 
provided is general and does not include recent growth 
developments and potential to leverage expertise in 
areas such as Northern Australia. The Cooperative 
Research Centre for Developing Northern Australia 
has conducted an analysis on existing and potential 
grain cropping opportunities in Northern Australia, 
where for example protein cropping could be 
further integrated with sugar cane production.95

87 Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (2021) Agricultural commodities June quarter 2021: Value of agricultural, fisheries 
and forestry exports (fob), Australia.

88 CSIRO analysis from a variety of sources.

89 Rizzo G and Baroni L (2018) Soy, soy foods and their role in vegetarian diets. Nutrients 10(1), 1–51. DOI: 10.3390/nu10010043.

90 AEGIC (2021) Australian Pulses.

91 Yara (n.d.) How to increase wheat protein content. Viewed 7 February 2022, <https://www.yara.com.au/crop-nutrition/wheat/how-to-increase-wheat-
protein-content-and-quality>

92 Chmielewska A et al (2020) Canola/rapeseed protein – nutritional value, functionality and food application: a review. Critical Reviews in Food Science and 
Nutrition 61(22), 3836-3856. DOI: 10.1080/10408398.2020.1809342

93 Goncalves J et al (2021) Sunflower seed byproduct and its fractions for food application: An attempt to improve the sustainability of the oil process. Food 
Science 86(5), 1497-1510. DOI: 10.1111/1750-3841.15719

94 Irakli M et al (2019) Effect of Genotype and Growing Year on the Nutritional, Phytochemical, and Antioxidant Properties of Industrial Hemp 
(Cannabis sativa L.) Seeds. Antioxidants 8(10), 491. DOI: 10.3390/antiox8100491

95 ST Strategic Services and Pivotal Point Strategic Directions (2020) Northern Australian broadacre cropping situational analysis.



Figure 3: Australia’s crop growing regions

Source: Australian Export Grains Innovation Centre

Western region

 WA Northern

Winter: Wheat, barley, oats, triticale, 
lupins, field peas, canola, faba 
beans, chickpeas

 WA Central

Winter: Wheat, barley, oats, triticale, 
cereal rye, lupins, field peas, canola, 
faba beans, chickpeas

 WA Eastern

Winter: Wheat, barley, oats, triticale, 
lupins, field peas, canola, faba 
beans, chickpeas

 WA Sandplain and Mallee

Winter: Wheat, barley, oats, triticale, 
lupins, field peas, canola, faba 
beans, chickpeas

Northern region

 NSW Central (north)

Winter: Wheat, barley, oats, 
chickpeas, triticale, faba beans, 
lupins, field peas, canola, safflower

Summer: Sorghum, sunflowers, 
maize, mungbeans, soybeans, cotton

 NSW North West – Qld South West

Winter: Wheat, barley, oats, 
chickpeas, triticale, faba beans

Summer: Sorghum, sunflowers, 
maize, mungbeans, soybeans, cotton

 NSW North East – Qld South East

Winter: Wheat, barley, oats, 
chickpeas, triticale, faba beans, 
millet/panicum, safflower, linseed

Summer: Sorghum, sunflowers, 
maize, mungbeans, soybeans, 
peanuts, cotton

 Qld Central

Winter: Wheat, barley, oats, chickpeas

Summer: Sorghum, sunflowers, 
maize, mungbeans, soybeans, cotton

Southern region

 SA Mid-north – Lower Yorke, Eyre

Winter: Wheat, barley, oats, triticale, 
lupins, field peas, canola, chickpeas, 
faba beans, vetch, safflower

 SA – Victoria Mallee

Winter: Wheat, barley, oats, triticale, 
cereal rye, lupins, vetch, canola, field 
peas, chickpeas, faba beans, safflower

 SA – Victoria Border – Wimmera

Winter: Wheat, barley, oats, triticale, 
lupins, field peas, canola, chickpeas, 
faba beans, vetch, lentils, safflower

 Victoria High Rainfall

Winter: Wheat, barley, oats, triticale, 
lupins, field peas, canola

 NSW – Victoria Slopes

Winter: Wheat, barley, oats, triticale, 
lupins, field peas, canola

 NSW Central (south)

Winter: Wheat, barley, oats, 
chickpeas, triticale, faba beans, 
lupins, field peas, canola, safflower

 Tasmania

Winter: Wheat, barley, oats, triticale, 
lupins, field peas, canola



Implications for the Australian 
agricultural and food system

Higher value crops for downstream processing may 
provide greater revenue to farmers, alongside greater 
offtake certainty and price stability. The ability to 
grow high value crops more effectively in new areas 
can also benefit the broader agricultural and food 
system. The ability to grow low emission grains and 
demonstrate such credentials may also enable greater 
market access for processors utilising the grains.

Existing infrastructure and R&D 
underpinning opportunity

Australia has significant research expertise in crop breeding 
and pre-breeding across its public research agencies 
(CSIRO and state-based), universities, and Research 
and Development Corporations (e.g., the GRDC and 
AgriFutures Australia), as well as private plant breeding 
companies. For example, the GRDC currently supports 
breeding programs for chickpea, faba bean, field pea, 
lentil, milling oats, mung bean, peanut and soybean.96 

Underpinning research themes include traditional selective 
breeding, as well as new plant breeding technologies 
including genetic approaches such as gene editing, 
genomics-based plant germplasm research and Targeting 
Induced Local Lesions In Genomes (TILLING). Pre-breeding 
involves a combination of gene editing and targeted 
breeding processes to achieve desired traits within crop 
varieties that otherwise would not have been achieved 
through traditional breeding approaches. Also important 
is the development and integration of new technologies, 
such as artificial intelligence, which for example CSIRO 
uses to link genome information, climate records and field 
data for improving crops and predicting performance.97

Research infrastructure for this opportunity is readily 
available, including greenhouses, access to fields for 
trials, and genomics and molecular biology laboratories.

2022-2030 science, technology and 
infrastructure investment priorities

Develop supply chain infrastructure: For the associated 
scale-up of new and existing crop varieties, supply chain 
infrastructure will need to keep pace with increased volumes 
of differentiated crops. This might require greater capacity 
for storage and segregation in the grain supply chain or even 
specialty supply chains. It is essential that differentiated, 
higher value crops are not compromised in transport or mixed 
with lesser quality crops. This may necessitate classification 
systems to distinguish high quality (or high protein content 
crops) from the rest, to ensure farmers are compensated 
appropriately. Stakeholders have noted that a lack of regional 
processing and export capacity has limited the ability for 
farmers to grow legumes in some areas. Digital infrastructure, 
including blockchain technologies, could be considered 
for tracking valuable crops across the supply chain. 

Invest in R&D programs: To date, most crop breeding 
programs for pulses and legumes have focussed 
on performance and the visual appeal of the grain. 
There remains significant potential to optimise protein 
crops to improve their suitability for downstream products, 
with characteristics such as: protein content, removal of 
off-flavours and off-colours,98 and removal of anti-nutritional 
components. Desirable criteria for a protein include: 
high protein in grain, high quality as judged by its protein 
digestibility corrected amino acid score (PDCAAS), essential 
amino acid content, water binding properties, solubility 
and emulsification properties. R&D activities include:

• Benchmarking current varieties to understand protein 
levels and exploring genetic diversity for desirable traits.
• Pre-breeding and breeding programs for protein content, 
removal of off-flavours and off-colours, removal of 
anti-nutritional components, and other characteristics 
which could improve crop performance in a wider range 
of conditions. The removal of unwanted compounds may 
be particularly important for crops that will be processed 
via dry fractionation, which is not currently able to 
achieve the same quality product as wet fractionation. 
• Utilising machine learning to process the large plant 
genome datasets to identify target crop traits and 
support the design of new crop breeding experiments.
• Developing greenhouse gas emission measurement 
and accounting standards; alongside R&D to 
support farmer decision-making on crops and 
rotations to decrease overall emissions.


96 Grains Research & Development Corporation (2021) Breeding investments.

97 CSIRO (2021) Machine-learning for crop breeding. Viewed 24 December 2021, <https://www.csiro.au/en/research/plants/crops/Grains/Machine-learning>.

98 Boston Consulting Group and Blue Horizon (2021) Food for Thought: The Protein Transformation.



Learnings from Canada 

The plant protein industry in Canada has seen significant 
investment and growth over recent years. As such, 
Canada’s plant protein industry development may 
provide valuable lessons for scale-up in Australia. 

Protein Industries Canada (PIC) is a leading industry-led 
non-profit organisation which aims to promote growth and 
innovation across the protein sector. The organisation is 
one of five ‘superclusters’ funded by the government with 
CA$150 million over five years to drive economic growth. 
The expected economic impact over 10 years is more 
than CA$4.5 billion and more than 4,500 jobs.99 PIC has 
announced over 20 funded projects to date that focus on 
technology and capacity building. Together with industry, 
PIC have invested over CA$367 million into the Canadian 
plant-based food, feed and ingredients sector.100 This 
includes a 2021 co-investment with a range of agri-food 
companies to develop pork and beef alternative products,101 
and a 2020 project to use novel artificial intelligence tools 
to develop high-protein yellow pea crop varieties.102 

The supercluster model, which brings together SMEs, 
large companies, research and non-for-profits aims 
to provide an anchor for innovation, growth and job 
creation to advance Canada’s plant protein ecosystem. 
Parallels to the supercluster model could be considered 
in the Australian context to supplement or bring together 
existing initiatives (e.g., CRCs, industry bodies, location or 
State-based clusters and special activation precincts, etc). 
Such a model in Australia has the opportunity to be even 
broader in scope to cover many complementary protein 
industries, such as the aquaculture and red meat sectors. 

In 2021, PIC launched the roadmap The Road to $25 Billion, 
which outlines priorities to achieve a CA$25 billion 
increase to Canada’s plant-based food, feed and ingredient 
sector by 2035. Its focuses include innovation, scale and 
capturing market value. Some key recommendations which 
are also relevant for the Australian context include:

• Scale – Construction readiness through understanding 
and supporting infrastructure needs and encouraging 
coordination of investment among jurisdictions. 
Establishing a pool of capital for small companies aiming 
to scale and create awareness of the opportunities 
for plant-based foods in the capital community. 
• Innovation – Positioning the country as an innovation 
hub, with industry-led incubation and acceleration 
programs. Creating opportunities for collaboration 
between system players. Close relationships across 
the value chain to allow fast iteration and product 
development across the value chain. Re-skilling in 
digital skills and food and ingredient manufacturing.
• International markets – Capitalising on 
sustainability, food safety and quality to compete 
internationally. Identifying consumer preferences 
in key markets to inform ingredient and food 
production. Ensuring trade agreements and 
market access evolve at pace with the sector.


Canadian companies can also receive support 
through incentive and funding programs such as the 
Scientific Research and Experimental Development 
(SR&ED) tax incentive program, capital cost allowance 
(CCA) and Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF).103

99 Government of Canada (2021) About Canada’s Innovation Superclusters Initiative - Innovation Superclusters Initiative. Viewed 8 February 2022, <https://
www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/093.nsf/eng/00016.html>.

100 Protein Industries Canada (2021) Protein Industries Canada announces investment into new plant-based products made using Canadian-grown crops. 
Viewed 10 November 2021, <https://www.proteinindustriescanada.ca/news/protein-industries-canada-announces-investment-into-new-plant-based-
products-made-using-canadian-grown-crops>.

101 Protein Industries Canada (2021) New collaboration to develop high-quality meat alternatives. Viewed 10 November 2021, <https://www.
proteinindustriescanada.ca/news/new-collaboration-to-develop-high-quality-meat-alternatives>.

102 Protein Industries Canada (2020) Protein Industries Canada invests in the development of new high-protein crop varieties | Protein Industries Canada. 
Viewed 8 February 2022, <https://www.proteinindustriescanada.ca/news/protein-industries-canada-invests-in-the-development-of-new-high-protein-crop-
varieties>.

103 Invest in Canada (2021) Programs & Incentives. Viewed 10 November 2021, <https://www.investcanada.ca/programs-incentives>.



1.3 Maximising resources 
and circularity

Transforming what is currently considered low value or 
waste into higher value products and ingredients and 
incorporating circularity principles into the supply chain 
is another strategic focus area of this roadmap. Doing so 
can capture value and increase producer and processor 
profitability through product and market diversification. 

While this roadmap focuses mainly on protein for 
human consumption, protein is also important for pet 
food, and is an essential input into the food system as 
feed for animals, including livestock and aquaculture. 
Although they do not usually command as high prices 
as human food markets, the pet food and animal feed 
markets are key users of co- and by-products from 
both animal and plant-based food production.

Examples of opportunities to transform waste into 
high value products explored in this roadmap include 
red-meat co-products for health and wellness 
markets and insect protein sources for food and feed.

Opportunity 5: 
Red meat co-products for health 
and wellness markets

2030 opportunity

To expand the volume of red meat co-products that 
are converted into value-added protein ingredients 
and products for health and wellness markets.

Market Size

Given data limitations, the following estimates are only for 
cattle-derived collagen (e.g., from connective tissue, cartilage, 
bones and hides for nutraceuticals and other products), 
bovine blood plasma co-products, red meat snacks and red 
meat protein powder. As such, it is likely an underestimate 
of the true value of the red meat co-product opportunity.

Current state

• $1 billion in product value (estimated)


Conservative 2030 scenario

• $1.4 billion in product value
• $675 million in manufacturing revenue
• 1,070 jobs 


Ambitious 2030 scenario

• $5.1 billion in product value
• $2.6 billion in manufacturing revenue
• 4,070 jobs


Difference between conservative and 
ambitious scenarios: $3.8 billion in retail value 
(See Appendix D for the economic methodology.)

Science, technology and infrastructure priorities

• Remap the carcase
• Research to understand new product 
markets and value chains 
• Research to understand customer 
needs and willingness to pay
• Process engineering for co-product 
collection and transformation
• Support evidence-based claims
• Develop and demonstrate origin marker technology








What is driving this opportunity?

Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) estimate that 
approximately 20% of the carcase delivers 80% of its value, 
with some parts – considered co-products or by-products 
– often attracting little or no value.104 Australia has an 
opportunity to shift this 20/80 balance and increase the 
revenue received by focusing on market and product 
diversification and expanding the volume of both red meat 
co-products and by-products that are converted into higher 
value-added protein ingredients and products, especially 
for health and wellness markets. While beef and sheep are 
primarily mentioned in this section, alternative red meat 
sources such as kangaroo and goat industries also offer 
opportunities for co-product and by-product creation.

By-products are considered the unavoidable residual 
outputs from the production process that if not harvested 
as ‘food grade’ usually cannot be used and must be 
disposed of at a cost. Current by-product examples include 
connective tissues, bones and often blood. Co-products 
are secondary products that are still valuable but less 
so than primary cuts of meat. From an average 465kg 
live weight cattle, around 59% of this live weight is not 
boneless meat and can be handled for co-products.105 
This weight includes edible offal, hides and skins, 
rendered meat meal, tallow and blood meal. As Australia 
produced 2.4 million tonnes (by carcase weight) of beef 
and veal in 2018-19, co-products may present strategic 
upcycling and value adding opportunities for existing 
industry production.106 This is due to the potential to 
extract highly nutritious and functionally available 
protein from human-inedible or lower value by-products. 

Key markets for Australia’s red meat co-products include 
overseas markets for human food (particularly in Asia 
and the Middle East where offal is commonly consumed) 
and feed for aquaculture and pets. Another growing 
market for co-products such as collagen and blood, 
is the growing health and wellness market, with 
some experts suggesting the nutraceuticals market 
as an attractive opportunity space given it has lower 
barriers to entry over the medical sector.107 

Current and emerging global trends around convenience, 
snacking, wellness, and personalised nutrition may 
offer new uses and occasions for red meat beyond the 
traditional centre of plate protein. The global meat snacks 
market was estimated at over US$8.6 billion in 2020.108 
While primal cuts and ground meat products such as 
sausages and mince will continue to be staple meat 
dishes, there are many sources of nutrients throughout the 
whole carcase that can become value-added products. 

Quality red meat-based ingredients that are high in 
protein and iron can be manufactured simply by drying 
or boiling (hydrolysis) and milling meat into a powder 
supplement. Connective tissues, bones, hides and skin 
portions of carcasses can unlock high quality collagen and 
protein peptides that are suitable for inclusion in food 
(for example food bars) and nutraceutical supplements. 
This is significant given the global collagen market was 
valued at over US$8.4 billion in 2020.109 Offal meat, such 
as liver and thyroid glands, can be converted into powders 
and transformed into capsules for the nutraceutical 
market. MLA estimates put the value of beef liver capsule 
sales in Australia at over $500,000 per annum and over 
the counter thyroid supplement sales at over $120 million 
per annum.110 The nutraceuticals market as a whole had 
a global market size of nearly US$429 billion in 2020.111

The processing sector is showing early signs of a 
paradigm shift to explore new diversified markets 
beyond commodity meat trading such as harvesting 
co-products. This shift may relate to opportunities 
such as the growing consumer interest in beef and 
sheep collagen-based products in various applications, 
including food and beverages, nutraceutical 
supplements, cosmetics and medical products.112 

104 Meat & Livestock Australia (2020) Strategic Plan 2025. North Sydney, NSW. 

105 Meat & Livestock Australia (2009) Co-products Compendium. North Sydney, NSW.

106 Meat & Livestock Australia (2020) The red meat industry. Viewed 17 January 2022, <https://www.mla.com.au/about-mla/the-red-meat-industry/>.

107 Grand View Research (2022) Nutraceuticals Market Size & Share Report, 2021-2030. 

108 Technavio (2021) Global Meat Snacks Market 2021-2025.

109 Grand View Research (2021) Collagen Market. Viewed 29 November 2021, <https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/collagen-market>.

110 Meat & Livestock Australia (2020) Proof of Concept Development – Beef Thyroid Capsules. North Sydney, NSW; Meat & Livestock Australia (2019) Beef Liver 
Capsules – Proof of Concept Development. North Sydney, NSW.

111 Technavio (2021) Global Nutraceuticals Market 2021-2025.

112 Meat & Livestock Australia (2019) Collagen Business Case Report. North Sydney, NSW.



Overall, the absorptive capacity for innovation and the 
adoption of new business models, is arguably as important 
as the design of emerging technology platforms in this 
space. As such, MLA has worked with industry to produce 
various beef and sheep protein and collagen powders; and 
finished products such as odourless collagen supplements 
for coffees, meat and collagen bars, and natural meat 
extract flavour boosts for soups and seasonings. Other 
co-product opportunities for health and wellness markets 
include applications such as bone broth concentrates. 
Australia has approximately 8 million hides available each 
year, with Australian cattle renowned for being prion-free, 
having high animal welfare standards and making progress 
towards carbon neutrality. In terms of sheep, there are 
typically over 32 million sheep skins each year with 
Australia renowned for its disease and prion-free status. 
Depending on quality of the hide or skin, the yield from 
the processing into a powdered ingredient is approximately 
30%. Australia has the capability to produce beef and sheep 
derived food and nutraceutical graded collagen for global 
markets, which could even provide new opportunities 
for processors and producers in the leather industry. 

Australia’s comparative advantages

Australia’s red meat industry is well established, with large 
scale production and export volumes resulting in sufficient 
supply of inputs for red meat co-products. Further, Australia 
offers a globally competitive ecosystem for researching, 
developing, and testing of these co-product opportunities for 
health and wellbeing markets, as well as potential industry 
capacity to support production and processing. As an 
indication of the supporting industry size, the meat and 
meat product manufacturing sector in Australia employed 
approximately 60,000 people in 2021.113 Further, Australia’s 
agriculture, food engineering and medicine expertise 
can be leveraged to support the creation of red meat 
co-product innovations for health and wellbeing markets. 
Australia is recognised as a global leader in foodtech 
testing, reinforced by domestic access to world-renowned 
researchers, industry practitioners, and modern facilities.114 

Australia’s capability for co-product development is also 
demonstrated by numerous existing patents for collagen 
applications in food and medicine.115 Nutraceutical capsules 
derived from liver and thyroid glands are also likely 
to be growth opportunities for Australia and research 
is already underway to progress these opportunities. 
For example, Australian researchers are developing 
faster freeze drying and milling and hydrolysis processes 
that are more sustainable and produce improved 
functionalities.116 Co-product development may be 
further supported by Australia’s existing production and 
processing industry protocols to receive prion-free, grass 
fed, organically verified, Halal or Kosher accreditations.

Regional opportunities

Rural and regional areas can offer innovation services, 
a trained workforce and the infrastructure needed to 
support red meat co-product development and delivery. 
To support product innovation and development, there 
is potential for government support through the Rural 
R&D for Profit, Waste to Profits project117 as well as a 
range of service offerings in regional foodtech and 
agritech innovation hubs.118 For commercial scale-up 
activities, numerous regions offer experience in 
agriculture production and processing, meat processors 
located close to source and established agriculture 
transport, distribution and logistics infrastructure.119 

113 Australian Industry and Skills Committee (2021) National Industry Insights Report | Meat. Viewed 17 January 2022, <https://nationalindustryinsights.aisc.net.
au/industries/food-and-pharmaceutical-production/meat>.

114 Austrade (2019) Australia: A land of food innovators. Viewed 8 November 2021, <https://www.austrade.gov.au/agriculture40/news/australia-a-land-of-food-
innovators>.

115 Meat & Livestock Australia (2009) Co-products Compendium. North Sydney, NSW.

116 Meat & Livestock Australia (2020) Proof of Concept Development – Beef Thyroid Capsules. North Sydney, NSW; Meat & Livestock Australia (2019) Beef Liver 
Capsules – Proof of Concept Development. North Sydney, NSW.

117 Ramirez J, McCabe B, Jensen PD, Speight R, Harrison M, Berg L van den, O’Hara I, Ramirez J, McCabe B, Jensen PD et al. (2021) Wastes to profit: a circular 
economy approach to value-addition in livestock industries. Animal Production Science 61(6), 541–550. DOI: 10.1071/AN20400.re 

118 Food & Beverage Industry News (2021) Western Australian Food Innovation Precinct now under construction. Viewed 20 December 2021, <https://www.
foodmag.com.au/western-australian-food-innovation-precinct-now-under-construction/>.; Meat & Livestock Australia (2021) Environmental sustainability. 
Viewed 20 December 2021, <https://www.mla.com.au/research-and-development/Environment-sustainability/>.

119 Invest Regional NSW (2018) Agribusiness and food. Viewed 20 December 2021, <https://www.investregional.nsw.gov.au/sectors/agribusiness-and-food/>.



Implications for the Australian 
agricultural and food system

If higher value-added uses for red-meat by-products 
are realised in health and wellbeing markets, this may 
displace some lower value uses. While reduced cattle 
slaughter has increased by-product prices between 
2020-2021, higher costs for farm inputs may reduce 
profitability in agriculture in 2021-2022.120 As such, 
high value health and wellbeing innovations may better 
compete on price and divert by-product supply away 
from lower value applications such as use as a processed 
meat extender or as feed for aquaculture and pets. 

Existing infrastructure and R&D 
underpinning opportunity

Several research organisations support R&D efforts that 
underpin this opportunity. They include but are not 
limited to MLA, Australian Meat Processor Corporation 
(AMPC), CSIRO, universities, state governments, and 
private research organisations. Underpinning research 
has focused on identifying and developing process 
technologies to increase the value of red meat offcuts, 
identifying high value extracts, and product development. 

Infrastructure critical to this opportunity is generally that 
found in an abattoir and associated processing facilities. 
Blood, collagen and other valuable co-products need 
to be hygienically and efficiently collected at food or 
medical grade from the abattoir. This is done using various 
processes for blood collection. Initial collection is an area 
for continued improvement to ensure collection does not 
slow down the already established meat processing lines. 

120 Meat & Livestock Australia (2021) Co-product prices skyrocket in 2021. Viewed 20 December 2021, <https://www.mla.com.au/news-and-events/industry-
news/offal-prices-resurgent-in-2021/>.; Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (2021) Agricultural overview: December quarter 2021. 
Viewed 20 December 2021, <https://www.awe.gov.au/abares/research-topics/agricultural-outlook/agriculture-overview>.



Blood collection also requires collection points (e.g., tanks 
to pool product), chillers, centrifugal separation, spray 
dryers, and hydrolysers. While blood collection is not 
commonplace in abattoirs, mainly due to contamination 
risks, most of the technology required for further 
processing is currently available with process customisation. 

Collection of collagen is often from hides and bones. 
There are several methods of extraction, generally 
requiring cleaning and acidification processing, hydrolysis, 
enzymolysis, decanting, concentration processing, and 
spray drying. These technologies are readily available, 
with process customisation required based on the inputs 
and desired yield. The efficiency of these processes can 
differ, however hot-pressure water extraction provides 
a useful example of a sustainable processing technology 
demonstrating high protein recovery from bone residue.121 

Adapting high speed milling platforms for efficient 
extraction of water from meat and hides remains another 
area of investment activity. This could potentially unlock 
applications such as the production of functional 
free flowing powders and quality fertilisers.

2022-2030 science, technology and 
infrastructure investment priorities

Remap the carcase: Remapping the carcase and 
understanding how its components could be utilised as 
ingredients in food and other adjacent sector products is 
a key step that MLA is undertaking to progress this work. 

Research to understand new product markets 
and value chains: The convenience, snacking 
(e.g. grab-and-go snacks), personalised nutrition and 
wellness markets (e.g. nutraceuticals) offer additional 
uses for red meat. For example, initial scoping has been 
conducted on the potential for red meat to form high 
protein snacks to help with blood glucose levels or high 
blood pressure.122 Further research to understand and 
develop these opportunities is needed. Additional market 
sectors that may use red meat by-products as an input 
include pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, medical and biofuel 
industries.123 For example, in 2018 a Finnish renewable 
fuel company announced strategic plans to acquire 51% 
of an animal fat and protein company to assist with the 
production of diesel biofuels in Europe.124 Investigating 
these new markets and sectors will be important to 
ensure newly developed products can be adopted.

Research to understand customer needs and willingness 
to pay: Understanding changing consumer behaviours 
and needs—both end use consumers, and customers 
in other sectors who may use red meat co-products 
as an input—will be key to developing new products 
and attracting investment where there is a compelling 
case for Australian protein based inclusion. 

Process engineering for co-product collection and 
transformation: Hygienic and fast collection of co-products 
for value adding is a challenge for some target products 
(e.g., collection of blood). Current collection solutions 
are too slow and reduce the speed of the processing 
lines. Research and engineering are required to enable 
integration of sustainable and efficient food and medical 
grade collection technologies with limited or no waste 
streams into abattoirs and processors. Further, the 
adoption of novel technology platforms and operating 
protocols for harvesting co-product components will 
also need to consider market trade-offs. There may be 
a need for knowledge transfer processes to help secure 
‘approval’ from Halal markets or meet agreed waste stream 
levels by state Environmental Protection Agencies.

Support evidence-based claims: Health and 
wellness supplements are regulated by the 
Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) as 
complementary medicines. Research is required 
to support any new product health claims. 

Develop and demonstrate origin marker technology: 
Food manufacturers are under increasing pressure 
to ensure the safety, security and provenance of 
every grocery item. New origin ‘marker’ technology 
able to analyse innate chemical fingerprints of food 
products can help to verify provenance claims and 
identify counterfeit goods for market acceptance.125 

121 Deb-Choudhury S, Haines S, Knowles S, Finlay-Smits S, Middlewood P and Loeffen M (2019) Design and deliver novel meat extract concepts.

122 Meat & Livestock Australia (2017) Scoping the functional properties of red meat and opportunity spaces in preventative health and wellbeing.

123 Meat & Livestock Australia (2020) Strategic Plan 2025. North Sydney, NSW.

124 Neste (2018) Neste’s acquisition of the share majority of Dutch animal fat trader Demeter closed. Viewed 7 February 2022, <https://www.neste.com/releases-
and-news/nestes-acquisition-share-majority-dutch-animal-fat-trader-demeter-closed>.

125 Meat & Livestock Australia (2020) Global scan of technologies and systems enabling data capture and transfer across red meat supply chains.; Meat & 
Livestock Australia (2021) Red meat traceability information hub. Viewed 19 January 2022, <https://www.mla.com.au/research-and-development/food-
safety/red-meat-traceability-information-hub/>.



Opportunity 6: 
Insect protein sources 
for food and feed

2030 opportunity

To expand local production of insects to 
provide new protein sources for food and 
feed and new pathways for food waste.

Potential market size

Current state

• Negligible


Conservative 2030 scenario

• $12 million in product value
• 40 jobs 


Ambitious 2030 scenario

• $44 million in product value
• 140 jobs


Difference between conservative and ambitious 
scenarios: $32 million in annual revenue 
(See Appendix D for the economic methodology.)

Science, technology and infrastructure priorities

• Investigate feasibility of co-location and sharing
• Research to support insect waste 
management potential
• Research to understand the 
nutritional profile of insects
• Support progressive insect infrastructure scale-up
• Support regulatory process development for insects






What is driving this opportunity?

Insects have the potential to significantly contribute to 
feeding a growing human population, as well as contribute 
to animal feed, such as livestock, aquaculture and pet 
food. Insects are high in protein, varying between 40-70% 
depending on the species.126 Insects have been part of 
cuisines globally for millennia, including Australian First 
Nations Peoples, and can help diversify diets into the future. 

Many businesses operate globally producing a large 
variety of products. The Australian insect farming industry 
is now emerging with a focus on producing insects for 
animal feed, especially for pets, poultry and fish, as well as 
human consumption and waste management. Crickets and 
mealworms are currently commercially produced in 
Australia for human consumption. Additionally, crickets, 
mealworms and black soldier flies are commercially sold 
for pet food. Black soldier fly larvae is the only species 
currently being investigated for livestock feed in Australia, 
with mealworm receiving focus in international markets. 

Insects offer many advantages, including feed conversion 
efficiency, high nutritional value and low environmental 
footprint. They are highly efficient in converting feed into 
food, with a feed conversion rate of approximately 50% 
compared to less than 20% for traditional livestock.127 
Insects have a high nutritional value and generally over 
80% of the insect is edible. They are rich in protein, 
omega-3 fatty acids, iron, zinc, folic acid and vitamins B12, 
C and E.128 Insect farming is also considered to have a low 
environmental footprint as it requires low amounts of land, 
water and energy. Insects can help transform existing food 
systems to become more sustainable overall by helping 
diversify diets and enabling consumption of more foods with 
lower environmental footprints. Insects can also be farmed 
in small spaces including in urban areas closer to consumers. 
They are being investigated for their potential to upcycle 
clean waste streams that are otherwise sent to landfill.129

There is a growing downstream demand for insect 
proteins, both from stockfeed industries and nearby 
Asian export markets. In 2020, around half of Australia’s 
insect farming businesses were focused on producing 
feed for livestock and aquaculture industries,130 
with others focused on producing food, or on the 
associated production and manufacturing systems.131 

126 AgriFutures Australia (2020) Catalysing a $10m Australian Insect Industry.

127 Halloran A, Roos N, Eilenberg J, Cerutti A and Bruun S (2016) Life cycle assessment of edible insects for food protein: A review. Agronomy for Sustainable 
Development 36(4), 1–13. DOI: 10.1007/S13593-016-0392-8/TABLES/3.; Alexander P, Brown C, Arneth A, Finnigan J, Moran D and Rounsevell M DA (2017) 
Losses, inefficiencies and waste in the global food system. Agricultural Systems 153, 190–200. DOI: 10.1016/J.AGSY.2017.01.014. 

128 CSIRO (2021) Edible insects: A roadmap for the strategic growth of an emerging Australian industry. Canberra.

129 CSIRO (2021) Edible insects: A roadmap for the strategic growth of an emerging Australian industry. Canberra.

130 AgriFutures Australia (2020) Catalysing a $10m Australian Insect Industry.

131 Insect Protein Association of Australia (2021) Insects as food. Viewed 16 November 2021, <https://www.insectproteinassoc.com/insects-as-food>.



Australia’s comparative advantages

Australia has many natural advantages and strengths 
in the development of an insect protein industry. 
These include traditional usage by First Nations 
Peoples, a unique biodiversity of insects, favourable 
climatic conditions for raising insects compared to 
other nations, an enviable biosecurity system that 
protects against exotic pests and diseases, and world 
class agricultural and food research capabilities.132 

Regional opportunities

Building close to source is an important aspect of 
sustainably dealing with food waste and building insect 
supply chains. Insect industry development opportunities 
are suited to regional and metropolitan areas.

Implications for the Australian 
agricultural and food system

Satisfying insect demand from stockfeed industries 
(e.g., poultry, cattle and fish) may displace current demand 
that is satisfied by the grains industry. Greater utilisation 
of these crops for human consumption through the 
development of plant-based protein ingredients 
(Opportunity 3) could help address and complement 
this displacement. Insects for petfood may displace 
co-product streams from the animal protein industry. 
Insect inputs can include clean and mixed food waste, 
which could displace waste from landfill or low value uses. 

Existing infrastructure and R&D 
underpinning opportunity

Research on insects as food and feed in Australia is 
presently minimal, with CSIRO and a few universities 
working in the space.133 Despite this, Australia has strong 
agricultural, food and nutritional research capabilities that 
can be drawn upon in the development of this industry. 
CSIRO has research that spans across most insect groups, 
with focuses on taxonomy, biosecurity and innovations 
in genomics. Australia has a national entomological 
society, and the Australian National Insect Collection 
is recognised both nationally and internationally as a 
major research collection with over 12 million species. 

Insect rearing is undertaken in a closed environment 
where ventilation, lighting, temperature and humidity 
can be controlled.134 Technology and equipment for 
dedicated insect farming is an emerging industry 
with limited off-the-shelf solutions available.135 
Most technologies used are proprietary, with scale-up 
of production posing operational challenges. 

132 CSIRO (2021) Edible insects: A roadmap for the strategic growth of an emerging Australian industry. Canberra.

133 AgriFutures Australia (2020) Catalysing a $10m Australian Insect Industry.; CSIRO (2021) Edible insects: A roadmap for the strategic growth of an emerging 
Australian industry. Canberra.

134 Insect Protein Association of Australia (2021) Insects as food. Viewed 16 November 2021, <https://www.insectproteinassoc.com/insects-as-food>.

135 AgriFutures Australia (2020) Catalysing a $10m Australian Insect Industry.; CSIRO (2021) Edible insects: A roadmap for the strategic growth of an emerging 
Australian industry. Canberra.



2022-2030 science, technology and 
infrastructure investment priorities

Investigate feasibility of co-location and sharing: 
Many producers lack access to capital, technology 
(especially automation), and infrastructure. The feasibility 
of a collaborative facility should be investigated. Such a 
facility could supply insect protein for animal feed that 
enables co-location of companies, with deliberate 
circularisation of supply chains, enabling companies to 
service each other. Other considerations could include 
shared feedstocks, access to local transport infrastructure, 
regional development, and recycling of waste.

Research to support insect waste management potential: 
There is interest in the potential for using insects to 
support the management of food waste, mixed waste and 
difficult waste. For example, Australian company Goterra 
has created modular waste management infrastructure to 
farm black soldier fly larvae. The larvae convert food waste 
to protein and fertiliser which can then be fed to animals 
and crops.136 Research trials are needed to investigate 
insect-based waste management solutions for a variety of 
challenging wastes, as well as the efficacy of alternative 
uses for insects in other market applications. Provenance 
and traceability of wastes through to protein products also 
requires further research and development. This research 
could support the expansion of insect production and 
the circularity of agricultural production systems.

Research to understand the nutritional profile of insects: 
Significant knowledge gaps remain around the nutritional 
profile of insects, their digestibility, allergenicity, and 
bioaccumulation of pesticides and heavy metals. Pet and 
livestock feed trials are needed to assess performance, 
health, and nutrition, and help improve these parameters 
so insect-derived feed can compete with existing raw 
materials. Research trials are also required to investigate 
the nutritional and health benefits of insects for 
humans, helping support industry to make substantiated 
health claims. This research is required across many 
species of edible insects, for both human and animal 
consumption. Other important considerations include 
research into opportunities for Indigenous enterprises 
and communities and holding research trials to assess 
biosecurity risks of at-scale insect production.137

Support progressive insect infrastructure scale-up: 
It is still unclear how insects can be produced at scale in 
Australia and what production conditions are optimal 
(e.g., feed, temperature, space, etc).138 Research is 
required to support process engineering, in particular, 
the integration of automation, sensing, machine learning 
and artificial intelligence technologies, which may help 
industry to optimise growing conditions for improved 
characteristics. Research is also needed to assess and 
learn from world best practice insect infrastructure – 
this involves studying learnings from international markets 
and adjusting to Australian conditions. For example, 
companies in other markets have invested in modular 
or vertical farms (Ynsect) and engineered circular 
economy and waste management principles. Further, 
lessons learnt from adjacent intensive animal and 
plant production industries should be investigated. 

Support regulatory process development for insects: 
In addition to the development of industry guidelines 
(discussed above), many of the research trials 
discussed in this section (nutritional, biosecurity risk, 
waste management potential and other alternative 
uses etc.) can also inform regulatory decisions.

136 Goterra (2021) Goterra is building a circular economy to radically reduce the impact of food waste on our planet. Viewed 21 November 2021 
<https://goterra.com.au/about/circular-economy/>.

137 CSIRO (2021) Edible insects: A roadmap for the strategic growth of an emerging Australian industry. Canberra.

138 AgriFutures Australia (2020) Catalysing a $10m Australian Insect Industry.; CSIRO (2021) Edible insects: A roadmap for the strategic growth of an emerging 
Australian industry. Canberra.



1.4 Enabling the scale-up 
of high growth sectors

Meeting future global and Australian demand for 
protein, through Australian grown and made products 
requires the identification of sectors that are currently 
relatively small in Australia but have high growth 
potential, and then supporting their scale-up. This will 
capture value and increase profitability, alongside more 
mature existing sectors. Although there are many 
examples of high growth sectors, two examples are 
presented in this roadmap, including local, sustainable 
white flesh fish and plant-based products.

This focus on scaling up high growth sectors is supported 
by several growth and support commitments across the 
protein and food industry. These include the agriculture 
industry’s target to exceed $100 billion in farm gate 
output139 or $200 billion in value-add by 2030;140 and 
CSIRO’s Future Protein Mission which aims to create new 
Australian protein products and ingredients that earn 
an additional $10 billion in revenue by 2030. Sovereign 
food manufacturing also has a renewed focus with the 
Australian Modern Manufacturing Strategy identifying food 
and beverage manufacturing as a national manufacturing 
priority that plays an important role in driving economic 
resilience.141 In particular, the strategy encourages food 
manufacturers to capitalise on growing global demand 
for premium food offerings through development of 
innovative and high value products with diverse attributes.

Opportunity 7: 
Scaling up local, sustainable 
white flesh fish production

2030 opportunity

To scale up local, sustainable white flesh fish 
production to meet domestic demand and 
export products to nearby Asian markets.

Potential market size

Current state

• $300 million in product value


Conservative 2030 scenario

• $460 million in product value
• $230 million in manufacturing revenue
• 600 jobs 


Ambitious 2030 scenario

• $1.5 billion in product value
• $770 million in manufacturing revenue
• 1,800 jobs


Difference between conservative and ambitious 
scenarios: $1.04 billion in retail value. 
(See Appendix D for the economic methodology.)

Science, technology and infrastructure priorities

• Investment in cross-sector infrastructure and services
• Identify suitable white flesh fish species
• Understand consumer expectations for aquaculture
• Research to support aquaculture 
production enhancement 
• Research to understand and address aquaculture-
environmental interactions and climate impacts






139 National Farmers Federation (2020) 2030 Roadmap: Australian Agriculture’s Plan for a $100 Billion Industry. Barton, ACT. 

140 FIAL (2020) Capturing the prize- The A$200 billion opportunity in 2030 for the Australian food and agribusiness sector.

141 Australian Government (2020) Make It Happen: The Australian Government’s Modern Manufacturing Strategy. Canberra.



What is driving the opportunity?

White flesh fish encompasses all edible finfish that 
are produced in aquaculture facilities, except for 
salmonids and tuna. Demand in Australia is driven 
by consumers wanting locally grown, inexpensive, 
boneless, skinless, white flesh fish. Demand for white 
flesh fish is also present in Asia, driven by a desire 
for a premium product like the Giant Groper, which is 
farmed and estimated to be a US$1 billion industry.142 

Australia consumes more fish than it can supply locally, 
and this demand is continuing to grow as consumers 
increasingly view seafood as an important source 
of healthy, low-fat protein.143 Between 2020 to 2025, 
Australia’s fisheries and aquaculture production is 
expected to increase by 2.4% in value to $3.41 billion.144 
According to the OECD, in 2018 Australia’s wild-catch 
fisheries comprised a large portion of this production 
value at 56% while aquaculture captured 44% of this 
value.145 Australia’s farmed white flesh fish industry 
currently produces 11,000 tonnes annually, however, 
has ambitions to reach 50,000 tonnes by 2030.146 

Currently, Australia imports approximately 
100,000 tonnes of low-cost white flesh fish annually 
to help meet demand.147 However, imported fish 
supply chains face challenges that may threaten food 
integrity. This includes intentional seafood fraud 
such as mislabelling and adulteration of products. 
Demonstrating health standards are a challenge for 
Australian policy makers, particularly when environmental 
health and safety standards of many exporting countries 
are contrary to standards in place in Australia.148

While this roadmap only focuses on one aquaculture 
opportunity, there are many other technology-led 
growth opportunities worth exploring. For example, 
prawns are on a significant growth trajectory, with 
global prawn aquaculture increasing by around 6% per 
year.149 New monitoring technology is being developed 
to increase prawn production in Australia and reduce 
the need for imports during peak demand periods.150 

Australia’s comparative advantages

Australia has many natural advantages in the development 
of aquaculture industries, including political stability, 
proximity to major Asian markets, considerable land 
and water resources and growing experience in farmed 
fish production. Further, there is significant interest 
and appetite for investment in aquaculture in Australia, 
particularly across Northern Australia which has 
advantages including large areas of suitable land and a 
prevailing climate characterised by high air temperatures—
ideal for culturing most tropical aquatic species.151 

142 EverBlu Capital (2018) Australian seafood is set to grow due to premium quality and growing domestic and global demand.

143 AgriFutures Australia (2020) The Changing Landscape of Protein Production: Opportunities and Challenges for Australian Agriculture. Wagga Wagga, NSW.; 
Burger J and Gochfeld M (2009) Perceptions of the risks and benefits of fish consumption: Individual choices to reduce risk and increase health benefits. 
Environmental research 109(3), 343. DOI: 10.1016/J.ENVRES.2008.12.002.

144 Mobsby D, Steven AH and Curtotti R (2020) Australian fisheries and aquaculture outlook 2020.

145 OECD (2021) Fisheries and Aquaculture in Australia.

146 CSIRO (2021) The quest for a new everyday supermarket fish. Viewed 29 October 2021, <https://ecos.csiro.au/new-everyday-supermarket-fish/>.

147 CSIRO (2021) The quest for a new everyday supermarket fish. Viewed 29 October 2021, <https://ecos.csiro.au/new-everyday-supermarket-fish/>.

148 Williams M, Hernandez-Jover M, Williams T and Shamsi S (2021) A risk scoring system for seafood supply chain breaches and examination of freshwater fish 
imported to Australia. Food Quality and Safety 5. DOI: 10.1093/FQSAFE/FYAB004.

149 FAO (2020) Towards sustainability in the shrimp industry. Viewed 23 January 2022, <https://www.fao.org/in-action/globefish/market-reports/resource-detail/
en/c/1261310/>.

150 CSIROscope (2019) Prawn stars: Five facts about Aussie prawns. Viewed 23 January 2022, <https://blog.csiro.au/prawn-stars-five-facts-about-aussie-prawns/>.

151 CSIRO (2018) Aquaculture viability: A technical report to the Australian Government from the CSIRO Northern Australia Water Resource Assessment, part of 
the National Water Infrastructure Development Fund.



Regional opportunities in aquaculture

Aquaculture activity occurs throughout Australia, largely 
in regional areas, with Tasmania and South Australia 
producing three-quarters of Australia’s aquaculture 
industry revenue.152 Going forward, there are significant 
opportunities in Northern Australia, with all three 
governments across the region (Queensland, Northern 
Territory and Western Australia) identifying aquaculture 
as growth industries. For example, the Queensland 
Government has identified eight land-based marine 
aquaculture development areas (ADAs) to promote 
and grow a sustainable aquaculture industry in the 
state.153 Each of these areas are in regional Queensland 
locations that fit specific physical, environmental and 
planning criteria. The Western Australian Government 
has similarly identified several regional areas to invest in 
through the development of Aquaculture Development 
Zones.154 As the aquaculture industry grows, so too does 
the requirement for feed which may spur opportunities 
to expand crop production in regional Australia. 

Implications for the Australian agricultural 
and food system 

Increased domestic production of white flesh fish has mixed 
implications for associated national markets, particularly 
depending on the practices and resources used for industry 
expansion. In Australia, increased production would require 
greater domestic aquaculture capability and associated 
improvements to disease and waste management 
systems to avoid negative implications on surrounding 
ecosystems.155 Impacts on the workforce may be beneficial, 
given significant opportunities for aquaculture employment 
including in regional areas and Aboriginal and Torres 
Strait Islander communities.156 As production increases, 
so too could demand for feed inputs such as small fish, 
insects and some crops.157 If using small fish as feed, this 
could disrupt supply to other industries that use small fish 
as inputs, such as livestock, commercial and recreational 
fisheries, baitfish or petfood.158 The impact on agricultural 
crop supply may vary, as priority feed alternatives 
include a range of oilseeds and dehulled legumes.159 

Existing infrastructure and R&D 
underpinning opportunity

Many organisations support aquaculture R&D in Australia, 
including the Fisheries Research and Development 
Corporation (FRDC), the Marine Bioproducts Cooperative 
Research Centre (CRC), the Blue Economy CRC, the CRC for 
Developing Northern Australia, CSIRO, plus universities, 
including James Cook University, and various state 
governments. Research includes process improvement, 
animal welfare, and new species development. 

152 Dean R (2021) Aquaculture in Australia Industry Report A0200. IBISWorld.

153 Business Queensland (2019) Aquaculture development areas and investment. Viewed 23 January 2022, <https://www.business.qld.gov.au/industries/farms-
fishing-forestry/fisheries/aquaculture/site-selection-production/development-areas/investment>.

154 WA Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (2020) Aquaculture Development Plan for Western Australia Focusing on the key 
foundations for growth.

155 Department of Agriculture and Water Resources (2015) Australia’s seafood trade. Canberra.

156 Department of Agriculture and Water Resources (2017) National Aquaculture Strategy. Canberra.

157 Department of Agriculture and Water Resources (2015) Australia’s seafood trade. Canberra.; ABC News (2018) Fish feed study finds insects could improve 
aquaculture’s environmental sustainability. Viewed 20 December 2021, <https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-13/aquaculture-industry-expert-say-insect-fish-
feed-more-efficient/>.; AEGIC and Grain Growers (2021) New opportunities for feed grains in Indonesia’s growing livestock industry. Viewed 20 December 2021, 
<https://www.aegic.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/AEGIC-New-opportunities-for-feed-grains-in-Indonesias-growing-livestock-industry.pdf>.

158 NSW Government (2010) Status of Fisheries Resources in NSW | Australian Sardine.; Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences 
(2017) Australian fisheries and aquaculture statistics 2016. Canberra.

159 Turchini GM, Trushenski JT and Glencross BD (2019) Thoughts for the Future of Aquaculture Nutrition: Realigning Perspectives to Reflect Contemporary 
Issues Related to Judicious Use of Marine Resources in Aquafeeds. North American Journal of Aquaculture 81(1), 13–39. DOI: 10.1002/NAAQ.10067.



Common infrastructure for aquaculture farming systems 
range from sea cages (which are not commonly used for white 
flesh fish) and large earthen ponds to compact-land based 
tank systems – each with advantages and disadvantages, 
particularly from a geographic/regional perspective.160 
Essential underpinning infrastructure for the development 
of this opportunity includes (but is not limited to):

• Recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) – Highly 
automated, capital and energy intensive equipment 
that enables significant productivity benefits; 
provides environmental control including water 
temperature, dissolved oxygen, and waste removal; 
allows for close monitoring, and reduces risk of 
mortality and disease. Can be located closer to 
markets, reducing cost of transport. However, skilled 
staff are required to operate these systems.
• Ponds – Generally less automated and lower 
technology than a RAS. Includes water and an 
aerator, is usually in an outside environment 
and is therefore location dependent. 
• Larvae systems – systems to culture fish 
in the immature first stage of a life cycle 
after emerging from an egg (larvae).
• Broodstock tanks – tanks with filtration, temperate 
and photoperiod control, used for broodstock 
(mature animals used for breeding) rearing. 
• Live feed – required to be continuously grown and 
harvested to ensure the nutritional profile of fish is met. 


2022-2030 science, technology and 
infrastructure investment priorities

Investment in cross-sector infrastructure and 
services: Uncertainty regarding resource access is 
limiting investor participation and thus limiting the 
development of aquaculture infrastructure. Freight is 
also costly and logistically difficult, particularly in remote 
areas. The development of a national white flesh fish 
strategy could support more cross-sector collaboration. 
Similarly, large-scale aquaculture development hubs 
or facilities, such as those established by several state 
governments (e.g., QLD, WA and SA Governments) 
could increase production volumes, regulatory efficiency 
and supply chain connectivity.161 Further considerations 
include shared feedstocks, access to local transport 
infrastructure, training and research facilities, regional 
infrastructure development, and recycling of waste.

Identify suitable white flesh fish species: It is important 
to identify white flesh fish species that suit Australian 
aquaculture conditions and meet consumer preferences. 
The identified species will need to be able to be bred and 
raised in nurseries, hatcheries and ponds so that wild fish 
stocks do not have to be used. For example, Aquna has 
targeted Murray cod as their target species for sustainable 
pond-grown white flesh fish production to meet local and 
international demands.162 Murray Cod Australia is currently 
working on this opportunity by developing the profile of 
sustainable pond-grown Murray cod to meet local and 
international demands. The Queensland Government is 
also pursuing the opportunity, fostering collaboration with 
industry and researchers to support land-based aquaculture 
industry development. This includes investment in six 
ADAs for best practice land-based marine aquaculture 
management and a food pilot plant to reduce the risk 
of scaling production.163 Candidate species identified 
include barramundi and cobia, with cobia showing 
strong retailer acceptance in the high-end food-service 
sector and recent advances in production efficiency.164 

160 CSIRO (2018) Aquaculture viability: A technical report to the Australian Government from the CSIRO Northern Australia Water Resource Assessment, part of 
the National Water Infrastructure Development Fund. 

161 Department of Agriculture and and Water Resources (2017) National Aquaculture Strategy. Canberra.

162 Aquna Sustainable Murray Cod (2021) Sustainability | Farming Practices. Viewed 13 December 2021, <https://aquna.com/sustainability/production/>.

163 Queensland Government (2019) Aquaculture development sites mean jobs for Rockhampton. Viewed 23 January 2022, <https://statements.qld.gov.au/
statements/86485>.

164 FRDC (2018) Tasty results for Cobia in consumer trials. Viewed 23 January 2022, <https://www.frdc.com.au/fish-vol-26-3/tasty-results-cobia-consumer-trials>.



CSIRO is also assessing the potential for a white flesh fish 
species named Pompano to meet consumer demands, 
with a strategy to develop a Pompano industry in 
Northern Australia.165 It is also concentrating on industry 
development through a multidisciplinary scientific 
approach with research addressing diet and nutritional 
requirements, genetics and selective breeding programs, 
animal health and welfare, and systems productivity. 

Further, as fish feed accounts for more than 90% of the 
cumulative environmental impact of aquaculture supply 
chains,166 there is an opportunity to reduce impact and 
cost through species selection. Herbivorous or omnivorous 
species such as catfish, carp and tilapia do not need animal 
protein to thrive, and their mainstay diets can comprise 
of inexpensive crop by-products and plankton.167 

Understand consumer expectations for aquaculture: 
Marketing and social licence research trials into 
the sustainable production of white flesh fish.

Research to support sustainable aquaculture production 
enhancement: Understanding how to manage the 
implications of increased farmed white fish production 
on surrounding ecosystems, related supply chains and 
production costs will be necessary for the industry to 
meet production targets long term. To help address 
these issues, research priorities could include: 

• Identifying opportunities to convert 
by-products into valuable co-products
• Management of fish health, diseases and pests
• Demonstrating growing out of identified fish 
species in nurseries, hatcheries and ponds so that 
wild fish fry stock does not have to be used
• Reducing production costs and 
improving price competitiveness
• Waste and environmental management 
• Investigating and demonstrating innovative 
and sustainable farming production systems 
and techniques such as vertical farming
• Developing affordable, nutritionally 
balanced and sustainable feed.


Research to understand and address aquaculture-
environmental interactions and climate impacts: 
Sustainability and environmental considerations are 
imperative for aquaculture, with climate change impacts 
increasingly experienced across the sector. Emerging 
environmental issues from aquaculture farms are a 
challenge to industry expansion; and there remain 
knowledge gaps regarding aquaculture-environment 
interactions, how future climate change may impact 
on the sector, and what adaptation practices may be 
required. While investment in research to support 
sustainable aquaculture management and development 
is already occurring, continued support is required to 
understand and address aquaculture environmental 
interactions and issues. For example, wastewater 
management, in particular nutrient release in discharge 
waters, is a critically important area for prioritisation. 
Lessons need to be identified from previous aquaculture 
developments (across Australia and globally), with 
learnings implemented in new developments. Addressing 
knowledge gaps and continuing industry engagement 
will be important for the sector to thrive while earning 
and maintaining its social licence to operate. 

165 CSIRO (2021) The quest for a new everyday supermarket fish. Viewed 29 October 2021, <https://ecos.csiro.au/new-everyday-supermarket-fish/>.

166 Kok B, Malcorps W, Tlusty MF, Eltholth MM, Auchterlonie NA, Little DC, Harmsen R, Newton RW and Davies SJ (2020) Fish as feed: Using economic allocation 
to quantify the Fish In : Fish Out ratio of major fed aquaculture species. Aquaculture 528.

167 Belton B, Little D and Zhang W (2021) Farming fish in fresh water is more affordable and sustainable than in the ocean. Viewed 23 January 2022, <https://
theconversation.com/farming-fish-in-fresh-water-is-more-affordable-and-sustainable-than-in-the-ocean-151904>.



Opportunity 8: 
Plant-based products

2030 opportunity

To scale up local production of plant-based products, 
enabling an end-to-end onshore supply chain.

Market Size

Current state

• $140 million in product value


Conservative 2030 scenario

• $3 billion in product value
• $1.5 billion in manufacturing revenue
• 2,110 jobs 


Ambitious 2030 scenario

• $9 billion in product value
• $4.5 billion in manufacturing revenue
• 6,320 jobs


$5 billion in domestic retail expenditure in both scenarios

Difference between conservative and ambitious 
scenarios: $6 billion in retail value (See Appendix D 
for the economic methodology).

Science, technology and infrastructure priorities

• Scaling up processing infrastructure
• Services and skills to support food 
manufacturers and start-ups
• Investment in collaborative R&D 
and prototyping facilities
• Establish domestic ingredient supply chains
• Invest in plant-based product R&D






What is driving this opportunity?

Globally, there is rising demand for and market growth 
of value-added plant-based products. Advances in 
technology mean that plant-based products are 
increasingly comparable to animal products in taste and 
texture, and improving in nutritional content. The global 
plant-based alternatives to meat market is expected to 
reach US$8.3 billion by 2025.168 Demand drivers differ by 
major demand regions; in North America, healthy and 
sustainable meat alternative products that effectively 
mimic meat are in demand; in Europe, greater awareness 
of food product carbon footprints is expected to drive 
demand for local plant protein sources; in the Asia Pacific, 
consumer aversion toward meat products, heightened 
during the ongoing pandemic, and government 
initiatives to reduce meat consumption (e.g., China) are 
key drivers.169 The global non-dairy cheese alternative 
market is expected to reach US$3.3 billion by 2026,170 and 
the Australian soy and almond milk industry revenue 
is expected to grow to A$554.3 million by 2026-27.171

The industry is still small in Australia, however, it is ramping 
up rapidly. Over the last year, the plant-based alternative to 
meat industry grew from 10 to 19 brands, retail sales rose 
32% to $185 million and manufacturing revenue doubled 
from $35 million to nearly $70 million.172 Total products on 
grocery shelves doubled to over 200, with 42% produced 
locally in 2019-20. The most common Australian-made 
products include crumbed products (nuggets and 
schnitzels), ready meals, sausages and burgers.173 Australia 
currently exports only a very small amount of plant-based 
meat alternative products;174 approximately half of all 
products sold domestically via retail are imported.175 While 
some brands have reached price parity with animal meats, 
in 2020 plant-based meat alternative products were, on 
average, 49% more expensive than animal meats.176

168 MarketsandMarkets (2020) Plant-based meat market. Viewed 2 Feb 2021, <https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/plant-based-meat-
market-44922705.html>.

169 Frost & Sullivan (2021) Global meat analogs protein ingredients growth opportunities

170 Business Wire (2021) Global Vegan Cheese Market (2020 to 2026) - by End-use, Source, Product and Region - ResearchAndMarkets.com. Viewed 9 November 
2021, <https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210122005252/en/Global-Vegan-Cheese-Market>.

171 IBISWorld (2021) Soy and Almond Milk Production in Australia.

172 Food Frontier (2021) 2020 State of the Industry Australia’s Plant-Based Meat Sector.

173 Food Frontier (2021) Plant-Based Meat Alternatives Sold in Australia: An Analysis of Product Labels.

174 v2food to New Zealand, Japan, Korea, Thailand, the Philippines and now China. Future Food Systems (2021) Australia’s v2 ‘alt-meat’ product range cracks 
world’s largest market. Viewed 9 November 2021, <https://www.futurefoodsystems.com.au/byte/australian-made-plant-based-meat-goes-on-sale-in-china/>.

175 Food Frontier (2019) Meat the Alternative: Australia’s $3 Billion Opportunity.

176 Food Frontier (2021) 2020 State of the Industry Australia’s Plant-Based Meat Sector.



Australia’s comparative advantages

Australia has significant food engineering research 
expertise and manufacturing capabilities to support 
the development of plant-based products. Australia’s 
significant agricultural industry, in particular its cropping 
industry, provides the basis for locally grown ingredients, 
including wholegrain, minimally and semi-processed. 
Momentum is already building, with several businesses 
looking to convert raw crop materials into concentrated 
plant-based protein ingredients (see section 1.2). 
This will enable Australian manufacturers to locally 
source ingredients for plant-based products. 

Regional opportunities

Plant-based product manufacturing plants could be 
located close to ingredient production facilities and crop 
growing areas. Locations for regional manufacturing and 
innovation centres could be selected for construction 
across the next decade to 2030. Crop production areas 
are discussed in Section 1.2. The NSW Special Activation 
Precincts, for example, provide the auxiliary infrastructure 
and commercial support required for new agribusiness 
operations to be established efficiently. It has been 
suggested that a long-term commitment in the order of 
25 years to food manufacturing infrastructure could provide 
the necessary certainty for companies to make investments. 

Implications for the Australian 
agricultural and food system 

As consumer buying habits change and there is a growing 
demand for diverse plant-based products, it will be 
important to ensure that Australian-made products meet 
these needs instead of customers only being able to access 
imported products. Moreover, Australian-made products 
will have a growing contribution to Australia’s protein 
exports. These products will likely initially assume a small 
proportion of the growing protein market demand.

Products made in Australia could meet domestic demand at 
lower prices than imported products, as is currently the case 
for consumer offerings,177 and could be exported overseas 
to new markets to grow the Australian agriculture industry’s 
revenue. Manufacturing plant-based food products 
creates opportunity across the value chain, including 
the crop production and ingredient extraction stages. 

Scaling the plant-based product industry will increase 
demand for input crops. This may necessitate land 
use change from traditional production systems 
to plant-based food production systems. 

The viability of Australian-made products for export 
will depend on various factors including manufacturing 
costs, supply chain costs, and price and quality 
competitiveness with other products on the market 
internationally. The complexity of export viability should 
be considered and may require further analysis.

Existing infrastructure and R&D 
underpinning opportunity 

Plant-based products are made via the processing of 
various plant material and ingredients. They are typically 
made using such crops as wheat, soy, pea and rice, 
however others such as pulse crops are being considered 
as high protein sources. Depending on the end-product, 
manufacturing can involve formulation of various processed 
crops and plant-based ingredients, and texturisation 
to create the desired food structure and behaviour. 

Food engineering and innovation research is conducted 
extensively across Australian research organisations, 
including at CSIRO through its Food Innovation Centre, 
through universities, CRCs, State Governments, and 
private research organisations. Underpinning research 
themes relevant to this opportunity include meat sciences, 
consumer science, food manufacturing and food safety. 
Table 4 describes select Australian food innovation facilities.

Underpinning infrastructure required for this type of food 
innovation includes technology to produce texturised 
vegetable protein (TVP) as well as to produce plant-based 
products, either using TVP to produce burgers, sausage 
and mince or high moisture extrusion processing of the 
isolate to directly produce fibrous plant-based products 
such as strips, and chunks. Extrusion technology is a 
versatile processing technology that combines multiple 
unit operations such as mixing, heating, cooking, 
shaping and forming into one integrated process to 
produce TVP. For simpler products which make use of 
minimally processed or semi-processed grains and flours, 
texturisation and extrusion processes may not be required.

177 Food Frontier (2021) 2020 State of the Industry Australia’s Plant-Based Meat Sector.



Table 4: Australian food innovation facilities

FACILITY/PROGRAM

DESCRIPTION

LOCATION

Australian Export Grains 
Innovation Centre 
(AEGIC)178

AEGIC provides a range of services relating to grains and grain products, including 
grain quality and property testing, flour quality and dough rheology analysis, and end 
product testing.

Sydney, NSW 
and South 
Perth, WA

CSIRO Food Innovation 
Centre179

CSIRO’s Food Innovation Centre provides facilities and expertise to support companies to 
develop, test and commercialise new food IP and products. Services include food processing 
facilities, consumer science, food safety and protein advisory expertise.

Werribee, 
VIC

Health and Food Sciences 
Precinct180

The precinct host scientists from the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries 
(DAF), CSIRO and UQ through the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation 
(QAAFI). It provides infrastructure and expertise for researchers and businesses to 
develop and test new food products. Facilities include equipment for processing seafood, 
meat, dairy and horticultural products; laboratories and workspaces; and biosecurity 
diagnostic equipment. 

Brisbane, 
QLD

International Flavour 
Research Centre181

A $2.5m facility at the University of Adelaide’s Waite campus, funded by v2food, the 
University of Adelaide, University of Nottingham and the Biotechnology and Biological 
Sciences Research Council. The aim of the centre is to understand the role of food 
ingredients in flavour and support development of plant-based food and ingredients. 
This includes the MS-Nose tool, which measures aromas while eating in real-time. 

Adelaide, SA

WA Food Innovation 
Precinct

The precinct, set to be complete mid-2022, is valued at $21.75 million.182 Its purpose is to 
scale-up agribusinesses, create new products through R&D, and capture a greater food and 
beverage market share for WA.183 It will contain agri-food experts, business services and 
a shared food technology facility. The precinct will be the home for the X-Protein Lab; an 
innovation centre for alternative proteins, with a focus on Singapore. 

Nambeelup, 
WA

Waite Research Precinct 
plant-based food 
incubator

In November 2021 the South Australian Government invested $2m into this plant-based 
food incubator based at the University of Adelaide’s Waite campus. Its purpose is to 
support innovation and pilot projects between industry and the research sector and attract 
international investment.184 

Adelaide, SA





178 AEGIC (2020) Grain and food quality testing. Viewed 21 January 2022, <https://www.aegic.org.au/domestic-services/all-testing-services/>.

179 CSIRO (2021) CSIRO’s food innovation centre for industry. Viewed 20 December 2021, <https://www.csiro.au/en/work-with-us/industries/food>.

180 Queensland Government DAF (2021) Health and food sciences precinct. Viewed 21 January 2022, <https://www.daf.qld.gov.au/contact/offices/stations-
facilities/health-food-science>.

181 Brown K (2021) Serving up healthy plant-based food research with new flavour facility. Viewed 20 December 2021, <https://www.adelaide.edu.au/
newsroom/news/list/2021/11/02/serving-up-healthy-plant-based-food-research-with-new-flavour-facility>.

182 Shire of Murray (2021) Western Australian Food Innovation Precinct. Viewed 20 December 2021, <https://www.murray.wa.gov.au/Shire-and-Council/
Projects/Western-Australian-Food-Innovation-Precinct>.

183 Future Food Systems (2021) WA Food Innovation Precinct to drive growth in premium value-added foods. Viewed 20 December 2021, <https://www.
futurefoodsystems.com.au/new-wa-food-innovation-precinct-to-help-produce-premium-value-added-food-products-in-australias-west/>.

184 Government of South Australia (2021) $2 million investment to grow SA plant-based food sector. Viewed 22 Oct 2021, <https://pir.sa.gov.au/alerts_news_
events/news/ministerial_releases/$2_million_investment_to_grow_sa_plant-based_food_sector>



2022-2030 science, technology and 
infrastructure investment priorities

Scaling up processing infrastructure: Scaling up 
plant-based product facilities will be necessary to capture 
a greater share of the growing demand domestically 
and globally. This includes scaling extrusion capacity for 
creating TVP. The industry could benefit from economies 
of scale in production and distribution.185 Multi-faceted 
plant-based ingredient facilities for plant-based isolates, 
concentrates and fibres could be established. 

Services and skills to support food manufacturers and 
start-ups: Food manufacturers and start-ups should 
be supported with access to capability and expertise. 
Expertise may be required in the realms of food technology, 
regulation, or commercialisation. Programs could take 
the form of accelerators, incubators and support teams; 
and could support branding, marketing, and relationship 
building with companies with established supply networks. 
The AgTech and Logistics Hub, funded by the Queensland 
Government, the FKG Group, Toowoomba and Surat 
Basin Enterprise, University of Southern Queensland 
and the University of Queensland, is an example of an 
initiative to connect stakeholders and support innovation. 
The WA Agri-Business Grant is an initiative of the Western 
Australian Food Innovation Precinct for WA-based 
agribusiness and enterprises to support the scale-up of 
food and beverage manufacturing.186 Venture capital 
has been cited as a useful sector to connect start-ups 
with commercial and regulatory expertise, capital, and 
connections to supermarkets. More broadly, CSIRO’s 
Kick-Start program is an initiative that offers funding 
and research expertise to start-ups and SMEs to research 
new ideas, test products and develop their business.187

Investment in collaborative R&D and prototyping 
facilities: Food manufacturers and start-ups need 
facilities to test and prototype new products. This could 
take the form of a shared R&D facility for various food 
start-ups to hire and use, with links to universities and 
research institutes to access talent and R&D expertise. 
Such a pilot facility could take the form of a Centre of 
Excellence dedicated to plant proteins, where plant-based 
product development and protein ingredient R&D 
can be conducted together. This pilot facility could be 
located adjacent to planned plant processing industry, 
or embedded within research institutions to enable 
greater collaboration with the research sector.

185 Food Frontier (2021) 2020 State of the Industry Australia’s Plant-Based Meat Sector.

186 Shire of Murray (2021) $3.8M Grant Open for WA Agri-Businesses. Viewed 20 December 2021, <https://www.murray.wa.gov.au/Shire-and-Council/News-and-
Media/Media-Releases/3.8M-Grant-Open-for-WA-Agri-Businesses>.

187 CSIRO (2021) CSIRO Kick-Start. Viewed 21 January 2022, <https://www.csiro.au/en/work-with-us/funding-programs/programs/csiro-kick-start/about>.



Facilities required cut across the plant protein value 
chain, from plant-based ingredients and fibres to 
plant-based products. Systems at various scales are 
required, from laboratory to pilot plant and small 
scale manufacturing facilities. Technologies needed 
include decanting, separation, extrusion and extraction 
technologies. Plug and play modules would allow start-ups 
to test and develop products confidentially. Collaboration 
between manufacturers, research and industry could 
accelerate new technology development and uptake. 
Collaborations should consider models for ownership stake 
conditions between involved parties. Some existing and 
planned food innovation centres are described in Table 4. 

Establish domestic ingredient supply chains: One of the 
most frequently cited priorities by consulted stakeholders 
was the establishment of local production capabilities for 
plant-based ingredients. Currently, plant proteins and many 
other ingredients used in plant-based foods (such as soy 
protein) are produced offshore and imported by Australian 
food manufacturers. This can present risks associated with 
quality, lead times, and logistics of offshore purchasing. 
Establishing domestic ingredient supply chains could secure 
more reliable supply for growing ingredient demand, 
potentially reduce costs, reduce environmental footprint, 
and provide a high-value revenue stream to Australian 
farmers and plant processors. Local value chains can also 
have benefits associated with Australian Made labelling and 
improved country-of-origin claims. It could also allow closer 
collaboration between ingredient producers and food 
product manufacturers. To meet protein growing protein 
ingredient needs, increasing targeted crop production or 
imports may be required. Reaching economies of scale 
for both plant-based products and protein ingredients 
will be important for reaching competitive prices. 

Invest in plant-based product R&D: There is opportunity 
to develop higher quality plant-based products with 
improved taste, texture, function, nutritional profile and 
in some cases allergenicity. Additionally, production 
costs could be reduced to draw closer to price parity 
with conventional animal meat offerings. R&D priorities 
vary based on the desired outputs and the crop 
inputs used. Broadly, priorities include:

• Product flavour, odour, texture, appearance and 
tribology (mouthfeel) of products. Improved taste 
including reduction of beany notes and flavours 
(or minimising bitter or metallic aftertaste). 
Improved texturisation for plant-based products, 
e.g., extrusion technologies, shear, low moisture and 
high moisture extrusion cooking, strip alignment 
technologies for creating fibrous structures.
• Nutrition, composition and functionality of ingredients. 
This includes fortification, for example with minerals 
and vitamins that are typically only found in high 
quantities in meat, dairy and egg products. Reduction 
of antinutritional components, e.g., alkaloids and 
glucosinolates. Reduction in cost and complexity 
of additives, including sodium. Food safety and risk 
assessment testing including shelf-life evaluation 
alongside microbiological, chemical or physical hazards.
• Optimising crops to remove unwanted elements 
and improve desirable elements; and improving 
crop processing technology to allow whole grain 
utilisation of macro and micronutrients.
• Industry 4.0 principles and technologies across the 
supply chain and in factories, such as automation, 
robotics, IoT, deep learning and analytics.


Aside from texturisation, the priorities for plant-based 
dairy and egg products are similar to those of plant-based 
alternatives to meats. Despite being an established 
industry, product innovation for plant-based milks 
continues. In February 2021, for example, Sanitarium 
collaborated with UNSW to develop oat and almond 
milks with improved silkiness and foaminess.188

188 Cooperative Research Australia (2021) Using science to make better vegan café lattes. Viewed 10 November 2021, <https://crca.asn.au/using-science-to-
make-better-vegan-cafe-lattes/>.



CASE STUDY

Plant-based protein ingredients 
and crop inputs 

This case study seeks to estimate the volume of raw plant-based 
protein ingredients and crop inputs required to produce the 
finished plant-based products outlined in Opportunity 2. 

Assuming plant-based proteins make up, on average, 
20% of finished plant-based products by weight,189 then 
60,000 tonnes of raw plant-based proteins will be 
needed in the conservative scenario, and 180,000 tonnes 
will be needed in the ambitious scenario.

These plant-based proteins will require plant-based protein 
ingredients, such as texturised plant protein (TPP), as well 
as isolates, concentrates and flours. These ingredients will, 
in turn, be derived from crop inputs. Both ingredients and 
crop inputs are sourced from domestic or imported sources. 

Types of plant-based protein ingredients required

Globally plant-based protein products retail market by 
four major ingredient types: soy protein, wheat protein, 
pea protein, and other.190 In 2020, soy accounted for 
nearly 58% of the market share by value, while wheat 
protein accounted for nearly 37%, pea protein and others 
over 5%. By 2030, soy is likely to grow to 60% of the 
market, wheat 33%, and pea and other 7% (Figure 4).

Figure 4: 2030 Global market share of major plant-based protein 
alternatives by protein type

Source: Technavio (2021) Global Plant-based Protein 
Products Market 2021-2025, own calculations.

Global market shares for these crop ingredients have 
been applied to Australia’s 2030 manufacturing 
share by tonnage in the conservative and ambitious 
scenarios, producing a breakdown of types of plant-
based protein ingredients required. It is assumed here 
that international usage splits apply for the Australian 
sector and that Australia pulse proteins can address 
forecast demand in the ‘pea and other’ category.

Under the conservative and ambitious scenarios, if 
domestic manufacturers were to produce plant-based 
finished products using ingredients from local sources, 
they would need the following amounts of pure protein 
by weight as noted in Table 5. For instance, for Australian 
domestic manufacturers under the conservative scenario to 
produce 60% of their finished plant-based products from 
soy protein, they will require 36 kt of pure soy protein.

Table 5: Amount of plant-based protein required in ambitious 
and conservative scenarios

PURE 
PLANT-BASED 
PROTEIN

CONSERVATIVE 
SCENARIO 
(60,000 TONNES OF 
PROTEIN IN TOTAL)

AMBITIOUS 
SCENARIO 
(180,000 TONNES OF 
PROTEIN IN TOTAL)

Soy protein

36 kt

108 kt

Wheat protein

19.8 kt

59.4 kt

Pulse protein

4.2 kt

12.6 kt





189 Benchmarked from desktop research into protein percentages by weight for retail meat products.

190 Technavio (2021) Global Plant-based Protein Products Market 2021-2025.



Crops/products required

Based on these pure protein amounts described above, 
it is possible to estimate the actual crop/product amounts 
that would be needed. Table 6 describes average protein 
proportions that were used to model and estimate this.

Table 6: Nutritional composition of crop/product types

CROP/PRODUCT TYPE

PROTEIN (%) 
BY WEIGHT

SOURCE

Raw soybean seeds

37%

Based on USDA data191

Wheat grain

10%

Conservative 
benchmark from 
protein content in 
Australian wheat 
grades192

Raw pulse seeds

24%

Average from 
nutritional 
composition data in 
Fernando (2021)193





Based on these protein proportions, this translates 
to the following amounts of the raw product/crop in 
Table 7. For example, to create 36 kt of soy protein 
under the conservative scenario (see Table 5 above), 
this will require nearly 99 kt of raw soybean seeds.

Table 7: Amount of raw product required in ambitious 
and conservative scenarios

CROP/PRODUCT TYPE

CONSERVATIVE 
SCENARIO 

AMBITIOUS 
SCENARIO 

Raw soybean seeds

98.6 kt

295.9 kt

Wheat grain

198 kt

594 kt

Raw pulse seeds

17.2 kt

51.5 kt





For context, Australia produced only 31 kt of soybeans 
per year on average for the five years to 2019-20.194 
If Australia were to derive all its soy protein from 
domestic sources, current production is insufficient 
for both the conservative and ambitious scenarios. 

A significant scale-up of domestic soybean cropping, 
imports of soy protein ingredients, alternative 
protein crops, or a mixture of these options would be 
required to meet the manufacturing needs by 2030. 
The potential for significant and effective scale-up of 
domestic soybean crops could be explored. Further 
investigation could be conducted into soybean import 
sources (e.g., from sustainable and/or non-GM sources 
to address consumer concerns), as well as further 
investigation into plant-based alternatives to soy 
protein that are still comparable to soybeans in terms 
of features such as taste, texture, and functionality.

Similarly, for context, domestic production of wheat in 
Australia was 21,559 kt per year on average for the five 
years to 2019-20,195 and domestic production of all pulses 
was 2,780 kt per year on average for the five years to 
2019-20.196 Further, Australia currently has capacity to 
commercially process at least 10,000 tonnes of faba 
beans per year and produce at least 2,500 tonnes of pulse 
protein isolate, with capacity expected to double soon.197 
As such, the domestic pulse protein requirements under 
the conservative scenario will likely be easily met.

Given Australia’s major role in the production of both 
of these crop types, in a hypothetical scenario where 
Australia derives a significant amount of its wheat and 
pulse protein domestically for food manufacturing 
purposes, there would be sufficient supply currently 
to meet 2030 domestic manufacturing needs.

191 United States Department of Agriculture (2019) FoodData Central – Soybeans, Mature Seeds, Raw. Viewed 20 December 2021, <https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-
app.html#/food-details/174270/nutrients>.

192 GRDC (2009) Understanding Australian Wheat Quality: A Basic Introduction to Australian Wheat Quality.

193 Fernando, S (2021) Production of protein-rich pulse ingredients through dry fractionation: A review. LWT 141.

194 United States Department of Agriculture (2021) Production, Supply and Distribution data.

195 Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (2020) Agricultural commodities and trade data: Rural commodities – wheat.

196 Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (2020) Agricultural commodities and trade data: Rural commodities – pulses.

197 GRDC (2019) New $20m facility set to deliver value-adding alternative to traditional pulse markets. Viewed 20 December 2021, < https://groundcover.grdc.
com.au/crops/pulses/plant-based-protein-start-up-provides-new-pulse-market-option>; Food & Drink Business (2021) Australian Plant Proteins secures 
$45.7m investment. Viewed 20 December 2021, < https://www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au/news/australian-plant-proteins-secures-45-7m-investment>. 



1.5 Developing novel protein 
production systems

Identifying new methods for producing protein through 
targeted investments in R&D and infrastructure will 
continue to be important in capturing value, optimising 
resources, and leveraging Australia’s comparative 
advantages. Innovative R&D is currently underway to 
enable the scale-up and commercial development of 
many new protein production systems, from traditional 
fermentation and large-scale biomass fermentation 
through to cultivated meats, microalgae and using new 
and different feedstocks, such as CO2 (see Appendix E 
for other emerging protein opportunities). 

These novel production systems will become more 
important as greater pressure is placed on global food 
systems to feed more people with less resources. Food 
security solutions need to address both accessibility 
and affordability of new products. Looking out to 2030, 
Australia has the reputation, skills, and most importantly, 
the primary resources (e.g., agricultural waste from sugar, 
wine, fruit, etc.) to catalyse novel protein production 
systems to service domestic and export markets. 

This roadmap focuses on two of the key opportunities for 
novel protein production systems in Australia, identified 
through literature review and industry consultation. 
These opportunities involve the creation of new Australian 
value chains for protein from precision fermentation 
and, over the long term, from cultivated meats.

Synthetic biology (the application of engineered 
biological solutions to industrial, health and 
environmental challenges) is an area of strategic 
focus in Australia, which encompasses precision 
fermentation and cultured meat techniques. 
CSIRO’s Synthetic Biology Roadmap (2021) describes 
many actions and investments that are necessary for 
Australia to capture economic growth by positioning 
synthetic biology as a critical national capability 
that underpins a thriving domestic bioeconomy.198 
The actions described in this report, particularly the 
short-term actions around building capability and 
demonstrating commercial feasibility, will support 
the realisation of synthetic biology opportunities.

Opportunity 9: 
Precision fermentation

2030 opportunity

To expand the volume and variety of protein ingredients 
and products commercially produced via precision 
fermentation for both domestic and export markets.

Potential market size

Current state

• Negligible


Conservative 2030 scenario

• $750 million in product value
• $374 million in manufacturing revenue
• 670 jobs 


Ambitious 2030 scenario

• $2.2 billion in product value
• $1.1 billion in manufacturing revenue
• 2,020 jobs


Difference between conservative and ambitious 
scenarios: $1.45 billion in retail value 
(See Appendix D for the economic methodology.)

Science, technology and infrastructure priorities

• Investigate and support pilot scale facilities
• Support collaboration with adjacent sectors and 
infrastructure for precision fermentation scale-up
• Services for precision fermentation scale-up
• Research to support microorganism engineering 
and strain development and optimisation
• Research to support feedstock selection, 
optimisation, and process improvement
• Research to understand manufacturer 
and consumer needs
• Life Cycle Analysis to understand impact
• Research to understand nutritional profile 
of precision fermentation products
• Precision fermentation product development






198 CSIRO Futures (2021) Australia’s Synthetic Biology Roadmap. CSIRO, Canberra.



What is driving this opportunity?

Precision fermentation has the potential to supply 
diversified protein into the global food system. 
There are three categories of fermentation: traditional 
fermentation transforms food through the metabolic 
activities of microorganisms; biomass fermentation 
cultivates microorganisms as the primary protein 
source (e.g., Quorn™ made from filamentous fungi 
via fermentation); and precision fermentation which 
uses customised microorganism strains (e.g., bacteria 
and yeast) to produce specific functional ingredients. 
The stated advantages of precision fermentation are 
that specific proteins possessing desirable attributes, 
novel and complex ingredients can be produced fast 
and in large volumes, using significantly less water and 
land resources.199 As an example, animal proteins can be 
produced that offer the full nutritional profile without 
undesirable substances, such as cholesterol and allergens. 

While precision fermentation processes are not new, cost 
efficient production at scale is a key barrier and it is not yet 
commercially viable to produce commodity ingredients as 
the costs are not competitive with incumbent production 
methods. 200 It is estimated that the cost of precision 
fermentation is at least two to three times more than that 
of conventional proteins.201 Despite this, it is currently used 
for niche high-value food ingredients and pharmaceutical 
products, such as chymosin (the key ingredient in rennet), 
used in the cheese industry which traditionally came from 
the rumen of calves, and the pharmaceutical protein insulin, 
which traditionally came from the pancreas of cows or pigs. 

Key cost factors for precision fermentation include 
appropriately sized fermentation equipment to produce 
protein at scale.202 Following this, energy, staff, facilities, 
feedstock, and downstream processing all need to be 
considered. As the costs of precision fermentation are 
driven down, through advancements in technology, market 
demand and large-scale developments, it is expected that 
protein (and other functional ingredients) created through 
this method will reach price parity with animal proteins.203 

Globally, there is significant momentum in the 
sector, with increasing venture capital investments 
in protein fermentation companies,204 and numerous 
companies working towards commercialising products. 
Investors see opportunities for fermentation to 
revolutionise modern protein production while 
building a healthier, more efficient, and sustainable 
global food system.205 Examples of international 
companies include (non-exhaustive):

• Every Company (formerly Clara Foods) using 
precision fermentation to create egg proteins206 
• Impossible Foods making plant-based heme via 
fermentation of genetically engineered yeast207
• Motif FoodWorks using precision fermentation 
to create HEMAMI, a yeast-derived heme 
protein that provides umami flavour and meaty 
aroma to plant-based meat products208
• Perfect Day using precision fermentation to make 
whey proteins that have been commercialised 
through three ice cream brands in the US.209 


199 Tubb C and Seba T (2021) Rethinking Food and Agriculture 2020-2030: The Second Domestication of Plants and Animals, the Disruption of the Cow, and the 
Collapse of Industrial Livestock Farming. Industrial Biotechnology 17(2), 57–72.

200 Wood P and Tavan M (2021) Feed Our Future: A New Zealand Sustainable Food Systems Dialogue. Official Journal of the New Zealand Association of 
Scientists 77(3–4).

201 Boston Consulting Group and Blue Horizon (2021) Food for Thought: The Protein Transformation.

202 Wood P and Tavan M (2021) Feed Our Future: A New Zealand Sustainable Food Systems Dialogue. Official Journal of the New Zealand Association of 
Scientists 77(3–4).

203 World Economic Forum (2020) Fermentation can help build a more efficient and sustainable food system – here’s how. Viewed 16 November 2021, <https://
www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/11/fermentation-can-help-build-a-more-efficient-and-sustainable-food-system-here-s-how/>.

204 World Economic Forum (2020) Fermentation can help build a more efficient and sustainable food system – here’s how. Viewed 16 November 2021, <https://
www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/11/fermentation-can-help-build-a-more-efficient-and-sustainable-food-system-here-s-how/>.

205 World Economic Forum (2020) Fermentation can help build a more efficient and sustainable food system – here’s how. Viewed 16 November 2021, <https://
www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/11/fermentation-can-help-build-a-more-efficient-and-sustainable-food-system-here-s-how/>.

206 The EVERY Company (n.d.) Home. Viewed 16 November 2021, <https://theeverycompany.com/>.

207 Impossible Foods (n.d.) Heme + The Science Behind Impossible. Viewed 30 November 2021, <https://impossiblefoods.com/au-en/heme>.

208 Dacri J (2021) Motif FoodWorks Announces the Commercial Launch of HEMAMITM, Food-Tech earns Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) Status from FDA. 
Viewed 21 January 2022, <https://madewithmotif.com/2021/12/08/motif-foodworks-announces-the-commercial-launch-of-hemami-food-tech-earns-
generally-recognized-as-safe-gras-status-from-fda/>.

209 Perfect Day (2021) Find Us. Viewed 16 November 2021, <https://perfectday.com/find-us/>.



A commercially sponsored Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) on Perfect 
Day’s whey protein found that compared to the total protein 
in milk, its product is 91% to 97% lower in greenhouse 
gas emissions, 29% to 60% lower energy demand, and 
96% to 99% lower in blue water consumption.210

Precision fermentation supports the global ambition to 
sustainably meet protein demand and will result in an 
augmented food production system. There is increasing 
momentum in the development of this technology with 
unique applications. Australia is already investing in this 
area. Several companies have recently been established 
in Australia with the goal of scaling up precision 
fermentation to create novel ingredients. Supporting 
these companies and nurturing new opportunities in 
this space is essential to ensure Australia keeps pace 
with international counterparts and does not become 
reliant on imports of these products. Dedicated industry 
development leveraging Australia’s comparative 
advantages could even see Australia set the pace. 

Critical to precision fermentation-derived proteins 
reaching price, texture and taste parity with animal 
proteins is R&D and strategic investment towards achieving 
necessary scale. Cost will be reduced from increased 
efficiency in how microorganisms convert feedstock 
into protein, and the adoption of low-cost feedstocks.211 
Developing pilot, demonstration, and commercial-scale 
biomanufacturing facilities certified to work with GMOs 
in food grade facilities is an expected bottleneck, and a 
key requirement for the scale-up of precision fermentation 
(and other synthetic biology applications) in Australia, 
as identified in CSIRO’s Synthetic Biology Roadmap.212 

Australia’s comparative advantages

Australia has strong comparative advantages with its 
large agricultural industry that provides a readily available 
source of feedstock. Agricultural waste from wine, 
fruit and sugar industries can be valuable inputs into 
fermentation. Australia’s strong agricultural reputation 
and proximity to Asian export markets will also be 
an advantage in the development of new exports. 

Regional opportunities

Industry consultation for this project highlighted distinct 
development opportunities for Australia’s industry. 
This includes strategically developing the industry in a 
way that deliberately incorporates greater circularity of 
fermented products, either by co-fermenting products in a 
single fermentation tank or using by-products of one process 
as the feedstock for another. Further, co-location at existing 
fermentation businesses (e.g., wineries, breweries) could be 
a useful step in the scale-up of the industry, helping further 
utilise existing assets that may be idle during the year.

Implications for the Australian 
agricultural and food system

Developing Australia’s precision fermentation capability 
and industry will support the creation of new skilled 
jobs. Further, it offers value-adding opportunities 
for utilisation of agricultural biomass and waste 
products as feedstocks,213 with resulting products 
(generally ingredients) feeding into and diversifying 
Australia’s current food manufacturing industry. 

As precision fermentation theoretically allows for the 
manufacture of any complex ingredient, including proteins 
traditionally sourced from animals, it is possible that 
once parity in price and composition is achieved, the 
precision fermentation industry could help meet demand 
for traditional animal proteins. Alternatively, precision 
fermentation can also be deployed to produce specific 
ingredients that are harder to source in nature, or where 
extraction yields a high volume of side stream and thus 
renders isolation and purification resource-inefficient. 
Such developments will allow Australian food manufacturers 
access to Australian-made ingredients beneficial for 
manufacturing processes (processing aids) or as desirable 
ingredients for new product development. Nature-equivalent 
molecules will be the initial precision fermentation targets, 
but it is anticipated that in the future machine learning/
artificial intelligence (ML/AI) combined with precision 
fermentation will likely start to deliver novel ingredients.

210 Perfect Day Inc (2021) ISO-Conformant Report: Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Perfect Day Whey Protein Production to Dairy Protein.

211 Boston Consulting Group and Blue Horizon (2021) Food for Thought: The Protein Transformation.

212 CSIRO Futures (2021) Australia’s Synthetic Biology Roadmap. CSIRO, Canberra.

213 Good Food Institute (2020) State of the Industry Report: Fermentation.



Existing infrastructure and R&D 
underpinning opportunity

Precision fermentation is an emerging industry, 
supported by food, biotechnology and synthetic 
biology research themes across various research 
organisations, including CSIRO and universities. 

Current infrastructure for precision fermentation 
is mainly for use in pharmaceutical applications. 
Generally, these are over-engineered for food production, 
and are limited in capacity and quantity. There is 
currently limited infrastructure available in Australia 
at any scale. Lab and pilot scale infrastructure is 
important to enabling growth of the industry. Large scale 
production infrastructure is a major issue worldwide, 
with some estimates that existing fermentation 
infrastructure will be at capacity during 2022.214 

Infrastructure requirements for 
precision fermentation include: 

• Pilot (<1,500L), demonstration (<100K L) and commercial 
(>100K L) scale food grade PC2 fermentation 
facilities. These facilities are generally stainless-steel 
fermentation tanks with precise control systems for 
processing conditions. They may be self-contained to 
avoid contamination and require precise control over 
parameters such as oxygenation, temperature and pH. 
• Downstream processing equipment for separation and 
purification includes continuous centrifugation, spray 
and freeze dryers, separation units, chromatography, 
etc. These are all available technologies. 
• Supply chain infrastructure for transport and 
logistics (e.g., rail, road and ports), in particular 
to enable efficient delivery of feedstock.


2022-2030 science, technology and 
infrastructure investment priorities

Investigate and support pilot scale facilities: Suitable pilot 
scale food grade fermentation infrastructure is very 
limited in Australia, especially food grade facilities that 
can handle genetically modified organisms (GMO), such 
as modified yeast strains. Opportunities exist for the 
development of commercial pilot scale food fermentation 
facilities at strategic locations across the nation (close to 
feedstock sources), e.g., as a Bio-incubator – this might 
be through public investment via universities, publicly 
funded research agencies or public private partnerships. 

Support collaboration with adjacent sectors and 
infrastructure for precision fermentation scale-up: 
Suitable large-scale food grade fermentation infrastructure 
that is compatible with GMOs does not exist in Australia. 
Building and operating these large-scale facilities will 
have significant associated costs and depreciation costs 
will also need to be considered. There are opportunities 
to support and facilitate collaboration with adjacent 
fermentation industries (e.g., wineries, breweries) to 
investigate opportunities for collaboration and asset 
sharing. Further, investigation should be undertaken to 
assess the feasibility of collaborative large-scale precision 
fermentation infrastructure (fermentation complexes) 
that enables co-location of multiple food companies, 
with deliberate circularisation of supply chains enabling 
companies to service each other. Considerations include 
shared feedstocks, access to local transport infrastructure, 
regional development, and recycling of waste including 
spent biomass into other industries. These activities 
could be facilitated by a dedicated industry development 
organisation or as part of an industry sponsored 
research, development and demonstration project.

214 Werner M (2021) Commercial fermentation: Opportunities and bottlenecks – webinar via The Good Food Institute.



Services for precision fermentation scale-up: Scale-up 
from lab scale to commercial scale is a huge challenge for 
start-ups. As an emerging industry, pioneering companies 
are each overcoming similar issues with little ability to 
learn from each other. The industry would benefit from 
the establishment of collaboration/service hubs and 
Bio-incubators (which may be co-located with the pilot scale 
facilities mentioned above) that provide business services to 
companies to help them sustainably scale-up. This includes 
bringing in experts who understand scale-up, such as 
supply chain facilitation, product development, operations, 
downstream processing, regulation and access to research 
expertise. These collaboration hubs could also host and run 
precision fermentation focused innovation accelerators. 

Research to support microorganism engineering and 
strain development and optimisation: High-value 
ingredients are possible through the innovative 
engineering of microorganisms. Research is required 
to develop these microorganisms for optimised yield 
and efficient protein production at both small and 
large scale. Strains that use alternative feedstocks to 
refined sugars are also important. New microorganisms 
could be developed as platform strains.

Research to support feedstock selection, optimisation, 
and process improvement: Australia has an opportunity 
to lead in the development of precision fermentation that 
deliberately incorporates reuse and circularity principles. 
An investigation of the feasibility of co-fermentation 
candidates could occur with the goal of enabling two or 
more products to be fermented at the same time. Feedstock 
could be further optimised, with research into options for 
low-cost feedstocks, including functionality of uniquely 
Australian or regional feedstocks (e.g., sugarcane regions 
in Queensland offering unique advantages), low-cost 
industrial (e.g., food waste) or agricultural side streams 
or waste streams. Fermenter design and downstream 
processing are also important research areas to improve 
efficiency, enable real time process control and improve 
protein extraction. The feasibility of continuous processing 
should be investigated, alongside the functionalisation 
of waste biomass with the goal of engineering waste for 
new uses (e.g., inputs for other precision fermentation 
activities and higher value secondary uses). 

Research to understand manufacturer and consumer 
needs: Understanding desired ingredients, functionality 
and market differentiation required by food manufacturers 
is important for ensuring the right proteins are targeted 
for development by this emerging industry. Having these 
conversations upfront is important. Further, consumer 
acceptance is not guaranteed, requiring research into the 
factors that impact social licence to operate alongside 
sensory evaluation and taste preferences of novel foods.

Life Cycle Analysis to understand impact: 
As technologies mature and reach commercially 
readiness, Life Cycle Analyses will be important to 
accurately assess any commercial, environmental 
and social benefits of the technology.

Research to understand nutritional profile of precision 
fermentation products: Knowledge gaps remain for 
precision fermentation outputs. Nutritional evaluation on 
products and ingredients is needed including bioavailability, 
allergenicity, digestibility, and bioequivalence of products. 
This is an important consideration should consumers 
move from obtaining nutrition from wholefoods wherein 
other micronutrients are included, to the inclusion of 
specific proteins in a reconstructed product. Milk is a 
clear example that could be assessed with nutritional 
and sustainability lenses applied. Research is required 
to support and demonstrate nutritional claims. 

Precision fermentation product development: 
Development of consumer products and ingredients 
requires industry-led research to develop low-cost 
functional additives that improve the taste, texture, 
and nutritional value. Machine learning and artificial 
intelligence can be used to develop and deliver novel 
ingredients. Establishing precision fermentation locally 
will provide food manufacturers access to a stable supply 
of Australian-made ingredients that allow the creation 
of products that possess market differentiated attributes 
that can compete in domestic and export markets. 



CASE STUDY

Precision Fermentation feedstock and 
infrastructure requirements by 2030

This case study seeks to estimate the feedstock 
and infrastructure required to produce protein via 
precision fermentation outlined in Opportunity 9.

Feedstock

Assuming that a protein product is 20% protein by 
weight, this implies that precision fermentation 
facilities will produce 15,000 tonnes of actual raw 
protein in the conservative scenario, and 45,000 tonnes 
of raw protein in the ambitious scenario.

In terms of inputs, precision fermentation efficiency 
is trending from 3kg of feedstock per 1kg of protein 
to a conversion ratio of less than 2:1 by 2030.215 

Taking a mid-point of 2.5:1 for the purposes of this 
modelling, over 37,000 tonnes of sugar are needed 
to reach the roughly 15,000 tonnes of protein for 
Australia in the conservative scenario. For the ambitious 
scenario, over 112,000 tonnes of sugar are needed.

For context, Australian sugar production was 
4,283 kt.216 Therefore, the conservative scenario represents 
approximately 1% and the ambitious scenario represents 
approximately 3% of current domestic sugar production.

Infrastructure

Assuming a benchmark yield of 10 grams of protein 
per litre and a fortnightly production run per fermenter 
(26 cycles per year),217 the calculations suggest that 
approximately 58 million litres of bioreactor capacity will 
be required for the conservative scenario. Assuming that 
the fermentation tanks are in the 500,000 L range,218 
this means that around 115 large-scale fermentation 
tanks will be necessary. It should be noted that each 
individual commercial facility could contain a number 
of these commercial fermenters in the 500,000 L range.

For the ambitious scenario, total bioreactor capacity 
required increases to nearly 173 million litres of 
bioreactor capacity and, again assuming fermentation 
tanks in the 500,000 L scale, this would mean 
the need for around 350 large-scale tanks.

It should be noted that the benchmark of 10 grams of 
protein per litre is an uncertain variable. Should precision 
fermentation performance of, for instance, 20 grams of 
protein per litre be realised in 2030, this would halve the 
bioreactor and fermentation tank requirements listed above.

It should also be noted that aside from the fermentation tanks 
themselves, a number of other pieces of capital are required 
in a commercial precision fermentation facility, including:

• measuring devices
• cooling systems
• cleaning and sterilisation systems
• equipment for introducing sterile air, 
inoculum, feedstock, and other inputs
• centrifuges for removing waste material
• micro- and ultra-filtration systems to 
isolate molecules and media
• spray dryers to produce the target protein.


Many of these pieces of equipment are energy intensive 
and the bioreactor process is likely to be highly energy 
intensive as a whole. Therefore, in order for precision 
fermentation to align with sustainability principles and 
to engender social acceptance, the sector may need to 
integrate renewable energy sources into its processes.

215 RethinkX (2020) Rethinking Food and Agriculture 2020-2030

216 Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (2020), Agricultural commodity statistics 2020, Australian Bureau of Agricultural and 
Resource Economics and Sciences, Canberra, December.

217 As suggested in Wood P and Tavan M (2021) Feed Our Future: A New Zealand Sustainable Food Systems Dialogue. Official Journal of the New Zealand 
Association of Scientists 77(3–4).

218 Upper limit on fermenter size informed by Werner M (2021) Industrial Biotechnology Commercialization Handbook.



Opportunity 10: 
Cultivated meats

2030 opportunity

To progress Australian R&D on cultivated meat 
products, with clear regulatory pathways for 
domestically produced cultivated protein products.

Potential market size

The global opportunity for cultivated meats has been 
estimated at $26 billion by 2030. It is currently unclear 
to what degree Australia will be able to capture this 
global opportunity. (See Appendix D for data sources).

Science, technology and infrastructure priorities

• Optimise cell culture media
• Identify cell sources for cultivated meat
• Cultivated meat product development
• Research to support food safety
• Research to inform bioprocess development
• Research to understand consumer preferences






What is driving this opportunity?

Cultivated meat is a frontier in food technology – 
an emerging source of protein enabled by innovative 
research and development. Australia is very much at 
the beginning of its venture into cultivated meats, with 
four companies working on various aspects of the 
supply chain. Given its early-stage nature, the Australian 
opportunity out to 2030 is unlikely to be mass market 
products, but rather improved technology readiness 
through R&D, with select niche, high-value commercial 
applications. High-end restaurants are likely to be the 
first channel to market, with mass market availability 
further away.219 Developing Australia’s capability to 
produce cultivated meat can support the creation of a 
new industry, new skilled jobs, and attraction of overseas 
investment. Failing to develop Australian expertise and 
capability in this area will result in the nation importing 
knowledge and products over the long term. 

Known by many names, including cell-based meat, cell 
cultured meat, in vitro meat, lab grown meat, clean 
meat, etc., the concept involves the creation of animal 
cell-based proteins using tissue engineering concepts. 
Cultivated meat from any animal can theoretically 
be created, including high value seafoods like eel or 
products where sustainable sourcing is challenging. 

Driving this opportunity is consumer concerns about the 
environment, animal welfare, food security and food 
safety. The prerequisite of this technology is the harvest of 
cells from an animal to start the culture. Cultivated meat 
is attractive to consumers wanting a product biologically 
identical to meat but who have concerns about animal 
welfare or environmental impacts. Cultivated meats may 
also be safer than traditional meats as they avoid potential 
contamination that can happen at slaughter by intestinal 
pathogens such as Salmonella and Campylobacter, and 
the controlled lab environment and close monitoring 
can easily address signs of infection.220 Cultivated meat 
may also have health benefits as its nutritional content 
can be controlled during its production, but it should be 
noted that this represents a reformulated product and 
nutrition should be considered from a wholistic perspective 
including energy density, presence of macro- and 
micronutrients, and nutrient availability. For example, 
saturated fats can be replaced by omega-3 fats, and other 
nutritious micronutrients such as iron can be added.221

Much work is required to see cultivated meats on shelves, 
both from a technology perspective as well as industry 
development. This includes understanding elements 
that impact the social acceptance of these products and 
generation of trusted data about the environmental 
impacts of cultivated meat. High energy usage may 
detract from social acceptance, driving the need for 
cultivated meat production to integrate renewable 
energy sources.222 Final product form and nutritional 
equivalence are also perceived barriers to adoption, with 
consumers largely attached to traditional cuts of meat.

219 Warner R (2019) Review: Analysis of the process and drivers for cellular meat production. Animal 13(12), 3041–3058.

220 Chriki S and Hocquette JF (2020) The Myth of Cultured Meat: A Review. Frontiers in Nutrition 7, 7.

221 Chriki S and Hocquette JF (2020) The Myth of Cultured Meat: A Review. Frontiers in Nutrition 7, 7.

222 Lynch J and Pierrehumbert R (2019) Climate Impacts of Cultured Meat and Beef Cattle. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems 3, 5. DOI: 10.3389/
FSUFS.2019.00005/BIBTEX.



Cultivated meat products are beginning to be commercially 
available but scale-up, production cost and getting 
the texture right are still considerable challenges. 
In December 2020, the Singapore Food Agency approved 
Eat Just’s cultivated chicken nugget product enabling 
the company to start selling commercially.223 Eat Just’s 
facility is currently 1,000L and needs to scale to more 
than 50,000L to make a profit, which is likely to take 
several years. Currently its chicken nugget product is 
priced on par with organic chicken and sold in limited 
restaurants (for approximately SGD $23224), resulting in the 
company taking a loss.225 Singapore-based Shoik Meats 
is another company planning to commercialise cultured 
meat products, with plans to sell cell-based shrimp in 
2023 at a cost of SGD $50/kg. As the company grows 
and scales, it anticipates a price point of between SGD 
$5 to $10 per kilogram over the next five to seven years.226 
There are at least 80 companies working on cultivated 
meat and seafood globally. Some of these companies are 
working on the full cultivated meat production process, 
while others are specialising in a part of the process, such 
as optimising the culture media or developing scaffolds.227 

Australia’s comparative advantages 

Australia has significant research expertise to call upon 
for this opportunity, including food engineers, meat 
scientists and stem cell research groups across various 
universities and publicly funded research agencies 
(see below). Networks are forming in Australia that 
demonstrate support towards the opportunities presented 
by cultivated meat (e.g., Cellular Agriculture Australia). 

Regional opportunities

R&D to support this opportunity can be carried 
out at any research agency or university, including 
rural laboratories. Commercial development of 
this opportunity is mostly location-agnostic. 

Implications for the Australian 
agricultural and food system

Cultivated meat is not expected to measurably displace 
global conventional meat consumption228 before 2030.

Existing infrastructure and R&D 
underpinning opportunity

Biologically equivalent cultivated meat products are 
created by taking a starting cell from a living animal and 
then producing subsequent cell lines without further 
need for animal involvement.229 The cells are added to 
a bioreactor and fed cell culture media to proliferate 
into potentially thousands of kilograms of resulting 
muscle and/or fat cells which are then structured in 3D 
scaffolding materials into cultivated meat products.230 

Stem cell research is a key underpinning research theme for 
cultured meats, alongside synthetic biology and traditional 
food engineering and meat science. Induced pluripotent 
stem cells (iPSC), culture techniques and associated media, 
and scaffolds and product form are some key areas of 
underpinning research. A few select universities have 
relevant research themes and labs, such as the University 
of Melbourne through its Future Food Hallmark Research 
Initiative and the University of New South Wales. 

Infrastructure requirements for scale-up need to be 
anticipated based on the expected final product form, 
associated R&D and manufacturing techniques. Bioreactors 
that generate controlled environments suitable for 
culture will likely be used at high densities and volumes. 
Supporting this will be infrastructure for cell culture 
media, including media storage tanks and media heat 
exchangers, alongside scaffold development, which 
should use materials that are sustainable, consistently 
available, and have minimal batch to batch variation.231 

223 Singapore Food Agency Safety of Alternative Protein. Viewed 16 November 2021, <https://www.sfa.gov.sg/food-information/risk-at-a-glance/safety-of-
alternative-protein>.

224 New Food Magazine (2021) Lab-grown meat officially on the menu. Viewed 14 December 2021, <https://www.newfoodmagazine.com/news/131310/lab-
grown-meat-restaurant/>. 

225 Waltz E (2021) Club-goers take first bites of lab-made chicken. Nature biotechnology 39(3), 257–258.

226 Ng J and Amin H (2022) Lab-Grown Shrimp’s Price Tag Shows Long Way Ahead to Mass Market. Viewed 21 January 2022, <https://www.bloomberg.com/
news/articles/2022-01-03/lab-grown-shrimp-s-price-tag-shows-long-way-ahead-to-mass-market>.

227 Waltz E (2021) Club-goers take first bites of lab-made chicken. Nature biotechnology 39(3), 257–258.

228 Humbird D (2021) Scale-up economics for cultured meat. Biotechnology and Bioengineering 118(8), 3239–3250. DOI: 10.1002/BIT.27848.

229 Stephens N, Di Silvio L, Dunsford I, Ellis M, Glencross A and Sexton A (2018) Bringing cultured meat to market: Technical, socio-political, and regulatory 
challenges in cellular agriculture. Trends in Food Science and Technology 78, 155–166. DOI: 10.1016/j.tifs.2018.04.010.

230 Gerhardt C, Suhlmann G, Ziemßen F, Donnan D, Warschun M and Kühnle HJ (2020) How will cultured meat and meat alternatives disrupt the agricultural and 
food industry? Industrial Biotechnology 16(5), 262–270.

231 Allan SJ, De Bank PA and Ellis MJ (2019) Bioprocess Design Considerations for Cultured Meat Production With a Focus on the Expansion Bioreactor. Frontiers 
in Sustainable Food Systems 3, 44.



2022-2030 science, technology and 
infrastructure investment priorities

There are numerous technical challenges 
associated with growing and developing cultivated 
meat products that must be overcome. 

Optimise cell culture media: The cell culture used to 
grow the products can contain amino acids, salts, sugars, 
foetal bovine serum (FBS) and signalling molecules, the 
latter of which is currently very expensive. The use of FBS 
is also controversial and directly opposed to some of the 
benefits of cultivated meat to consumer groups (such 
as reducing animal welfare concerns). For this reason, 
almost all companies working on cultivated meat are 
exploring ways to produce their products using FBS-free/
animal-free serum. R&D priorities include food grade 
cell culture media enhancements such as optimisation 
for improved sustainability, scale-up and cost reduction. 
Ingredients need to be optimised to reduce the cost of 
growth factors, reduce carbon footprint of media, and 
negate reliance on animal-derived products, such as FBS. 

Identify cell sources for cultivated meat: Research 
is required to identify tissue that can provide a 
sufficiently large number of homogeneous starter cells 
to conduct effective proliferation and differentiation.

Cultivated meat product development: An important 
challenge facing the cultivated meat industry is finding 
scaffolds that mimic the texture of complex meat products 
such as beef steak or chicken breast. Currently, most 
products being developed are in basic mince-like forms232 
or hybrid plant and cultivated meat products like meatballs. 
Development of consumer products requires significant 
research into perfecting this final form. This includes the 
development of affordable scaffold biomaterials to enable 
development of complex tissues and meat structures 
across different product streams (e.g., seafood, steak, 
etc). Technology solutions like 3D printing may assist in 
reaching this final product form but present challenges 
at scale. R&D is required to improve sensory properties 
including taste, texture, and mouthfeel to reach parity 
with traditional proteins. Parity with nutritional attributes, 
product stability, and digestibility is also required. 

Research to support food safety: Although traditional 
food contamination issues are avoided, there is potential 
for different foodborne pathogens to be introduced 
during the production process and subsequent food 
chain which can introduce different food safety 
challenges than those associated with animal-
based meats. Research is required ensure relevant 
guidance is provided to inform safe development. 

Research to inform bioprocess development: 
Commercial scale-up of lab-based processes poses 
unique engineering challenges, requiring research to 
inform bioprocess development including engineering 
for metabolic efficiency, bioreactor engineering for 
commercial scale with adequate microbial contamination 
safeguards, alongside process automation. 

Research to understand consumer preferences: 
Consumer and social research is required to inform product 
development including sensory evaluation and taste 
preferences of novel foods, and research into the factors 
that impact social licence to operate for cultivated meats. 
Early adopters of cultivated meat products are likely to 
be high-end consumers and food services – research can 
also support industry in understanding what is needed 
to move from high-end to mainstream segments. 

232 Waltz E (2021) Club-goers take first bites of lab-made chicken. Nature biotechnology 39(3), 257–258.



Learnings from Singapore

Singapore is building a reputation as a world leader in 
the development of non-traditional protein industries 
and has attracted significant attention and investment in 
recent years. Spurring this is the Singapore Food Agency’s 
(SFA) ‘30 by 30’, a plan to build the nation’s agri-food 
industry capability and capacity to produce 30% of its 
nutritional needs locally and sustainably by 2030.233 

Singapore has a supportive government policy 
environment focused on sovereign and sustainable food 
production. Industry development, R&D, innovation 
and investment are all actively supported, alongside 
a supportive food safety and regulatory environment. 
Together with increasing consumer demand, this 
supportive government environment has attracted 
widespread investor interest in the protein industry, 
in particular, for non-traditional proteins.234 To scale 
potential growth opportunities, Singapore’s business 
environment includes accelerators and government 
investment. For example, Singapore’s government 
investment company, Temasek, has invested in alternative 
protein companies such as CSIRO venture v2food.235

While the ‘30 by 30’ plan was developed to increase 
Singapore’s food security and overcome unique 
conditions, such as land and resource constraints and 
a high reliance on food imports, the environment 
that has been nurtured in the country can provide 
learnings relevant to the Australian context.

• Investing in R&D for non-traditional protein – A key 
theme in Singapore’s Food Story R&D Programme is 
funding the development and scale-up of advanced 
biotechnology-based proteins such as microbial proteins, 
plant-based proteins and cell-based meat.236 The Agency 
for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) plays 
a key role in food and consumer related R&D. 
• Supporting industry access to new technology 
– Singapore established a science and 
innovation fund to help farmers gain access 
to new farming system technologies.
• Developing more efficient on-land aquaculture systems 
– Singapore has invested into multi-story Recirculating 
Aquaculture Systems (RAS) which can be more resource 
efficient than traditional farming methods.237 
• Facilitating start-up growth – Singapore’s multinational 
food solutions company, SATS, plans to become a 
one-stop go-to-market platform in Asia for alternative 
protein start-ups. This includes support for marketing, 
distribution and potentially co-manufacturing.238
• Supportive regulatory environment – To balance food 
safety with innovation, the SFA engages internationally 
to share novel food management practices, has 
developed a novel food regulatory framework to guide 
science-based risk management, and helped establish 
the Future Ready Food Safety Hub (FRESH) to guide 
research on food safety and build capabilities locally.239


233 Singapore Food Agency (2021) 30 by 30. Viewed 6 December 2021, <https://www.ourfoodfuture.gov.sg/30by30>.

234 Channel News Asia (2021) IN FOCUS: No roaming cattle but with high-tech labs, could Singapore be a ‘meat’ exporter? Viewed 7 December 2021, <https://
www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/alternative-proteins-plant-based-singapore-companies-in-focus-349626>.

235 Asian Investor (2021) Singapore’s Temasek posts strongest returns in 11 years. Viewed 7 December 2021, <https://www.asianinvestor.net/article/singapores-
temasek-posts-strongest-returns-in-11-years/471038>.; CSIRO (2019) What’s made of legumes but sizzles on the barbie like beef? Australia’s new meat 
alternative. Viewed 24 December 2021, <https://blog.csiro.au/australias-new-meat-alternative/>.

236 Agency for Science Technology and Research (2021) Nationwide Programmes. Viewed 2 December 2021, <https://www.a-star.edu.sg/Research/research-
focus/food-nutrition-consumer-care/nationwide-programmes>.

237 Singapore Food Agency (n.d.) Our Singapore Food Story – The 3 Food Baskets. Viewed 22 November 2021, <https://www.sfa.gov.sg/food-farming/sgfoodstory>.

238 Khiu C (2019) Media Release: SATS develops market for sustainable food products in Asia. Singapore.

239 Singapore Food Agency (2021) Balancing Innovation with Safety: Novel Food. Viewed 6 December 2021, <https://www.sfa.gov.sg/food-for-thought/article/
detail/balancing-innovation-with-safety-novel-food>. 



2 Ecosystem priorities

The broader ecosystem supporting the protein industry 
is pivotal to its growth objectives over the next decade. 
Five priorities are identified to guide activities for 
whole of ecosystem benefit and to monitor progress. 

2.1 Producers, communities 
and regions

Ecosystem objective: Producers, communities and 
regions recognise the role that the protein industry 
plays in food production and economic prosperity; 
and see being part of the Australian protein 
industry as attractive now and into the future. 

Roadmap considerations

Support primary producers with technology adoption, 
data and insights: Primary producers (farmers) 
from across each of the focus areas identified need 
to be supported in the adoption of new advanced 
technologies to ensure Australia can maintain and 
grow its position as a global protein provider. 

Producers need to be supported in the trial and adoption of 
new advanced technologies, in particular digital technologies, 
for greater productivity, efficiency, sustainability, and 
traceability. Adoption of some of these technologies can 
help to enable value-based payments for farmers, for 
example red meat grading can enable justified higher prices 
for cattle; likewise, technologies that enable segregation 
of high protein crops will help farmers to earn more. 

Data and insights around consumer demand also need to 
be made readily accessible and useful for farmers, to allow 
them to meaningfully respond to changing markets and 
adjust animal or farm management practices accordingly. 
Examples include seafood demand for aquaculture 
producers, downstream plant-based protein demand 
for crop producers, and consumer preferences for red 
meat derived products. Farmers should be provided 
with appropriate insights to support their strategic 
decisions to diversify, for example, into new crops. 
This could be facilitated by appropriate industry bodies.

Agronomists play a key role in supporting primary 
producers, especially crop farmers. Ensuring that 
Australian agronomists are themselves upskilled on 
appropriate technologies and have an understanding 
of new production systems across the supply chain 
is important. This could be facilitated by state 
governments and tertiary education providers. 

Develop an appropriately skilled workforce: Accessing 
skilled staff is a significant challenge across many parts 
of the food system, particularly in regional and remote 
areas of Australia. Developing an appropriately skilled 
workforce is a priority for many of the opportunities 
identified, in particular, white flesh fish aquaculture 
and precision fermentation. The University Research 
Commercialisation Action Plan that includes Australia’s 
Economic Accelerator, introduction of a National Industry 
PhD Program, expanding CSIRO’s Main Sequence Ventures, 
and establishment of the Trailblazer Universities Program 
may provide an avenue forward for universities to help 
build world-leading industry-ready capability.240 

• For aquaculture, an investigation into potential 
changes to the visa system might allow for longer 
terms and more specialised aquaculture skill 
categories. Potential changes to semi- and unskilled 
worker regional migration programs and training 
and mentoring schemes designed specifically for 
aquaculture could also be used to support the sector. 
• For precision fermentation, finding workers highly 
skilled in both food and precision fermentation is 
difficult, with staff either coming from adjacent 
industries (e.g., pharmaceuticals) with precision 
fermentation experience but not food experience, 
or from the food industry with no experience in 
precision fermentation. Tertiary education providers 
(universities and TAFE) can help by developing training 
pathways for new protein industries, including 
modules on fermentation (traditional, biomass and 
precision) as well as food-focused synthetic biology. 
Traditional courses, short courses and micro-credentials 
are all options that should be explored to build skilled 
capacity for the industry. Further, the development 
of mentoring networks that bring together experts 
from across various relevant fields (science domains, 
operations, scale-up, product development, safety, 
business, etc.) can help precision fermentation 
start-ups access timely expertise needed to grow.


240 DESE (2022) University Research Commercialisation Package. Viewed 28 February 2022, <https://www.dese.gov.au/university-research-commercialisation-package>.



Engage and co-develop with Australian First Nations 
Peoples: Growth and development of Australia’s 
protein industry, in particular red meat and livestock, 
aquaculture and insects, represents significant economic 
opportunities for Indigenous Australians. As Australia’s 
protein industries continue to develop, businesses 
and industry organisations across all sectors should 
seek to engage with Australian First Nations Peoples. 
This may include working with the Indigenous Land 
and Sea Corporation (ILSC), a Commonwealth entity 
that assists Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people 
to realise economic, social, cultural and environmental 
benefits that the ownership and management of 
land, water and water related rights can bring.241

• Australia’s red meat and livestock sector is a significant 
provider of Indigenous employment. In 2016, 1.8% 
of people directly employed in specialist beef farms 
identified as Indigenous, with farms in the Northern 
Territory and north-west Western Australia providing 
significant employment opportunities.242 Continuing to 
explore opportunities for First Nations People beyond 
employment opportunities will be important for the 
red meat and livestock industry going forward. 
• The development of Australia’s insect industry 
should prioritise Australia’s native species, especially 
those with demonstrated previous use. There are 
approximately 62,000 native insects, 60 of which 
have been recorded as a traditional food source 
for Indigenous Australian People.243 The emerging 
industry should be at the forefront of protecting 
First Nations culture and ensuring that First Nations 
Peoples have tangible opportunities to lead business 
enterprises in a way that benefits communities and 
protects insect species with cultural significance.244 
• Similarly, Australia’s aquaculture industry can provide 
economic, environmental and social benefits to 
First Nations Peoples. First Nations peoples have 
managed Australia’s aquatic resources and practised 
aquaculture for thousands of years.245 Aquaculture 
requires a stronger level of recognition of the rights and 
interests of First Nations Peoples in the management 
and development of aquaculture in Australia.


241 The Indigenous Land And Sea Corporation (2021) About: The Indigenous Land And Sea Corporation. Viewed 21 January 2022, <https://www.ilsc.gov.au/
about/>.

242 Meat & Livestock Australia (2021) State of the Industry Report: The Australian red meat and livestock industry 2021.

243 CSIRO (2021) Edible insects: A roadmap for the strategic growth of an emerging Australian industry. Canberra.

244 CSIRO (2021) Edible insects: A roadmap for the strategic growth of an emerging Australian industry. Canberra.

245 Department of Agriculture and Water Resources (2017) National Aquaculture Strategy. Canberra.



Support the development of regional communities 
to support agriculture: Most of Australia’s current 
protein industry originates from rural areas of Australia. 
For example, 90% of the meat and livestock industry’s 
employees and nearly 80% of meat processing 
employees live in rural and regional areas.246 Farms and 
processors support regional communities, and regional 
communities support the industry. This interdependency 
can be supported through government and industry 
supported community development activities. 

The Australian Farm Institute notes five key investment, 
incentivisation and intervention priorities (all of which 
were supported by industry consultation): (1) regional 
jobs, education and training to help build and attract 
an appropriately skilled workforce; (2) uptake of digital 
technology including acceleration of digital infrastructure 
which is a barrier in regional Australia; (3) physical access 
to markets such as essential supply chain infrastructure 
and deliberate co-location of complementary businesses; 
(4) energy efficiency including regionally targeted 
renewable projects; (5) better liveability, such as 
housing availability, health services, schools and cultural 
activities to encourage people to not only move but 
stay in regions.247 The National Farmers Federation is 
also advocating for regional community development 
through its Regionalisation Agenda, recommending that 
regionalisation is elevated to a National Cabinet issue 
and that 20 new regional development precincts are 
identified and established with the development of a list 
of ‘shovel-ready’ regional infrastructure projects.248

Stabilise high-protein crop price and demand: 
Profitability and price stability of protein crops, relative 
to other crop options, are critical factors for farmers 
looking to grow high-protein crop varieties that will 
help catalyse the ongoing development of Australia’s 
plant-based protein industry. This can be achieved 
through the development of predictable offtake streams 
in domestic and export markets. To take up new crops, 
farmers require information regarding the demand and 
expected increased value from producing such crops 
with desired traits. Consulted stakeholders noted that 
there is currently limited information going to farmers 
regarding the opportunities for certain crop varieties and 
characteristics. Industry bodies can engage farmers with 
market demand information to demonstrate potential price 
stabilisation and additional value for farming enterprises. 

246 Meat & Livestock Australia (2021) State of the Industry Report: The Australian red meat and livestock industry 2021.

247 McRobert K and Fox T (2021) Stronger ag sector, stronger regions.

248 National Farmers Federation (2021) Regionalisation Agenda.



2.2 Customers and consumers

Ecosystem objective: Customers and consumers 
are engaged and seek high value, high quality, 
and trustworthy Australian products.

Roadmap considerations

Conduct consumer sentiment and sensory research: 
Consumer interests are changing; understanding what 
consumers want and how they want to buy it is imperative 
to informing protein product development and associated 
industry growth. For example, health has been a bigger 
concern for global consumers since the COVID-19 
pandemic, and increased health consciousness and interest 
in illness prevention impacts on purchasing decisions. 
For the red meat industry, understanding whether 
consumer perceptions about red meat are changing is 
critical to the industry’s future growth, with the industry 
conducting market research since 2010 to understand 
trends in trust, attitudes, consumption and purchasing 
habits of red meat in Australian metropolitan areas.249 
Some of these attitudes are highlighted in Figure 5.

Consumers are increasingly interested in convenience 
products, spurring demand for added-value ready-to-eat 
and ready-to-cook meals.250 Also growing is consumer 
interest in non-meat-based protein options.251 Large scale 
consumer and sensory research could be supported 
to help businesses build deeper and more effective 
knowledge of key target markets. Export markets could 
also be investigated with partners. These insights will 
inform new product development across all protein 
sectors and allow businesses to develop, maintain and 
increase market share by satisfying consumer demand. 
During the development of new products, focus groups 
and consumer taste panels can be used to determine 
consumer preferences and optimise products.

Figure 5: Australian perceptions about the red meat industry

Source: MLA

With the knowledge that the red meat industry 
has a goal to be carbon neutral by 2030 (CN30):

53% 

of metro consumers 
thought more 
positively about the 
red meat industry

65% 

would feel more positive 
towards the industry 
if it can achieve this 
goal (among those who 
claim to have a good 
industry knowledge)

Meat consumption 
patterns

Reasons for eating 
more red meat:

• Source of protein
• Just like meat
• Source of nutrition
• Source of iron


Reasons for eating 
less red meat:

• Too expensive
• Health concerns
• Environment
• Animal welfare


249 Meat & Livestock Australia (2021) Consumer sentiment research: Australian perceptions about the red meat industry. Viewed 17 November 2021, <https://
www.mla.com.au/marketing-beef-and-lamb/consumer-sentiment-research/>.

250 Meat & Livestock Australia (2021) 2021 MLA global market snapshots released. Viewed 21 January 2022, <https://www.mla.com.au/news-and-events/
industry-news/2021-mla-global-market-snapshots-released/#>.

251 Bashi Z, McCullough R and Ong L (2019) Alternative proteins: The race for market share is on. Viewed 21 January 2022, <https://www.mckinsey.com/
industries/agriculture/our-insights/alternative-proteins-the-race-for-market-share-is-on>.



Develop consumer communication and engagement 
plans for non-traditional proteins: Consumer trust and 
acceptance of non-traditional protein sources, such as 
precision fermentation, cultivated meats, insects and some 
plant-based products is not guaranteed. The perception 
of reduced reliance on traditional farming industries may 
negatively impact or challenge these emerging industries. 
Ongoing industry development would benefit from the 
creation of industry-led communication and engagement 
plans. Taking the precision fermentation industry as an 
example, the communication and engagement plan would 
aim to: (a) educate consumers and build awareness and 
transparency about the precision fermentation process 
and its benefits, in order to reduce fear, uncertainty 
and doubt; (b) use evidence-based research to define 
the nutritional value and sustainability metrics of 
fermentation-derived foods benchmarked against other 
high-value proteins; (c) engage organisations from 
across the value chain to ensure consistent messaging to 
reduce consumer confusion; and (d) position precision 
fermentation as a new platform to provide additional 
proteins, complementing traditional industries. 
Suggested communication tools from consultations with 
stakeholders include likening precision fermentation to 
insulin and chymotrypsin (also produced using precision 
fermentation), and bread and beer (also fermented). 

Early community engagement for cultivated meat: 
While cultivated meat is very early in its development, 
there are many challenges that will impact ‘willingness 
to buy’, including technology regulation, implications 
of shifting power in the food system from traditional 
sources,252 and product form and parity with traditional 
meat products. Consumer acceptance of cultivated 
meat is not guaranteed and research is required to 
understand best practice in enabling a social licence 
to operate for the emerging industry, alongside best 
practice for community engagement. It is important that 
the community is positively engaged and educated on 
the potential benefits of the products. Early activities 
should be planned to educate and engage other research 
fields and the public on the emerging opportunity. 
Approaches could include community research 
webinars, engagement at public science forums, and 
collaborating with high profile media spokespeople.

Support consumer acceptance of insect proteins: 
While studies have found that a growing number of 
Australians are open to the possibility of future insect 
consumption (56% in a 2021 study253), remaining hesitancy 
about eating insects and consumer acceptance remains 
a challenge for the industry’s growth. Although farming 
close to consumers can help to reduce the environmental 
footprint of production, concerns have also been raised 
about whether communities will resist the idea of having 
insect production at scale located near them.254 Industry 
could provide increased opportunity for consumers to 
try products, and increased accessibility and education 
on insect-based foods. 255 Further consumer acceptance 
research into insects for human food (as well as producer 
acceptance research into insects for feed) is also 
needed to encourage willingness to try new products. 
Marketing for insects may also be useful, such as the 
recent use of crickets in a recipe on MasterChef.256

252 Post MJ, Levenberg S, Kaplan DL, Genovese N, Fu J, Bryant CJ, Negowetti N, Verzijden K and Moutsatsou P (2020) Scientific, sustainability and regulatory 
challenges of cultured meat. Nature Food 1(7), 403–415.

253 Hopkins I, Farahnaky A, Gill H, Newman LP and Danaher J (2022) Australians’ experience, barriers and willingness towards consuming edible insects as an 
emerging protein source. Appetite 169, 105832.

254 AgriFutures Australia (2020) Catalysing a $10m Australian Insect Industry.; CSIRO (2021) Edible insects: A roadmap for the strategic growth of an emerging 
Australian industry. Canberra.

255 Hopkins I, Farahnaky A, Gill H, Newman LP and Danaher J (2022) Australians’ experience, barriers and willingness towards consuming edible insects as an 
emerging protein source. Appetite 169, 105832.

256 MasterChef (2021) Cricket caramel semifreddo with lime curd and betel leaf crumb. Viewed 21 November 2021 < https://10play.com.au/masterchef/recipes/
cricket-caramel-semifreddo-with-lime-curd-and-betel-leaf-crumb/r190614rslew>.



2.3 Environment

Ecosystem objective: Australian protein production 
increases while also protecting ecosystem health 
and biodiversity, and meeting consumer and market 
expectations for sustainability and biosecurity.

Roadmap considerations

Sustainability considerations for red meat production: 
For the red meat and livestock industry, sustainability 
represents the best business case for success. All R&D 
investments are focused on clearly demonstrating that 
sustainability goes hand in hand with profitability. 
The industry has set some ambitious aspirations to guide 
these future investments including its commitment to 
carbon neutrality by 2030 (CN30) across the supply chain,257 
and the goals set out by the Australian Beef Sustainability 
Framework.258 Continued progression along this path with 
increased industry engagement is essential, alongside 
continued investment in science and technology to enable 
further advances in productivity and sustainability practices.

Whole-of-food-system view of healthy sustainable 
diets: Research shows that energy-dense, nutrient-
poor discretionary foods are the largest food-related 
contributors to environmental impact. The need to increase 
the volume and productivity of food and agricultural 
production, provide affordable and nutritious food, and 
operate within planetary boundaries for resource use 
and emissions is widely viewed as a challenge requiring 
the transformation of food systems.259 There is a need 
for systems thinking and analysis that simultaneously 
considers potential competing interests and trade-
offs, and feeds into coordination and collaboration 
activities as well as policy and regulatory activities.

Consumer access to lower environmental impact food 
products and knowledge: In addition to the system 
view of healthy and sustainable diets discussed above, 
Australians also need access to a wider range of lower 
environmental impact food products.260 Alongside access, 
Australians also need to be better enabled to identify 
such lower environmental impact food products through 
tools that might include clear product labelling, with 
stronger encouragement towards reduced consumption 
of energy-dense, nutrient poor discretionary foods.

Understand impact through Life Cycle Analysis: 
As different sources of protein become viable, 
independent Life Cycle Analyses will be important to 
accurately assess commercial, environmental and social 
benefits compared to incumbent protein sources.

257 Red Meat Advisory Council (2021) Red Meat 2030.

258 Annual Beef Sustainability Framework (2021) Annual Update 2021.

259 Ridoutt, B.G., Baird, D., Hendrie, G.A. (2021) Diets within planetary boundaries: What is the potential of dietary change alone? Sustainable Production and 
Consumption 28: 802-810.

260 Ridoutt, B.G., Baird, D., Hendrie, G.A. (2021) Diets within planetary boundaries: What is the potential of dietary change alone? Sustainable Production and 
Consumption 28: 802-810.



2.4 Coordination and collaboration

Ecosystem objective: The Australian protein 
industry sees the significant global opportunity 
for all types of protein and is coordinated and 
collaborative in pursuing this opportunity.

Roadmap considerations

Establish dedicated industry development 
to support novel protein production: 

• Precision fermentation is a new and emerging industry, 
with very limited coordinated industry development 
activities. As technologies mature and more 
companies enter, both through start-ups and overseas 
investments, there is a need for a dedicated industry 
development organisation or team within a broader 
organisation. This organisation could be responsible 
for facilitating industry development activities, 
fostering start-ups, connecting key players (including 
established food manufacturers with start-ups), and 
establishing mutually beneficial research programs.
• Cultivated meat, while very early in its development, 
would benefit from a dedicated industry development 
organisation or team within a broader organisation 
(e.g., Cellular Agriculture Australia). This organisation 
could help to ensure transparent and coordinated 
development of the cultivated meat industry 
by facilitating industry development activities, 
advocacy and coordinated industry engagement. 
• Insect based businesses operating in Australia are 
starting to emerge. Most of these businesses are either 
start-ups or are still scaling up and the industry is not yet 
large enough to meet demand from livestock farmers 
and consumers seeking insect products. Providing 
support for a dedicated industry development team 
could help to establish a prioritised research agenda 
and deliver industry-led projects and initiatives to 
help build scale. This could be done either directly 
through the Insect Protein Association of Australia 
or through a third-party contractor or consultant. 


Learn from international protein industry development 
(policy and scale-up): Plant-based and non-traditional 
protein industries (e.g., precision fermentation, 
cultivated meats, insect proteins) are newly emerging 
in Australia with a limited number of commercially 
advanced examples in other countries. In Australia, 
many companies are forging their own path (such as 
Australian Plant Proteins, Eden Brew, Change Foods, 
All G Foods, Vow, Nourish Ingredients, etc.). 

An important activity to help these companies is an 
examination of world’s best practice for development and 
efficient operation of large-scale infrastructure in their 
given field. For example, for precision fermentation, a 
dedicated industry development organisation or industry 
sponsored R&D project could examine the business models 
and operations of international food grade precision 
fermentation facilities (e.g., the Protein Brewery, the 
Every Company), particularly those that incorporate 
sustainability principles (e.g., the use of renewable energy), 
advanced fermentation and processing technologies, 
and GMO handing protocols. Importantly, findings from 
any such activity need to be communicated to industry. 

Further, detailed analysis of other countries with strong 
protein industries could help to identify further learnings 
for the development and growth of Australia’s protein 
industry, both by understanding effective policy levers 
and the lessons learnt from failures of international 
counterparts. For example, lessons could be taken 
from Canada’s supercluster initiative which has led to 
the development of Protein Industries Canada (PIC), an 
industry-led, not-for-profit organisation that aims to 
position the nation as a global source of high-quality 
plant protein and plant-based co-products.261 Other 
countries and initiatives are detailed in Appendix F. 

Engage with industry incumbents: Acceptance of 
emerging protein industries, like precision fermentation, 
by the existing protein industry will be vital to enabling 
growth of this nascent industry. While many protein 
companies see the benefit of integrating non-traditional 
protein sources into their portfolio (e.g., Norco, 
Australia’s oldest dairy cooperative, has invested in 
Eden Brew, a precision fermentation start-up262) to meet 
consumer’s needs, others may not view the industry 
and technology as positively, which will impact social 
licence to operate. Emerging, non-traditional protein 
industries could meaningfully engage with and learn 
from Australia’s traditional protein industries. 

261 Government of Canada (2021) Canada’s Protein Industries Supercluster. Viewed 21 January 2022, <https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/093.nsf/eng/00012.html>.

262 CSIRO (2021) Animal-free dairy. Viewed 8 November 2021, <https://www.csiro.au/en/research/production/food/eden-brew>.



Share knowledge across industry: Sharing of knowledge 
across different industries is important to the uptake of 
new technologies and the development of new industries. 
For example, uptake of systems for improved product 
integrity will benefit from sharing of lessons learned 
between cattle farmers. Emerging industries, like insect 
proteins, have minimal insect farming experience, with each 
business overcoming similar issues with little ability to learn 
from each other. Providing support for industry events to 
be run (e.g., conferences) could attract overseas experts to 
Australia. Providing support for industry members to attend 
global insect conferences (e.g., the Insects to Feed the 
World Conference) or other relevant international events 
on insect farming could build capacity, help the industry 
stay informed and up-to-date, and generate collaboration, 
education, and research project opportunities.

Develop new business models and supply chains: Some 
of the industry opportunities identified will involve 
establishing new businesses (e.g., precision fermentation), 
while others will require established businesses to pivot 
and develop new business models with new supply 
chains. Developing value-added products from red meat 
by-products, for example, is a paradigm shift for established 
businesses, requiring business model innovation 
and investment in new partnerships, infrastructure 
and capability development. This process could be 
supported by government and industry organisations.

Coordinate and collaborate for animal protein product 
integrity: End-to-end traceability and credentialling is 
currently hampered because data is not shared across 
supply chain systems or actors for two key reasons. 
Stakeholders noted that there is a lack of trust that 
confidentiality will be preserved, causing industry 
participants to keep information to themselves and 
act in silos. Further, there is currently no industry 
agreed criteria for verifiable credentials and standards 
which means interoperability is severely compromised. 
Developing data sharing protocols and legislation that 
provide transparency and protection for owners of 
commercial and personal information would help to build 
trust in privacy preservation. Further, Deakin University 
and GS1 are currently in the process of developing 
standards, but the challenge is ensuring wider industry 
adoption. Costs associated with the implementation 
and management of verification systems may be a 
barrier to widespread adoption, especially for small 
companies facing resource and capability limitations. 
Further, there is little incentive for brand owners to 
enhance product integrity beyond standards required 
by customers and government regulators, given the 
pre-existing trust international consumers have for 
the Australian meat industry.263 As such, supporting 
continued development and industry-wide adoption 
of standards for credentials and data will be critical. 
Government can support this by building awareness, 
helping industry realise benefits and economic return. 

Support cross-sector collaboration: Protein providers, 
new and emerging, have much to gain through 
collaboration with other protein providers and adjacent 
sectors. Realising these opportunities will require 
strong industry leadership and coordination. 

Examples include the development of new products 
from red meat or aquaculture co-products, which is 
an opportunity that would gain significant value from 
partnering with other nutraceutical companies for 
product development. Similarly, precision fermentation 
companies could collaborate with other Australian 
companies that own or use brewing and fermenting 
infrastructure to gain learnings on scale-up. Within the 
protein industry, plant protein innovators could work 
with animal protein providers to develop hybrid products 
that add value to each business or use co-product 
streams from protein fractionation as feed ingredients. 
Further, animal, plant and non-traditional industries 
could work together to develop common systems for 
supply chain provenance and other important verified 
credentials so as not to each be starting from scratch. 

263 Mckinna D and Wall C (2020) Final report: Commercial application of supply chain integrity and shelf life systems. North Sydney.



Facilitate the development of protein innovation clusters 
and accelerators: Investments in new protein businesses 
and innovation reflects a growing desire for diversification 
and novel products. The number of international 
accelerators and venture capital funds dedicated to the 
creation of innovative food technology and protein 
businesses are growing, with an increased investor focus 
on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) elements. 
To stimulate innovation and growth in the Australian 
protein industry, support and facilitation assistance should 
be provided to establish co-located clusters (across all 
protein types) to allow improved transfer of knowledge 
and centralised specialised support services. FIAL’s cluster 
grant program is an example – helping bring business, 
government and research together to tackle food related 
challenges and take advantage of market opportunities 
(see Box on FIAL supported Food & Agribusiness Network 
for an example). Accelerator programs will also be 
invaluable to emerging protein businesses or technology 
service providers, such as the CSIRO ON Prime program, of 
which the 2022 cohort will focus on protein opportunities. 

Food & Agribusiness Network264

The Food & Agribusiness Network (FAN) is a 
not-for-profit food industry cluster that was established 
in 2015. FAN aims to grow the industry by creating an 
ecosystem that supports collaboration, accelerates 
innovation and drives trade locally and globally. The 
network helps members build capability, increase 
knowledge, grow networks and profile their 
businesses. Operating across the Greater Sunshine 
Coast in Queensland, the network has more than 
320 members from across the food value chain and 
is recognised nationally and internationally as a 
leading Australian food cluster. FAN is Australia’s 
fastest growing industry-led cluster and has received 
support from FIAL’s cluster grant program.

264 Food & Agribusiness Network (2020) Food & Agribusiness Network. Viewed 21 January 2022, <https://foodagribusiness.org.au/>.



2.5 Policy and regulation

Ecosystem objective: The Australian protein industry 
is well supported by policy and regulations that 
enable the industry to compete globally and deliver 
high quality products to local and export markets.

Roadmap considerations

Deliver streamlined compliance for protein exporters: 
The cost, complexity and duplicity of meeting compliance 
obligations mean that Australia’s export competitiveness 
is reduced through financial cost, time delays and missing 
opportunities to build additional trust. Regulation and 
compliance costs for Australian agrifood exporters are 
among the highest in the world, costing up to 0.8% 
of the farm-gate value of production.265 The current 
system of inspections and certifications is challenging 
for government as it is largely manual, causing 
bottlenecks and costing approximately $130 million a 
year.266 The redevelopment of government IT systems 
to provide seamless digital interfaces between industry 
and government platforms and to streamline data flows 
will be necessary to deliver ‘tell-one-once’ compliance. 
As such, the Australian Government’s $328.4 million 
Busting Congestion for Agricultural Exporters package 
aims to improve the regulatory burden on exporters by 
transitioning the country’s agricultural systems to a single 
online portal.267 Establishing a platform that maintains 
an up-to-date set of codified export regulations and 
protocols that can be embedded into digital platforms 
will allow the assessment of compliance in real time 
across supply chains, and concurrently provide better 
market intelligence. Technologies such as blockchain 
could also be considered to track products across 
the supply chain and demonstrate provenance.

Provide regulatory clarity for new and novel foods: 
Industry stakeholders noted that Food Standards Australia 
and New Zealand (FSANZ) and the Food Standards Code 
have resulted in strong food safety in Australia; however, 
it was also noted that the regulatory process for new 
foods can often slow the time taken for a product to 
reach the market, particularly if it is considered novel. 
Food regulatory processes are generally poorly understood 
by industry and research, and regulations vary between 
countries, which may have implications for where a given 
product can be exported. Many potential standards 
are applicable to novel foods and matching a new 
product with current standards can be complex. 

Consulted stakeholders have indicated that: (a) more clarity 
is required around product definitions with mapping 
to show how this does and does not harmonise with 
definitions from other key jurisdictions (e.g., USA, Europe); 
(b) clarity is required around regulatory and labelling 
obligations if a food includes or has been manufactured 
using genetic modification; and (c) the development of 
process maps to help manufacturers of novel or non-
traditional foods understand the regulatory pathway and 
their obligations for commercialising new food products 
could help provide more clarity and compliance.

To provide further clarity, a recent senate enquiry into the 
definitions of meat and other animal products has put forth 
recommendations around the sector’s product labelling 
freedoms. Relevant recommendations include delivery of: 
a mandatory regulatory framework for plant-based product 
labelling; a review into the placement of products in stores 
and online; a national standard to define and restrict the use 
of meat category brands to animal proteins; and changes 
to the definition and compositional requirements of 
plant-based protein products. The plant-based protein 
industry will need to comply with the resulting changes in 
addition to existing Australian Consumer Laws and the Food 
Standards Code. To assist with these changes, the report 
also recommended measures to support industry growth.268 

Review process for aquaculture farm licences: 
Australia’s aquaculture industry is managed by several 
agencies at all levels of government including local 
council, state and federal government. The regulatory 
environment for aquaculture is overly complex and 
subject to many interstate inconsistences.269 If the 
aquaculture sector is to expand, then so too will the 
required number of aquaculture licences. Reviewing the 
process for obtaining these licenses to ensure they are 
robust but consistent could support industry growth.

265 CSIRO (2020) Delivering trusted Australian agrifood exports and boosting value: The role of research and development. Brisbane.

266 CSIRO (2020) Delivering trusted Australian agrifood exports and boosting value: The role of research and development. Brisbane.

267 Australian Government (2020) Budget 2020-21: Busting Congestion for Agricultural Exporters.

268 Parliament of Australia (2022) Don’t mince words: definitions of meat and other animal products.

269 Department of Agriculture and and Water Resources (2017) National Aquaculture Strategy. Canberra.



Enable a safe but proactive regulatory environment 
for precision fermentation: Under FSANZ, some 
proteins manufactured via precision fermentation will 
be considered novel foods as well as potentially a GMO, 
both of which present challenges for regulatory approval. 
To help address this, FSANZ are updating the Food Code 
definitions for ‘food produced using gene technology’ 
and ‘gene technology’ for improved clarity and to reflect 
existing and emerging genetic technologies including new 
breeding techniques270). However, significant timeframes 
are required for regulatory approval, which are sometimes 
at odds with commercial timeframes. To help expedite 
and streamline future submissions to enable rapid industry 
innovation, the feasibility of running simulation precision 
fermented protein products through FSANZ protocols to 
develop frameworks and tolerances should be investigated. 
This might also help determine platform organisms that 
could be used as generally safe production systems. 

Develop science-informed food safety standards 
for cultivated meats: Being an emerging field with 
no commercial food products, there are currently no 
permissions or requirements in the Australian Food 
Standards Code for cultivated meats. While FSANZ has 
been aware of cultivated or cell-based meats for some 
time, the agency has not yet been approached by a food 
business seeking regulatory approval.271 Regulatory 
requirements in relation to the Food Standards Code 
within Australia and any potential market access issues if 
planning to export will need to be considered. There is 
an opportunity in the development of this area to ensure 
the right science is performed and the relevant evidence 
collected to inform development of regulations. 

Ongoing conversations between research, start-ups, FSANZ 
and state and territory compliance authorities will be 
important to inform both product development pathways 
and new regulatory pathways. Additionally, opportunities 
for FSANZ to benefit from the expertise in countries that 
have already given regulatory approval should continue, 
through mechanisms like the FSANZ MOU with the 
Singapore Food Agency.272 These mechanisms should aim 
to allow collaborative sharing of knowledge to expedite 
the process to market, to help ensure Australia remains 
in a leading position globally in this new area of food.

Develop insect industry guidelines: Currently there is a 
lack of regulatory clarity for the Australian insect industry 
as there is no national standard for the industry to follow. 
Internationally, the Food and Agriculture Organisation 
recently published a comprehensive manual on sustainable 
cricket farming to address knowledge gaps among cricket 
farmers and government agencies responsible for food 
safety.273 There is also a lack of consistency across the 
Australian states as the regulations vary between states 
and between the various livestock sectors that use insects 
as feed. The pet food industry is self-regulated, and 
while this does not pose a problem currently, AgriFutures 
suggests that improved regulatory clarity would support 
the industry’s growth.274 Developing industry guidelines 
could inform industry and regulators on how to farm, 
process, slaughter, and render insects, leveraging 
frameworks and best practices from other industries 
where possible (e.g., poultry, livestock, mushrooms). 

Continue policy and government support for 
infrastructure and market access: Many opportunities 
identified will necessitate the development of new 
manufacturing infrastructure, often in regional 
areas. Establishing and continuing policy measures 
that support and facilitate the development of new 
infrastructure, such as the Modern Manufacturing 
Initiative, alongside providing support for regional 
development will be important for the continued 
development of Australia’s domestic protein industry. 
Further, continued support to access export markets and 
investment attraction, such as that provided by Austrade 
is pivotal to growing Australia’s protein exports. 

 

270 Food Standards Australia New Zealand (2021) Food standards development Work Plan. Viewed 16 November 2021, <https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/
code/changes/workplan/Documents/Food standards development Work Plan October 2021.pdf>. 

271 FSANZ (2021) Cell based meats, https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/consumer/generalissues/Pages/Cell-based-meat.aspx

272 FSANZ (2020) Annual Report 2019-20. 

273 FAO (2020) FAO releases a comprehensive guide to sustainable cricket farming. Viewed 21 November 2021, < https://www.fao.org/asiapacific/news/detail-
events/en/c/1365143/>.

274 Insect Protein Association of Australia (2021) Insects as food. Viewed 16 November 2021, <https://www.insectproteinassoc.com/insects-as-food>.



3 Roadmap synthesis

Australia is not alone in recognising the protein 
opportunity. Other countries, including Canada and 
Singapore, are actively growing their protein production 
through targeted initiatives and R&D (see Appendix F for 
more detail on other countries). If Australia is to remain 
a global protein leader, action must be taken. Now is 
the time to focus on building a sustainable and resilient 
Australian food system that delivers nutritious protein 
for discerning local and global consumers.

Figure 6 below highlights the maturity of technological 
solutions alongside the requirement for new infrastructure 
for the identified growth opportunities. It highlights 
opportunities that will require strong infrastructure and 
R&D commitments to reach ambitious growth targets 
by 2030. These opportunities require targeted R&D 
investments to mature key enabling technologies and 
infrastructure through to higher levels of technology 
readiness and commercial readiness (Appendix C) 
required for industry creation, growth and impact. 

Australia can leverage the momentum created by increasing 
global protein demand to invest in and build its protein 
industries, cementing its international position as a 
protein leader while minimising the environmental impact 
of protein production. If Australia can capitalise on the 
opportunities available, some of which have been identified 
within this report, both the nation’s existing and emerging 
protein industries can develop in unison to complement 
each other in expanding Australia’s protein output. 

Figure 6: Protein opportunities

Note: placement is approximate



Appendix A – 
Consulted stakeholders

CSIRO would like to thank all consulted organisations for their 
contributions to this project through interview and reviews. 
Listed below are those organisations that consented to being named. 

Note: the insights expressed throughout this report were developed by considering the collective views obtained alongside independent 
economic and qualitative research and may not always align with the specific views of one of the consulted individuals or organisations.

• AgriFutures Australia
• Agritechnology
• Dr Angeline Achariya
• All G Foods
• Australian Department of Agriculture, 
Water and Environment (DAWE)
• Australian Department of Industry, Science, 
Energy and Resources (DISER)
• Australian Export Grains Innovation Centre (AEGIC)
• Australian Farm Institute
• Australian Food and Grocery Council
• Australian Meat Processor Corporation (AMPC) 
• Australian Plant Proteins
• Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade)
• Bardee (Beyond Ag)
• Bayer LEAPS
• Bega Cheese
• Big Idea Ventures
• BioBrew (ZX Ventures)
• Coles
• Eden Brew
• Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC)
• Food Frontier
• Food Innovation Australia Ltd (FIAL)
• Food Standards Australia New Zealand 
• Goterra
• GrainCorp
• Grains & Legumes Nutrition Council (GLNC)
• Grains Australia
• Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC)
• Ingredion
• JBS Australia 
• Main Sequence Ventures (MSV)
• Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA)
• National Farmers Federation (NFF)
• Noumi (formerly Freedom Foods)
• New South Wales Government
• Nourish Ingredients
• Queensland Government
• South Australian Research and 
Development Institute (SARDI)
• South Australia Government
• Tassal
• Teys
• Unigrain
• Unilever
• University of Adelaide
• v2food
• Victorian Government – Department of 
Jobs, Precincts and Regions (DJPR)
• Western Australia Government – Department of 
Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD)




Appendix B – Protein snapshots

Snapshot: Australian animal protein 

Table 8: Value and volume of animal protein exports (2019-20)275

PROTEIN 

$M

VOLUME

AVERAGE EXPORT (FOB) PRICE

Beef and veal

11,258

1,290 kt (sw)

$8.7 per kg

Lamb and mutton

4,056

462 kt (sw)

$8.8 per kg

Live cattle

1,565

1.3 million (head)

$1,246 per head

Edible fisheries 
(both aquaculture and wild catch) 

1,331

56 kt

$23.8 per kg

Live sheep

154

1.7 million (head)

$144 per head

Pork276

130

44 kt (cw)

Limited data

Chicken meat277

87

49 kt (cw)

Limited data

OTHER

Goat meat (2020 estimate)278

146

14 kt (sw)

$10.3 per kg 

Kangaroo meat (2017-18 estimate)279

16 (fresh and processed)

3 kt (fresh and processed)

$5.3 per kg





Red meat (beef and sheep)

• In 2019, the national cattle herd (including dairy 
and beef cattle) was 23.4 million.280
• Beef and veal production was 2,372 kt (carcase weight 
or cw) in 2019-20, of which 78% was exported. 
These exports were valued at approximately 
$11.3 billion. Further, a total of 1.3 million live slaughter 
cattle were exported, valued at $1.6 billion. 281


Figure 7: Five largest animal protein exports by volume (2019-20)282

275 Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (2020) Agricultural commodities and trade data.

276 Export value figure from: Australian Pork Limited (2020) Inquiry into Diversifying Australia’s Trade & Investment Profile Submission.

277 Export value figure from: Australian Chicken Meat Federation (2021) Facts & Figures. Viewed December 10 2021, <https://www.chicken.org.au/facts-and-
figures/#Exports>

278 Export value and volume figures from: Meat & Livestock Australia (2021) Global Snapshot: Goatmeat.

279 Export value and volume figures from: AgriFutures (2021) AgriFutures Kangaroo Program Strategic RD&E Plan (2021-2026).

280 Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (2020) Agricultural commodities and trade data: Rural Commodities - meat - beef and veal.

281 Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (2020) Agricultural commodities and trade data: Rural Commodities - meat - beef and veal.

282 Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (2020) Agricultural commodities and trade data: Rural Commodities - meat - beef and veal.



• In 2020, Australia was the world’s second largest 
exporter of beef after Brazil.283 China, Japan and the US 
were the most valuable beef and veal export markets. 


Figure 8: Five largest beef and veal export markets (2019-20)

• Sheepmeat production in 2019, including lamb 
and mutton, was 731 kt (cw), of which 79% was 
exported.284 Lamb exports were worth $2.7 billion, 
nearly twice as much as mutton exports at under 
$1.4 billion. Additionally, 1.7 million live sheep 
were exported, valued at $154 million.


Figure 9: Five largest animal protein exports by value (2019-20)

Aquaculture

• For general fisheries production, including both aquaculture 
and wild catch, in 2018-19 Australia produced 258 kt (including 
fish, crustaceans and molluscs), valued at $3.2 billion.285 
In 2019-20, 56 kt was exported and was valued at $1.3 billion.286
• Aquaculture exports on their own have only been 
estimated to represent 2% of this total Australian export 
figure, accounting for under $30 million in 2019.287 
• Australian aquaculture had a gross value product 
(GVP) in 2019-20 of $1.6 billion, which was half 
the GVP of total fisheries operations.288
• Aquaculture volume produced was 106 kt, which 
accounted for 38% of total fisheries volume.289
• Australia’s top aquaculture species in terms of production 
value are salmonids, tuna, edible oysters, pearl oysters 
and prawns.290 Other species groups grown in Australia 
include abalone, freshwater finfish (e.g., barramundi, silver 
perch), brackish water or marine finfish (e.g., snapper, 
yellowtail kingfish, groupers), mussels, ornamental 
fish, marine sponges, mud crab and sea cucumber.
• The most valuable aquaculture products were finfish 
($1.2 billion), followed by molluscs ($234 million) 
and crustaceans ($139 million). Similarly, finfish 
accounted for 78% of total quantity produced, 
followed by molluscs (13%) and crustaceans (6%).291


Figure 10: Value of aquaculture products (2019-20) (%)

283 Meat & Livestock Australia (2021) Value of Australian beef exports falls in 2020. Viewed 9 November 2021, <https://www.mla.com.au/prices-markets/market-
news/2021/value-of-australian-beef-exports-falls-in-2020/>.

284 Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (2020) Agricultural commodities and trade data: Rural Commodities - meat - sheep.

285 Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (2020) Agricultural commodities and trade data: Rural commodities - fisheries.

286 Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (2020) Agricultural commodities and trade data: Rural commodities - fisheries.

287 IBISWorld (2021) Australia Industry (ANZSIC) Report A0200: Aquaculture in Australia. 

288 Department of Agriculture Water and the Environment (2020) Aquaculture industry in Australia. Viewed 8 November 2021, <https://www.awe.gov.au/agriculture-
land/fisheries/aquaculture/aquaculture-industry-in-australia>.; Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (2021) Australian fisheries 
and aquaculture production. Viewed 9 November 2021, <https://www.awe.gov.au/abares/research-topics/fisheries/fisheries-and-aquaculture-statistics/production>.

289 Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (2020) Fisheries and aquaculture statistics 2020 - Report.

290 Department of Agriculture Water and the Environment (n.d.) Aquaculture industry in Australia. Viewed 8 November 2021, <https://www.awe.gov.au/
agriculture-land/fisheries/aquaculture/aquaculture-industry-in-australia>.

291 Department of Agriculture Water and the Environment (n.d.) Aquaculture industry in Australia. Viewed 8 November 2021, <https://www.awe.gov.au/
agriculture-land/fisheries/aquaculture/aquaculture-industry-in-australia>.



Pigs and poultry

• Pig and chicken meat production represents a smaller 
part of the traditional protein export market, with 
production largely serving the domestic market.
• Total pig meat production in 2019 was 398 kt (cw), of 
which 44 kt was exported.292 Overall, Australia is a net 
pork importing country, importing 403 kt (cw) in 2019.
• Total chicken meat production was 1,227 kt 
(cw), of which 49 kt was exported, indicating 
that nearly all chicken consumed in Australia 
was produced domestically.293
• In Australia, poultry is the most consumed meat 
(at 44 kg per person in 2020), followed by pork 
(20 kg), beef and veal (19 kg), and sheep (6 kg).294 
• Australian meat consumption growth per 
person is forecast to be minimal, driven by 
moderate increases in poultry meat (which will 
offset red meat per person declines).295


Eggs and dairy

• In 2019-20, Australia produced around 359 million 
dozen eggs.296 Almost all this is consumed domestically 
due to the perishable nature of eggs and the 
relatively low value to weight ratios.
• Australia produced nearly 8.8 billion L of milk in 
2019-20. From this production, Australia produced 
65 kt of butter and butterfat and 390 kt of cheese.
• Of this 2019-20 production, 18% (or around 12 kt) 
of the butter and butterfat and 40% (or 158 kt) of 
the cheese was exported. Further, 139 kt of skim 
and whole milk powder was exported.
• In terms of dairy exports value, Australia exports 
nearly $1 billion in cheese, and over $700 million 
in skim and whole milk powders in 2019-20.297


Table 9: Summary of Australian dairy exports (2019-20)298

PRODUCT

EXPORT 
VALUE ($M)

Cheese and curd

985.4

Butter and butterfat 

90.2

Whey

80.6

Buttermilk, curdled milk and cream, other 
fermented/acidified dairy products

55.5

Milk and cream (unconcentrated)

318.3

Concentrated milk and cream

344.6

Milk and cream solids 
(including powder for infant formula)

568.4

Sweetened milk and cream

42.9

Total

2,486.1





292 Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (2020) Agricultural commodities and trade data: Rural commodities – pigs and poultry.

293 Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (2020) Agricultural commodities and trade data: Rural commodities – meat – pigs and poultry.

294 OECD (2021) OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook: Meat consumption. Viewed 19 November 2021, <https://data.oecd.org/agroutput/meat-consumption.htm>

295 Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (2019) Global trends in meat consumption. Viewed 19 November 2021, 
<https://www.awe.gov.au/abares/research-topics/agricultural-outlook/meat-consumption>

296 ABS (2021) Agricultural Commodities, Australia, 2019-20 financial year. Viewed 17 November 2021, <https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/industry/agriculture/
agricultural-commodities-australia/latest-release>.

297 Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (2020) Agricultural commodities and trade data: Rural commodities – meat – dairy products.

298 DFAT (2021) Australia AHECC export pivot table 2006-07 to 2020-21. Viewed 20 November 2021, <https://www.dfat.gov.au/about-us/publications/trade-
statistical-pivot-tables>.



Snapshot: Australian plant-based proteins 

As of September 2021, there are 19 companies 
in Australia using plant-based technologies to 
produce protein products with the main protein 
ingredients used being wheat, soy and pea.299 

In 2019-20, the Australian plant-based protein sector 
generated $185 million in sales, of which $154 million 
went to retail (with the rest to food services). 

There has been significant investment activity for 
Australian plant-based protein start-ups, including:

• v2food securing $72 million in its latest Series B 
funding round in the latter half of 2021, bringing 
the company’s total raise to $185 million.300
• Fenn Foods launching a carbon-neutral beef 
alternative called ‘vEEF’ in 2020.301
• All G Foods raising $15.5 million in seed funding 
to develop its plant-based meat alternative brand, 
as well as its precision fermentation brand.302
• Harvest B raising $3.5 million seed funding 
from Aura Ventures and Woolworths’ 
venture capital arm W23 in July 2021.303


While exports were only $2.7 million in 2019-20,304 
there have recently been significant movements 
towards greater exports – such as v2food’s expansion 
into the Asian market, specifically into China.305

Wheat

• Wheat and soy products are among the dominant 
ingredients used in Australian plant-based proteins.
• According to one analysis, for locally manufactured 
plant-based proteins, the majority of wheat protein is 
locally sourced. Nevertheless, most of the proteins are 
imported as concentrates, isolates, textured proteins or 
partially transformed ingredients.306 This is due to the 
small scale of Australian soybean production, as well 
as limited capacity to commercially process pulses.
• Global production of wheat was estimated to 
be nearly 753 Mt in 2020 and is forecast to reach 
840 Mt in 2030.307 In 2030, China, the EU, India, 
Russia, and the US are expected to produce over 
60% of wheat globally; with US, Ukraine, Canada, 
the EU and Russia accounting for 73% of exports.
• Domestic production of wheat in Australia was 
21,559 kt per year on average for the five years to 
2019-20 (with a corresponding five-year price average 
of $293 per tonne).308 It is used in a wide range 
of products for human consumption world-wide 
(e.g., noodles, breads, confectionary, pasta, cous 
cous) as well as in animal feed formulations.
• In terms of global trade, Australia represented 
5% of wheat exports in 2019-20 (9.4 Mt of 
191 Mt). In contrast, Australia only exported 
0.7 kt of soybeans in 2019-20, a mere fraction 
of total world exports that year (165 Mt).309


299 Food Frontier (2021) Alternative Proteins Company Directory – Australia and New Zealand Published 3 September 2021. Lacy-Nichols J, Scrinis G and 
Moodie R (2020) The Australian Alternative Protein Industry.

300 Berry K (2021) v2food readies for China push. Viewed 17 November 2021, <https://www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au/news/v2food-readies-for-china-push>.

301 Green Queen Media (2021) The APAC Alternative Protein Industry Report 2021.

302 Simmons D (2021) Alternative protein startup All G Foods flexes $15.5m seed raise. Viewed 17 November 2021, <https://www.businessnewsaustralia.com/
articles/alternative-protein-startup-all-g-foods-flexes--15-5m-seed-raise.html>.

303 Green Queen Media (20210) APAC Report 2021

304 Food Frontier (2021) 2020 State of the Industry Australia’s Plant-Based Meat Sector. 

305 Ho S (2021) Australian Vegan Meat Leader v2food Eyes Asian Expansion After $54M Series B. Viewed 17 November 2021, <https://www.greenqueen.com.hk/
v2food-funding-vegan-meat/>.

306 Food Processing (2020) Australia’s grain sector to tap into plant-based meat substitutes. What’s New in Food Technology & Manufacturing .

307 OECD/FAO (2021), OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2021-2030, OECD Publishing, Paris. 

308 Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (2020) Agricultural commodities and trade data: Rural commodities – wheat.

309 Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (2020) Agricultural commodities and trade data: Rural commodities – oilseeds.



Soy

• Soybean is the most economically important 
grain legume crop grown globally, providing an 
affordable and dense source of vegetable protein 
for millions of people, as well as an input for 
hundreds of chemical industrial applications.310
• Global production of soy was estimated to be 356 Mt 
in 2020. The vast majority of soybeans (90%) are 
processed into vegetable oils for a variety of purposes 
and used for animal feed. By 2030, soybean production 
is expected to reach 411 Mt, more than double the 
output of other oilseeds. Exports are expected to be 
dominated by Brazil and the United States, with China 
accounting for about two-thirds of soybean imports.311
• Domestic production of soybeans is limited. 
Australia produced only 31 kt per year on 
average for the five years to 2019-20.312
• In 2020-21, China was the world’s largest 
producer of soybean meal, producing nearly 30% 
(73.7 Mt) of global supply, followed by the US 
(18% or 45.9 Mt) and Brazil (15% or 36.2 Mt).313


Table 10: Summary of Australian statistics for wheat and soy 
crops (five-year average to 2019-20)314

WHEAT

Production

21,559 kt

Exports 

14,187 kt

SOY

Production

31 kt

Exports 

3 kt





Pulses

• Global production of pulses was estimated to be 89 Mt 
in 2020 and is expected to grow to 111 Mt in 2030. 
Pulses are expected to grow in importance in diets in 
many regions of the world, moving up from 7.9 kg per 
capita currently to 9.1 kg per capita by 2030. Canada is 
expected to be the main exporter of pulses in 2030 at 
8 Mt, followed by Australia with 2.4 Mt of exports.315 
• In terms of overall global pulse trade, and according 
to the most recent available data, Australia represented 
14% of pulse exports in 2017 (2,730 kt of 19,628 kt).316
• In terms of Australia’s global performance on the 
trade and production of specific pulses:317
– Chickpeas: Although representing around 6% 
of world production, Australia is the largest 
exporter of chickpeas (40% of world exports). 
Around 95% of its chickpeas are exported.
– Lentils: Australia represents around 8% of 
global lentil production, and 14% of world 
exports. Over 80% of its lentils are exported.
– Field peas: Australia is a minor player. It represents 
under 3% of world production, 5% of world 
exports. Over 60% of its field peas are exported.
– Faba beans: Australia produces under 8% of the world’s 
faba beans and exports around 80% of it. Australia is 
currently the world’s largest exporter, at around a third. 
– Lupins: Australia is the largest exporters of lupins in 
the world, primarily as feed and fodder.318 In 2019-20, 
Australia exported 48% of its lupin production.319



• Pulses represent a much smaller part of the current 
Australian plant-based protein market, in part due to 
limited capacity to commercially process pulses.
• There is currently only one commercial plant-protein 
fractionation plant owned and operated in Australia – 
Australian Plant Proteins (APP), capable of producing 
protein isolates from pulses such as lentils and faba beans. 
Recently, APP secured a $45.7 million investment to allow 
the company to double its protein output by early 2022.320


310 Britannica (2021), Soybean. Viewed 14 December 2021, < https://www.britannica.com/plant/soybean>.

311 OECD/FAO (2021), OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2021-2030, OECD Publishing, Paris.

312 United States Department of Agriculture (2021) Production, Supply and Distribution data.

313 United States Department of Agriculture (2021) Oilseeds: World Markets and Trade – November 2021 report.

314 Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (2020) Agricultural commodities and trade data: Rural Commodities - meat – wheat; United States 
Department of Agriculture (2021) Production, Supply and Distribution data.

315 OECD/FAO (2021), OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2021-2030, OECD Publishing, Paris. 

316 Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (2020) Agricultural commodities and trade data: Rural commodities – pulses.

317 FAO (2019) The Global Economy of Pulses.

318 Australian Trade and Investment Commission (2017) Grains, Pulses and Oilseeds.

319 Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (2020) Agricultural commodities and trade data: Rural commodities – pulses.

320 Berry K (2021) Australian Plant Proteins secures $45.7m investment. Viewed 17 November 2021, <https://www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au/news/
australian-plant-proteins-secures-45-7m-investment>.



• Unigrain, an Australian oat and pulse processor, 
has also recently announced plans to build its 
first pulse fractionation facility in Victoria.321


Table 11: Summary of Australian statistics for major pulse crops 
(five-year average to 2019-20) 322

LUPINS

Production

734 kt

Exports 

318 kt

Value of exports

$124 million

Gross value of production 

$194 million

FIELD PEAS

Production

263 kt

Exports 

136 kt

Value of exports

$70 million

Gross value of production 

$100 million

CHICKPEAS

Production

873 kt

Exports

990 kt 323

Value of exports

$914 million

Gross value of production 

$700 million

FABA BEANS

Production

349 kt

Exports

312 kt 

Value of exports

$181 million

Gross value of production 

Not estimated 

TOTAL PULSES a

Production

2,780 kt

Exports 

2,382 kt

Value of exports

$1,811 million

Gross value of production 

$1,787 million





a Total pulses includes lupins, field peas, chickpeas, faba beans, 
mung beans, navy beans, lentils and some other minor pulses.

Other (fungi, root vegetables, fruit)

• Other plant-based protein sources – namely, those 
using fungi, root vegetable (e.g., konjac), and fruit 
(e.g., jackfruit) – are a niche industry in Australia.
• Nevertheless, protein from other plant-based sources 
is an emerging industry. For instance, one domestic 
mushroom-based protein producer, Fable Food Co, 
secured $6.5 million seed funding in August 2021 to 
globally expand production of its meat alternatives.324


321 Grain Central (2021) Unigrain to build pulse fractionation plant. Viewed 17 November 2021, <https://www.graincentral.com/news/unigrain-to-build-pulse-
fractionation-plant-at-smeaton/>.

322 Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (2020) Agricultural commodities and trade data: Rural commodities – pulses.

323 In many years, Australia chickpea exports exceed production figures. This is likely reflective of the fact that the vast majority of chickpeas (over 90%) in 
Australia are exported and Australia has significant capacity for maintaining chickpea stocks to handle price fluctuations. For further commentary, see FAO 
(2019) The Global Economy of Pulses.

324 Green Queen Media (2021) The APAC Alternative Protein Industry Report 2021.



Snapshot: Australian non-traditional proteins 

Microorganism-based

• Microorganism-based protein alternatives 
(which can include proteins produced using bacteria, 
yeasts, single-celled algae, or fungi) using fermentation 
technology are an emerging Australian industry.
• In Australia, companies such as Agritechnology 
provide manufacturing capabilities to assist in 
the commercial development of fermentation 
and industrial microbiology processes.325 
• Further, several precision fermentation 
companies have been founded with a focus 
on protein production, including:
– Nourish Ingredients, using precision 
fermentation to derive fats for use with 
meat, dairy, and fish alternatives.326
– Change Foods, a joint US-Australia start-up, 
using precision fermentation to derive 
proteins and fats for cheese alternatives.327
– Eden Brew and All G Foods, using precision 
fermentation to derive proteins for milk alternatives.328





Table 12: Recent investments in Australian precision 
fermentation companies

COMPANY

RECENT INVESTMENT NEWS

Nourish 
Ingredients

Raised around $15 m in seed funding from 
venture capital in early 2021.329

Change 
Foods

Raised around $2.9 m in new seed funding 
(for expansion in its US location) in mid-2021.330

Eden Brew

Launched with a $4 m investment, backed by 
CSIRO and Australian diary company Norco in 
mid-2021.331

All G Foods

Raised $16 m in new seed funding in late 2021.332





325 Credit Suisse (2021) Sustainable food as an investment opportunity.;
Agritechnology (2021) Expertise. Viewed 17 November 2021, <https://agritechnology.com.au/expertise/>.

326 Nourish Ingredients (2021) About Us. Viewed 17 November 2021, <https://nourishing.io/about-us/>

327 Neo P (2020) Cow-free bio-engineered cheese: New tech will reduce costs and aid customisation - Change Foods. Viewed 17 November 2021, <https://www.
foodnavigator-asia.com/Article/2020/09/08/Cow-free-bio-engineered-cheese-New-tech-will-reduce-costs-and-aid-customisation-Change-Foods>. 

328 CSIRO (2021) Animal-free dairy. Viewed 8 November 2021, <https://www.csiro.au/en/research/production/food/eden-brew>.;
Berry K (2021) It’s all good, Australia’s newest alt protein player. Viewed 17 November 2021, <https://www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au/news/it-s-all-good-
australia-s-newest-alt-protein-player>.

329 Nourish Ingredients (2021) Nourish Ingredients raises $11M USD to create sustainable, better-tasting animal-free fats. Viewed 17 November 2021, <https://
nourishing.io/nourish-ingredients-raises-11m-usd-to-create-sustainable-better-tasting-animal-free-fats/>.

330 Ho S (2021) Change Foods Raises US$2.1M Seed Funding To Fuel Bay Area Expansion & Animal-Free Cheese R&D.

331 Food Frontier (2021) CSIRO backs Eden Brew. Viewed 17 November 2021, <https://www.foodfrontier.org/csiro-eden-brew/>.

332 Macdonald A and Redrup Y (2021) Plant-based meat producer All G Foods scores $16m. Viewed 17 November 2021, <https://www.afr.com/street-talk/plant-
based-meat-producer-all-g-foods-scores-16m-20210905-p58oxq>.



Insect-based

• The edible insect protein industry, including insects for 
human food, animal feed and upcycling of waste streams, 
is still considered an emerging Australian industry.
• In Australia, there are currently 14 insect-based 
businesses. Ten are producing insects for animal feed 
and 4 are producing insects for human consumption.333
• In terms of products produced:
– Crickets and mealworms are currently the 
only insect types being commercially produced 
in Australia for human consumption.334 
– Additionally, crickets, mealworms and black soldier 
flies are commercially sold for pet food (including 
for dogs).335 Black soldier fly is the only species 
currently being investigated for livestock feed.336
– Insects for livestock feed or pet food must 
meet product regulation requirements which 
vary by state.337 Current state and federal 
government restrictions prevent use of 
insects as feed for ruminant animals.338





Cultivated meat

• The potential for commercially available 
cultivated meat products in the future is an 
area of active research in Australia.
• In Australia, since 2017, companies have been founded 
in the four cultivated meat space: Heuros, Vow, Cass 
Materials and Magic Valley focused on different 
components of cellular protein production.339 


Table 13: Cultured protein companies in Australia

COMPANY

FOCUS

ADDITIONAL NOTES

Heuros

Serum-free cell 
culture media

-

Vow

Cell lines

Secured $7.7 m in new 
investment funding in 
early 2021.340

Cass Materials

3D scaffolds

-

Magic Valley

Cell lines

-





• Australian R&D activity within the cultivated 
meat space has been quickly expanding 
in recent years. Examples include:
– Research funded through the Future Food Hallmark 
Research Initiative at the University of Melbourne.341 
– Seed grant funding for the University of the 
Sunshine Coast from US-based research institute 
New Harvest to develop cell-based crayfish meat.342
– UNSW’s research into cellular agriculture through 
its collaborative ChallENG Program and Future Food 
Systems Cooperative Research Centre (CRC).343
– Promotion of research, collaboration and 
innovation in this space done by Cellular Agriculture 
Australia, a non-profit organisation.344





333 AgriFutures Australia (2020) Catalysing a $10m Australian Insect Industry.

334 CSIRO (2021) Edible insects: A roadmap for the strategic growth of an emerging Australian industry. Canberra.

335 See for instance: Buggybix (2021) Products. Viewed 17 November 2021, <https://www.buggybix.com.au/collections/all>

336 Insect Protein Association of Australia (2021) Insects as feed.Insect Protein Association of Australia (2021) Insects as feed.

337 AgriFutures Australia (2020) Catalysing a $10m Australian Insect Industry.

338 CSIRO (2021) Edible insects: A roadmap for the strategic growth of an emerging Australian industry. Canberra.

339 Protein Report (2021) Directory. Viewed 17 November 2021, < https://www.proteinreport.org/directory>

340 Keating E (2021) Cell-based meat startup Vow raises $7.7 million from big-name investors. Viewed 17 November 2021, <https://www.smartcompany.com.au/
startupsmart/news/vow-cell-based-meat-raises-7-7-million/>.

341 University of Melbourne (2021) Future Food. Viewed 17 November 2021, <https://research.unimelb.edu.au/research-at-melbourne/multidisciplinary-
research/hallmark-research-initiatives/future-food>.

342 Le B (2020) New Harvest Funds Australian Research on Cell-Based Crayfish Meat. Viewed 17 November 2021, <https://www.proteinreport.org/new-harvest-
funds-australian-research-cell-based-crayfish-meat>.

343 UNSW (2021) The ChallENG Program: Cellular Agriculture. Viewed 17 November 2021, <https://www.challeng.unsw.edu.au/challeng-projects/cellular-
agriculture>.; Future Food Systems (2021) Home. Viewed 17 November 2021, <https://www.futurefoodsystems.com.au/>. 

344 Cellular Agriculture Australia (2021) Home. Viewed 17 November 2021, <https://cellularagricultureaustralia.org/>.



Appendix C – Technology 
Readiness Levels345

Figure 11: Technology Readiness Levels and Commercial Readiness Index

345 ARENA (2014) Technology Readiness Levels for Renewable Energy Sectors.



Appendix D – Economic analysis

A.1 Integrity systems in 
the red meat sector

Conservative opportunity: Approximately 
A$16.5 billion in export revenue in 2030 beef, 
veal and sheepmeat exports in a conservative 
scenario where there is a low price premium 
and it applies to a low proportion of exports.

Ambitious opportunity: Approximately $17.1 billion in 
export revenue in 2030 beef, veal and sheepmeat exports 
in an ambitious scenario where there is a high price 
premium and it applies to a high proportion of exports.

Price premiums

The method for benchmarking price premiums is by 
comparing the price Australian products receives per unit 
against the per-unit prices from the country that receives 
the highest price on international markets. The assumption 
is that red meat with verifiable credentials could enable 
Australian exports to shift into the highest price category. 
For example, in 2020, the average Australian beef export 
price was US$5.86 per kg, whereas the highest was 
20% higher at US$7.06 per kg (for US beef exports).346 

An extensive meta-analysis of studies on consumers’ 
willingness-to-pay for sustainable food products 
conducted by Li and Kallas (2021) found that the 
overall willingness-to-pay premium is 29.5% on 
average.347 However, only 15 of the 80 worldwide 
studies used were directly related to meat products. 

Based on guidance from MLA, a premium of 3% is taken 
as the price premium for Australian red meat with 
verifiable credentials for conservative modelling and, 
for ambitious modelling, a premium of 7.5% is used.

Exports in 2030

According to the OECD-FAO forecasts, Australia’s 
beef and veal exports are forecast to increase in 
volume by 26% in 2030 from its 2018-20 average.348 
Likewise, its sheepmeat exports are forecast to increase 
in volume by 15% in 2030 from its 2018-20 average.

Using these growth rates, red meat export data 
provided by ABARES can be grown to 2030.349 It is 
calculated that beef and veal exports will increase 
from a 2018-20 average of 1,188 kt shipped weight 
(sw) to 1,492 kt (sw) in 2030. Likewise, it is calculated 
that sheepmeat exports will increase from a 2018-20 
average of 464 kt (sw) to 534 kt (sw) in 2030. In total, 
2030 red meat exports will equal 2,026 kt (sw).

For conservative modelling, it is assumed that the price 
premium will apply to 10% of the 2030 exports (203 kt, sw). 
For the ambitious modelling, it is assumed that the 
premium will apply 50% of the exports (1,013 kt, sw).

Prices in 2030

Due to the difficulty of determining a price for Australian 
red meat exports out to 2030, the three year average 
of 2018 to 2020 beef, veal and sheepmeat of Australian 
export prices was conservatively used. Over those 
three years, beef and veal sold on average at around 
A$8.11 million per kt (sw) and, similarly, sheepmeat 
sold at around A$8.15 million per kt (sw).350

Applying the 3% price premium gives a higher price 
of A$8.35 million per kt (sw) for beef and veal exports 
and A$8.39 million per kt (sw) for sheepmeat.

Similarly, applying the 7.5% price premium gives a price 
of A$8.72 million per kt (sw) of beef and veal and a 
price of $8.76 million per kt (sw) for sheepmeat sold.

346 MLA (2021) Global beef industry and trade report.

347 Li, S and Kallas, Z (2021) Meta-analysis of consumers’ willingness to pay for sustainable food products. Appetite 163(3).

348 OCED-FAO (2021), OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2021-2030, OECD Publishing.

349 Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (2021) Agricultural commodities and trade data: Rural commodities - meat - beef and 
veal; Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (2021) Agricultural commodities and trade data: Rural commodities - meat – sheep.

350 Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (2021) Agricultural commodities and trade data: Rural commodities - meat - beef and 
veal; Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (2021) Agricultural commodities and trade data: Rural commodities - meat – sheep.



Export revenue estimation

Based on this approach, a conservative scenario 
can be constructed where the low price premium 
(of 3%) from verifiable credentials is applied to 10% 
of 2030 red meat export volumes. This would result 
in a total of A$16.5 billion in export revenue.

Alternatively, an ambitious scenario can be constructed 
where a high price premium (of 7.5%) is applied to 50% 
of these export volumes. This would have resulted 
in a total of A$17.1 billion in export revenue.

The difference between the conservative and ambitious 
scenario is nearly A$570 million in export revenue. 
Figure 12 below shows additional estimates for a high 
premium, low export proportion scenario, as well as 
a low premium, high export proportion scenario.

Figure 12: Matrix of export revenue with different 
verifiable credentials price premiums and 2030 export 
proportions affected

3% price premium

7.5% price premium

10% of 
exports 
(145 kt, sw)

Low premium, low 
export proportion

$16.5 billion 
in revenue

High premium, low 
export proportion

$16.6 billion 
in revenue

50% of 
exports
(727 kt, sw)

Low premium, high 
export proportion

$16.7 billion 
in revenue

High premium, high 
export proportion

$17.1 billion 
in revenue





A.2 Red meat co-products for 
health and wellness markets

Conservative opportunity: A$1.4 billion in annual 
retail product value from cattle-derived collagen, 
blood plasma co-products, meat snacks and red meat 
protein powder by 2030. A$675 million in annual 
revenue for manufacturers and 1,070 jobs by 2030. 

Ambitious opportunity: Over A$5.1 billion in annual 
retail product value from cattle-derived collagen, 
blood plasma co-products, meat snacks and red meat 
protein powder by 2030. Over A$2.6 billion in annual 
revenue for manufacturers and 4,070 jobs by 2030. 

Global opportunity

The four red meat protein co-products that are focused on 
for economic analysis are collagen products (from bovine 
sources), bovine blood plasma derivatives, meat snacks 
made from red meat and red meat protein powder 
derivatives. Due to data limitations, other product categories 
such as offal and fat co-products were not estimated.

Grand View Research estimates that the global collagen 
market will grow to US$16.7 billion by 2028, with an average 
Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 9.0%.351 Collagen 
from bovine sources currently accounts for around a third of 
the market.352 Taking this bovine share of the collagen market 
as fixed across time and projecting this forward to 2030 gives 
global bovine collagen product market of A$8.5 billion.353

Verified Market Research estimates that the global bovine blood 
plasma derivatives market will grow to US$2.46 billion by 2028, 
with an average CAGR of 4.3%.354 Projecting this forward to 2030 
gives global bovine collagen product market of A$3.4 billion.

Technavio estimates that the global meat snacks market will 
grow to US$12.8 billion by 2025, with an average CAGR of 
8.2%.355 It is assumed that snacks from red meat sources will 
conservatively comprise at least half of this market in 2030 
based on existing evidence (for instance, jerky is expected 
to be over half the meat snacks market by 2025 and beef 
jerky accounted for more than 80% of jerky sales in 2020). 
Taking this red meat share and projecting this forward to 
2030 gives a red meat snacks market of A$12.1 billion.

351 Grand View Research (2021) Collagen Market. Viewed 29 November 2021, <https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/collagen-market>.

352 Technavio (2018) Global Collagen Market 2018-2022.

353 1 USD = 1.29 AUD based on the 2000 to 2020 exchange rate average.

354 Verified Market Research (2021) Bovine Blood Derivatives. Viewed 29 November 2021, <https://www.verifiedmarketresearch.com/product/bovine-blood-plasma-
derivatives-market/>.

355 Technavio (2021) Global Meat Snacks Market 2021-2025.



There is limited information about the red meat protein 
powder derivatives market. As such, the meat extract 
market was taken as a proxy. According to Grand View 
Research, by 2028 the meat extract market could reach 
US$21.7 billion with a CAGR of 5.2% over the forecast 
period.356 Assuming that (as with how the beef collagen 
opportunity was modelled), red meat conservatively 
accounts for a third of this opportunity, then by 
projecting forecast growth forward, the total 2030 
addressable market could reach A$10.3 billion.

Australia’s share of the opportunity (conservative)

Due to data limitations on current domestic co-product 
production, in the conservative scenario, Australia’s 
share of 2030 red meat production is used as a 
proxy to represent the country following the world 
trend in red meat co-product production as well. 

According to forecasts by the OECD-FAO,357 Australia 
will represent around 3.9% of world beef and veal 
production in 2030 (by kt, carcase weight equivalent). 
Applying this proportion to the global bovine collagen 
product market opportunity gives a potential market 
share in collagen for Australia worth A$337 million in 
product value in 2030. Likewise, by applying Australia’s 
world beef and veal production share to the bovine 
blood plasma market, this yields a product value 
opportunity for Australia worth A$133 million in 2030. 

Similarly, according to OECD-FAO forecasts, Australia 
will represent around 3.9% of world beef, veal and 
sheepmeat production in 2030. Applying this to the 
global red meat snacks market yields a product value for 
Australia worth A$479 million in 2030. Applying this to the 
global red meat protein powder market estimate yields 
a product value for Australia of A$410 million in 2030.

Combined, this yields a conservative red meat co-product 
opportunity of A$1.4 billion in product value in 2030.

Australia’s share of the opportunity (ambitious)

In the ambitious scenario, Australia’s share of 2030 
red meat exports is used as a proxy to represent 
a case where Australia leans into its co-product 
manufacturing to the same intensity, if not more so, 
as its high-value red meat export performance.

According to the OECD-FAO, Australia will represent around 
12.9% of global beef and veal exports in 2030. Applying this 
proportion to the global bovine collagen product market 
opportunity gives a potential market share in collagen 
for Australia worth A$1.1 billion in product value in 2030. 
Applying this share to the bovine blood plasma market yields 
a product value opportunity worth A$441 million in 2030. 

Similarly, OECD-FAO forecasts indicate that Australia 
will represent around 16% of world beef, veal and 
sheepmeat trade in 2030. Applying this to the global red 
meat snacks market yields a product value for Australia 
worth A$1.9 billion in 2030. Applying this to the global 
red meat protein powder market estimate yields a 
product value for Australia of A$1.7 billion in 2030.

In total, this yields an ambitious red meat co-product 
opportunity of A$5.1 billion in product value in 2030.

Manufacturer revenue

It is assumed that the average price difference 
between the retail sales price and what co-product 
manufacturers receive will be 100%, as with the 
plant-based products methodology (see Section A5). 

In this case, in the conservative scenario, co-product 
manufacturers are expected to earn A$675 million in 
annual revenue from the three co-product categories 
modelled for this report by 2030. In the ambitious scenario, 
this rises to over A$2.6 billion in annual revenue.

Jobs

IBISWorld’s estimates for the vitamin and supplement 
manufacturing sector in Australia is used as a proxy 
to calculate the potential jobs of the co-products 
sector.358 It estimates that, on average, from 2018 
to 2027, wages will constitute 13% of revenue. 
Therefore, this 13% figure is applied to the aggregate 
2030 revenue estimate to derive total wages in 2030.

IBISWorld also predicts that wages will grow 0.7% per 
year on average from 2018 to 2027. By projecting this 
growth figure forward, it is found that average wages 
will be around A$81,200 per employee by 2030. 

Dividing the 2030 sector wages by 2030 wage per employee, 
a total of 1,070 jobs is estimated in the conservative scenario. 
In the ambitious scenario, this rises to 4,070 jobs.

356 Grand View Research (2021) Meat Extract Market Size. Viewed 29 November 2021, < https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/meat-extract-market>.

357 OCED-FAO (2021), OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2021-2030, OECD Publishing.

358 IBISWorld (2021) Vitamin and Supplement Manufacturing in Australia.



A.3 Insect protein sources 
for food and feed

Conservative opportunity: A$12 million in annual 
revenue for insect protein producers and 40 jobs by 2030.

Ambitious opportunity: A$44 million in annual revenue 
for insect protein producers and 140 jobs by 2030.

Global opportunity

Technavio provides a forecast for the global edible insect 
market through to 2026.359 In particular, they provide 
estimates for the animal nutrition (which includes livestock 
feed) segment of the market. For the purposes of the 
modelling, this is assumed to be a reasonable proxy for 
the insect-based livestock feed market in particular. 

Technavio estimates this segment to be worth over 
A$1.9 billion by 2026, with an average CAGR of 28.5% over 
the 2018 to 2026 period.360 Projecting this growth rate 
for the insect-derived animal nutrition market forward 
to 2030 gives a global opportunity of A$5.3 billion.

Australia’s share of the opportunity (conservative)

Technavio estimates that in 2025, the global edible insect 
market will be worth A$4.3 billion. Agrifutures is aiming 
for a A$10 million insect protein market in Australia by 
2025.361 Using these benchmarks, Australian insect protein 
could represent around 0.2% of the global insect market 
by around 2025, if not more, in a conservative scenario.

Australia’s share of the opportunity (ambitious)

A more ambitious scenario is to view Australia’s 
insect protein for livestock feed industry reaching 
a level of relative global performance akin to that 
of traditional feed production for the country. 

According to the Alltech 2020 Global Feed Survey, global 
estimated feed production in 2019 was approximately 
1,126 million tonnes.362 According to the survey, Australia, 
in contrast, produced 9.3 million tonnes of feed 
(0.8% of the global). Using this share as a benchmark, 
the ambitious scenario sees Australia’s insect protein for 
livestock feed industry reaching 0.8% of the global sector.

Revenue and volume

Supposing that by 2030, in a conservative scenario, 0.2% 
of the global insect-based animal nutrition is captured 
by domestic insect feed producers, then Australia will 
reach A$12.5 million in revenue. Agrifutures identifies 
A$2,000 per tonne as the industry benchmark for 
insect feed.363 It is assumed that these will be, in 
many cases, direct sales to livestock producers with 
minimal difference between retail/wholesale prices 
and the prices that insect feed producers receive.

Applying this price benchmark implies that around 
6,200 tonnes of insect feed could be produced in 
the conservative scenario. In an ambitious scenario, 
where 0.8% of the addressable insect-based feed 
market in Australia is captured, this then amounts to 
around 22,000 tonnes of insect feed being produced 
domestically, with a revenue of A$43.9 million.

Jobs

Since insect protein farming is an emerging industry with 
little data related to its potential wage structure and average 
wage growth, this report has used IBISWorld’s industry data 
for Australia’s poultry meat farming sector as a proxy.

IBISWorld estimates that, on average, from 2018 to 2027, 
wages will constitute 10% of revenue. It also predicts 
that wages will grow 1.2% per year on average over 
the same ten-year period. By projecting this forward, 
average wages in Australian poultry meat farming 
will be around A$30,900 per employee by 2030.364 

In the conservative scenario, by multiplying the 2030 
revenue by the wage share and then dividing it by the 
average wage per employee, it is found that by 2030, 40 jobs 
will be created for insect-based feed producers in Australia. 
In the ambitious scenario, this instead rises to 142 jobs.

359 Technavio (2021) Global Edible Insect Market 2022-2026.

360 1 USD = 1.29 AUD based on the 2000 to 2020 exchange rate average.

361 Agrifutures (2020) Catalysing a $10M Australian Insect Industry: an industry-led RD&E plan.

362 Alltech (2020) 2020 Global Feed Survey. Viewed 10 December 2021, < https://www.alltech.com/feed-survey-interactive-map>. 

363 Agrifutures (2020) Catalysing a $10M Australian Insect Industry: an industry-led RD&E plan.

364 IBISWorld (2021) Poultry Meat Farming in Australia.



A.4 Scaling up local, sustainable 
white flesh fish production

Conservative opportunity: A total retail value of 
around A$460 million by 2030. Approximately 
A$230 million in revenue for aquaculture 
producers with around 600 jobs by 2030.

Ambitious opportunity: A total retail value of over 
A$1.5 billion by 2030. Nearly A$770 million in revenue for 
aquaculture producers with around 1,800 jobs by 2030.

Revenue (conservative)

IBISWorld provides industry forecasts for the aquaculture 
sector in Australia through to 2028.365 Based on its 
forecasts, revenue growth from the ten years of 2019 to 
2028 is predicted to average 1.4% per year. By taking this 
average growth figure, the 2028 revenue forecast can be 
projected for an additional two years to yield a 2030 total 
aquaculture revenue figure of A$2.2 billion in Australia.

For the modelling, white flesh fish has been defined as 
all edible finfish that is produced in aquaculture facilities, 
except for salmonids and tuna. According to data from 
ABARES, white flesh fish provided 10.3% of the value of 
aquaculture production in Australia in 2019-20.366

By taking this market share from 2019-20 and applying it to 
the forecast total 2030 revenue for aquaculture producers, 
it can be estimated that white flesh fish products from 
aquaculture will conservatively generate A$229 million 
of revenue by 2030 for Australian producers.

Revenue (ambitious)

According to data from ABARES, the total commodity value 
of white flesh fish from aquaculture was approximately 
A$150 million in the 2019 calendar year.367 Ten-year 
(2010-11 to 2019-20) average annual commodity value 
growth for the sector was 12.7%. In contrast, five-year 
(2015-16 to 2019-20) average annual commodity 
value growth was a significantly higher 19.9%. 

Assuming that the white flesh fish aquaculture sector 
is able to sustain a reasonably high growth rate and 
that growth in commodity value reflects growth 
in revenues received by aquaculture producers, 
the ambitious scenario sees the sector experiencing 
a ‘mid-point’ average commodity value growth of 16%.

Projecting this forward gives white flesh fish a total revenue 
of A$768.5 million by 2030 for aquaculture producers.

Retail value

Unfortunately, there is limited industry data available 
on pricing of seafood through the various supply 
chains that operate in the sector.368 As with plant-based 
products and microorganism-based protein products 
(see Sections A5 and A6), it is assumed there is a 100% 
price difference between the price received by aquaculture 
producers and the retail price, after transport and logistics, 
warehousing and wholesaling, seafood processing 
and packaging, and other value-chain activities.

In this case, the retail price for white flesh fish from 
Australian aquaculture producers in the conservative scenario 
is A$459 million. It is A$1.5 billion in the ambitious scenario.

Jobs

IBISWorld also provides industry wage forecasts for the 
Australian aquaculture sector. It estimates that, on average, 
from 2019 to 2028, wages will constitute 20% of revenue. 

IBISWorld also predicts that wages will grow 2.9% 
per year on average over the same ten-year period of 
2019 to 2028. By projecting this growth figure forward, 
it is found that average wages in Australian aquaculture 
will be around A$78,200 per employee by 2030.

Under the conservative scenario, dividing the 2030 sector 
wages by 2030 wage per employee, a total of 589 jobs 
is estimated for white flesh fish aquaculture in Australia. 
Under the ambitious scenario, this approach yields 
1,793 jobs. For context, the total aquaculture sector in 
Australia only employs 7,000 people as of 2019-20.369

365 IBISWorld (2021) Aquaculture in Australia.

366 Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (2021) Agricultural commodities and trade data: Rural commodities – fisheries.

367 Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (2021) Agricultural commodities and trade data: Rural commodities – fisheries. 
Average taken across 2018-19 and 2019-20.

368 Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (2016) From farm to retail – how food prices are determined in Australia.

369 Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (2021) Employment in Australian fisheries and aquaculture 2019-20. 
Viewed 29 November 2021. <https://www.awe.gov.au/abares/research-topics/fisheries/fisheries-and-aquaculture-statistics/employment>.



A.5 Plant-based products

It is estimated that Australian domestic retail 
expenditure (of both locally produced and 
imported) finished plant-based products 
will reach A$5 billion in 2030. 

Conservative opportunity: 300,000 tonnes of 
finished product could be produced (sold domestically 
and exported) and worth A$3 billion at retail.

Domestic manufacturing revenue could reach 
A$1.5 billion in annual revenue and 2,110 jobs by 2030. 

Ambitious opportunity: 900,000 tonnes of 
finished product could be produced, driven by 
greater international export market penetration, 
and worth over A$9 billion at retail. 

Domestic manufacturers could experience A$4.5 billion 
in annual revenue and 6,320 jobs by 2030. 

Global and Asian-Pacific consumption 
by volume in 2030

BCG forecasts in their base-case scenario that global 
consumption of finished plant-based products could 
be 69 million metric tonnes globally by 2035 and that 
CAGR from 2030-2035 will average 7%.370 Working 
backwards from 2035, it is possible to estimate the 
2030 global consumption volume at 49 million tonnes. 
Plant-based products will make up approximately 75% 
of global alternative protein consumption in 2030.

Again, working backwards from the 2035 BCG forecasts, 
it is estimated that nearly 42 million tonnes of finished 
alternative protein products will be consumed in the 
Asia-Pacific region in 2030. Assuming that plant-based 
products make up 75% of this consumption at the 
regional level as well, it can be calculated that the 
consumption of finished plant-based products in 
the Asia-Pacific region in 2030 will be equivalent 
to approximately 31 million tonnes of products.

Australia’s share of the global retail market

Technavio estimates that the global plant-based 
products retail market (including meat alternatives, 
milk alternatives, among other plant-based 
products) was A$14.9 billion in 2020.371 

Food Frontier estimates Australian expenditure for 
plant-based meat alternative products (both domestically 
produced and imported) through retail and 
foodservice channels was A$154 million in 2019-20.372 
Further, Australian domestic meat alternatives 
manufacturing revenue was A$69.9 million in 2019-20. 

Using the Technavio global retail estimate of 
A$14.9 billion and the Food Frontier Australian retail 
estimate of A$154 million as a proxy for domestic 
expenditure on plant-based protein alternatives more 
generally, Australia’s share of the global plant-based 
protein retail market is currently approximately 1%.

For the market sizing calculations, it is assumed 
that Australia maintains its current share of the 
global plant-based retail market at 1%.

Australia’s retail consumption by volume in 2030

With the BCG estimate of global consumption volume 
at 49 million tonnes and assuming Australia maintains a 
1% share of the global plant-based protein retail market, 
Australian consumers are expected to purchase around 
492,000 tonnes of finished plant-based products in 2030.

Taking an average selling point of approximately A$10 per kg, 
which would be a conservative retail price benchmark 
for high-end plant-based products to be cost competitive 
with traditional proteins,373 this means that Australian 
retail expenditure will reach nearly A$5 billion by 2030 
(for both domestically produced and imported products).

For context, domestic expenditure on beef was 
approximately A$7.8 billion in 2019, and domestic 
expenditure on lamb was approximately A$2 billion.374 
In terms of volume, total domestic beef and veal 
consumption was estimated at approximately 709,200 
tonnes and sheep consumption at 177,000 tonnes in 2019.375

370 BCG (2021) Food for Thought. 

371 Technavio (2021) Global Plant-based Protein Products Market 2021-2025.

372 Food Frontier (2020) State of the Industry: Australia’s Plant-Based Meat Sector.

373 As is the case with conventional proteins, average revenue per kg is likely higher for high-quality meat alternatives but significantly less for high-volume 
plant-based protein products such as milk alternatives.

374 MLA (2020) 2020 Industry Fast Facts. Viewed 13 December 2021, <https://www.mla.com.au/prices-markets/market-news/2020/2020-industry-fast-facts-released/>.

375 OECD (2021) Agricultural output – meat consumption data. Viewed 13 December 2021, < https://data.oecd.org/agroutput/meat-consumption.htm>.



Australia’s opportunity for local 
manufacturers (conservative)

It is assumed that the average price difference between 
the retail sales price and what food manufacturers receive 
will be 100% once branding, shipping and logistics, 
retail and warehousing, and other value-added activities 
(in both domestic and export supply chains) are added.376 
In other words, manufacturers receive A$5,000 per 
tonne of finished plant-based protein product sold.

Following guidance from stakeholders, it is assumed in 
the conservative scenario that Australia’s plant-based 
products manufacturing sector will produce 
300,000 tonnes (equivalent to approximately 60% of 
the amount sold in Australia), with proportions sold 
domestically and exported to overseas markets. 

Under this conservative scenario, the Australian 
plant-based product manufacturers will generate 
A$3 billion worth of retail products for domestic and 
international consumers. Of this value, A$1.5 billion 
will be received by the manufacturers.

Australia’s opportunity for local 
manufacturers (ambitious)

In the ambitious scenario, it is assumed that Australian 
domestic manufacturers will triple their production volume 
from the conservative scenario’s assumption. That is to say, 
Australia’s production expands due to greater international 
market penetration, with the volume of Australian national 
plant-based protein consumption remaining the same.

Following guidance from stakeholders, in the ambitious 
scenario it is assumed Australian manufacturers produce 
900,000 tonnes of finished plant-based products – 
a significant amount of which is exported to the Asia-Pacific 
region – and earn a total retail revenue of over A$9 billion 
(of which A$4.5 billion is manufacturer revenue). 

Jobs

Few data sources exist for Australia’s plant-based meat 
manufacturing wages, so data was sourced from overseas 
industry indicators. IBISWorld’s estimates for meat 
alternatives production in the United States indicate that 
wages will be 9% of revenue (2018 to 2027 average), that 
wages per employee will be US$52,200 in 2027, and that 
they will grow on average 0.2% per year (2018 to 2027 
average).377 Projecting these wages forward yields a per 
employee wage in 2030 of approximately A$67,600. 

Applying the 9% wage to revenue ratio to the 2030 
Australian plant-based products sector revenue and 
dividing it by the per employee wage yields a job 
count of approximately 2,110 jobs in the conservative 
scenario. In the ambitious scenario, these calculations 
yield a job count of approximately 6,320 jobs.

For context, the Australian plant-based meat industry 
directly employed 246 FTE jobs in 2019-20.378

376 This has been confirmed as an appropriate benchmark through stakeholder consultation and is supported by distribution margins calculated from the ABS 
Input-Output tables: ABS (2021) Australian National Accounts: Input-Output Tables, 2018-19 financial year.

377 IBISWorld (2021) Meat Alternatives Production in the US Industry Report.

378 Food Frontier (2019) Meat the Alternatives: Australia’s $3 Billion Opportunity.



A.6 Precision fermentation

Conservative opportunity: Australia will produce 
75,000 tonnes of finished microorganism-based 
protein products, worth A$750 million at retail.

This equates to A$374 million in annual revenue 
for protein manufacturers and 670 jobs in 2030. 

Ambitious opportunity: Australia will produce 
225,000 tonnes of finished microorganism-based 
protein products, worth A$2.2 billion at retail. 

This equates to A$1.1 billion in annual revenue for 
protein manufacturers and 2,020 jobs by 2030. 

Global opportunity

BCG forecasts in their base-case scenario that global 
consumption of microorganism-based alternative protein 
products could be 22 million metric tonnes by 2035 and 
that CAGR from 2030-2035 will average 8%. Based on this, 
it is possible to estimate that just under 15 million tonnes 
of microorganism-based finished protein products 
might be globally produced and consumed in 2030.379

Australia’s share of the opportunity (conservative)

The lower bound for the market share range for food 
and agriculture opportunities in synthetic biology 
was estimated to be 0.5% for Australia by 2040 in 
CSIRO’s National Synthetic Biology Roadmap.380 

As with the plant-based products modelling 
(see Section A5), it is assumed that Australian 
precision fermentation-derived finished protein 
products will retail on average for A$10 per kg.

For the conservative opportunity, the lower-bound 
of 0.5% was used. Applying 0.5% to the global 2030 
production figure implies that Australia could be 
conservatively supplying around 75,000 tonnes of 
microorganism-based finished protein products through 
fermentation that year to both domestic and overseas 
markets, valued at around A$750 million at retail. 

Australia’s share of the opportunity (ambitious)

According to the Good Foods Institute (GFI), there 
are at least 51 companies focused primarily on 
fermentation for alternative protein applications. 
This lists companies using biomass, traditional and 
precision fermentation methods with microorganisms 
(bacteria, microalgae, protists, and fungi). They identify 
only one Australian company (Nourish Ingredients).381

However, the GFI report is non-exhaustive for Australia. 
Additionally, there are a number of other recent 
fermentation-derived protein companies have been 
founded in Australia (e.g., Change Foods, Eden Brew, 
All G Foods), focused on precision fermentation and 
have raised significant amounts of investment capital. 
Australia has a strong presence in the precision 
fermentation emerging industry, beyond merely one or 
two key companies, along with readily available access 
to sugar and biomass feedstock, a strong IP regime, 
and geographic proximity to the Asia-Pacific market.

So, based on this contextual information above, it has 
been assumed for the ambitious scenario that Australia 
could capture 1.5% of the market share (representing 
how the country currently represents over 1.5% of current 
precision fermentation companies globally). This means 
Australia could be ambitiously supplying around 
225,000 tonnes of microorganism-based protein products 
through fermentation that year to both domestic and 
overseas markets, valued at around A$2.2 billion at retail.

379 BCG (2021) Food for Thought. 

380 CSIRO Futures (2021) A National Synthetic Biology Roadmap: Identifying commercial and economic opportunities for Australia.

381 Good Food Institute (2021) 2020 State of the Industry.



Revenue

As with the plant-based products manufacturing price 
benchmark, it is assumed that Australian precision 
fermentation-derived protein manufacturers will earn 
on average A$5,000 per tonne of protein product sold.

Therefore, taking around the conservative BAU scenario 
for how much Australia supplies in 2030, it can be said 
that Australian precision fermentation facilities could be 
producing over A$374 million worth of protein products in 
2030. For the ambitious scenario, this becomes A$1.1 billion.

Jobs

As with the CSIRO Synthetic Biology report,382 biotechnology 
was used as a proxy industry to calculate the future jobs of 
the precision fermentation protein industry for Australia. 
Figures from the 2021 IBISWorld report on biotechnology in 
Australia were used.383 Following the same method as the 
Synthetic Biology report, the 2030 average wage per worker 
was calculated at approximately A$145,000. Additionally, 
the ten-year average wage/revenue ratio was calculated 
to be approximately 26% for the 2018-2027 period. 

Taking these figures, along with the total revenue 
figure above, the total employment is estimated to 
be around 670 jobs in the conservative scenario 
and 2,020 jobs in the ambitious scenario.

A.7 Cultivated meats

Global opportunity: A$26 billion in global sales by 2030.

Global opportunity

McKinsey predicts that cultivated meat could reach 
US$20 billion by 2030 in a medium growth scenario 
where cultivated meat can replicate processed meat 
and whole cuts; with sales limited to North America, 
Europe, and select Asia-Pacific countries.384 

They also provide a low growth 2030 scenario of 
US$5 billion where cultivated meat is only able to replace 
processed meats and sales limited to North America, 
Europe, and parts of the Asia-Pacific. Likewise, they 
provide a 2030 high growth scenario of US$25 billion 
where it can replicate a variety of cuts and reaches parts of 
meat-consuming countries and regions around the world. 

The medium growth scenario of US$20 billion by 2030 
was adopted and converted to Australian dollars.385 
This gives a figure of approximately A$26 billion. Only the 
global opportunity is presented here because, while it 
is likely that Australian R&D into cultivated meat will 
progress, it is unlikely there will be many cultivated meat 
products commercially available in Australia by 2030.

It should be noted that estimates for cultivated meat are 
currently highly variable given the emerging nature of 
the product, with few revenue forecasts available and 
conflicting production volume forecasts. McKinsey projects 
1.5 million tonnes being produced by 2030 under their 
medium growth scenario. In contrast, Frost & Sullivan 
forecasts an even smaller figure of 26,000 tonnes 
in demand for cell-cultured protein by 2030.386

382 CSIRO Futures (2021) A National Synthetic Biology Roadmap: Identifying commercial and economic opportunities for Australia.

383 IBISWorld (2021) Australia Industry (Anzsic) Report X0001, Biotechnology in Australia.

384 McKinsey & Company (2021) Cultivated meat: Out of the lab, into the frying pan. Viewed 29 November 2021, <https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/
agriculture/our-insights/cultivated-meat-out-of-the-lab-into-the-frying-pan>.

385 1 USD = 1.29 AUD based on the 2000 to 2020 exchange rate average.

386 Frost & Sullivan (2021) Global Meat Analogs Protein Ingredients Growth Opportunities.



Appendix E – Emerging 
protein opportunities

R&D is enabling many new protein production systems that have the potential to contribute to the global protein mix. 
The table below identifies other possible protein opportunities that could be value-adding in Australia. 

Table 14: Emerging protein opportunities 

OPPORTUNITY

DESCRIPTION

EXAMPLES

Protein from 
air (CO2) 

Protein made from captured 
atmospheric carbon (in some 
cases, from industrial emissions) 
and microbial fermentation using 
single-cell bacteria. Mid-stage TRL* 
with limited commercial products. 

• Air Protein (USA) – Focus on scaling up the production of air-based meat 
and demonstrating the versatility of platform to make products across a 
variety of categories, including poultry, beef, pork, and seafood.387 
• Solar Foods (FI) – Protein product (Solein) submitted to the EU 
Commission for novel food approval. Solar Foods estimates that 
commercial production will begin in the first half of 2023.388 
• Deep Branch (UK) – Scalable, sustainable generation of high value protein 
using microbes to convert carbon dioxide from industrial emissions into 
protein that is used in fish and poultry feed.389


Protein from 
plastic 

Harnessing bacteria that naturally 
break down plastics into protein. 
Very early TRL.

• Food Generator (US/DE) – Early-stage research collaboration 
from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Michigan 
Technological University.390


Mycoprotein / 
fungal 

Harnessing naturally existing proteins 
produced by fungi and mycelium for 
alternative meat and feed products. 
Mid- to late-stage TRL with numerous 
commercial scale examples. 

• Quorn (UK) – Commercially producing mycoprotein products for 
19 countries, through fermentation of a fungus found in soil.391 
• Nature’s Fynd (US) – Scaling production of Fy fungi protein ingredient 
in a new commercial facility in Chicago.392 
• Fable Foods (AU) – Expanding Australian and overseas production of 
alternative meat products using protein ingredients found in shiitake 
mushrooms.393
• Novozymes (DE) – Launched a global platform for research institutions, 
NGOs, and companies to receive scale-up support for fungal and 
mycelium protein products under development.394 


Animal free 
whole cuts

Similar to mycoprotein (above), 
fermented protein products that aim to 
mimic whole cuts of meat with fibrous, 
aligned, intact tissues. Mid-stage TRL 
as prototypes and production facilities 
are still under development. 

• Meati (USA) – Developing mycelium based single ingredient, whole-cut 
steak and chicken products. Planning construction of a production plant 
and commercial launch in 2022.395
• Atlast Food Co (USA) – Creating whole cut plant-based meats like bacon 
and steak using mycelium.396






387 Air Protein (2021) FAQ and Resources. Viewed 16 November 2021, <https://www.airprotein.com/faq-and-resources>.

388 Solar Foods (2021) Solein submitted to the European Commission for novel food approval. Viewed 16 November 2021, <https://solarfoods.fi/our-news/
solein-submitted-to-the-european-commission-for-novel-food-approval/>.

389 Deep Branch (2020) Ground-breaking carbon recycling project launches with £3million Innovate UK funding. Viewed 16 November 2021, <https://
deepbranch.com/2020/07/17/react-first_launch/>.

390 Merck (2021) A Food Generator that turns waste into meals. Viewed 16 November 2021, <https://www.merckgroup.com/en/research/science-space/
envisioning-tomorrow/scarcity-of-resources/food-generator.html>. 

391 Souza Filho PF, Andersson D, Ferreira JA and Taherzadeh MJ (2019) Mycoprotein: environmental impact and health aspects. World Journal of Microbiology & 
Biotechnology 35(10), 147. DOI: 10.1007/S11274-019-2723-9./60

392 Food Navigator USA (2021) Nature’s Fynd raises $350m in Series C to build nutritional fungi protein platform, gears up for late 2021 launch. Viewed 17 
November 2021, <https://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Article/2021/07/19/Nature-s-Fynd-raises-350m-in-Series-C-to-build-nutritional-fungi-protein-platform-
gears-up-for-late-2021-launch>.

393 Shu C (2021) Mushroom-based meat alternative startup Fable Food raises $6.5M AUD, will launch in the US. Viewed 17 November 2021, <https://techcrunch.
com/2021/08/11/mushroom-based-meat-alternative-startup-fable-food-raises-6-5m-aud-will-launch-in-the-u-s/>.

394 Novozymes (2021) Novozymes is combining cutting-edge science and business expertise to help feed the world sustainably. Viewed 17 November 2021, 
<https://www.novozymes.com/en/news/news-archive/2021/9/novozymes-is-combining-cutting-edge-science-and-business-expertise>.

395 Sovino C (2021) Expect Fungi-Based Steak On Your Plate By 2022: Meati Raises $50 Million. Viewed 16 November 2021, <https://www.forbes.com/sites/
chloesorvino/2021/07/06/expect-fungi-based-steak-on-your-plate-by-2022-meati-raises-50-million/?sh=13906a213264>.

396 Atlast (2021) Bio. Viewed 16 November 2021, <https://www.atlastfood.co/media-kit>.



OPPORTUNITY

DESCRIPTION

EXAMPLES

Microalgae

Growing a variety of algae species, 
able to produce protein ingredients 
using carbon dioxide, light, and 
sea or bore water. Mid-stage TRL as 
prototypes and pilot facilities are still 
under development. 

• Venus Shell Systems (AU) – Developing a pilot seaweed farm that uses 
light, carbon dioxide, water, and residue to produce molecules used in a 
range of products including foods (muesli, pasta), digestive health and 
skin care products.397
• Provectus Algae (AU) — Expecting to use an industrial scale algae 
platform for commercially viable bulk protein production within the next 
decade (by 2031).398 
• Algae Pharm (AU) – Growing commercial quantities of algae in ponds 
of bore water and salt; planning use in alternative protein products for 
livestock, pet, and human consumption.399


Protein 
production in 
plants using 
disarmed viral 
vectors 

Viral vectors can be used to temporarily 
direct the production of food, chemicals, 
and pharmaceutical proteins in plants. 
These vectors offer improvements to the 
yield and speed of protein production 
in plant-based manufacturing.400 
Very early TRL.

• Researchers in the US have used a disarmed viral vector to produce 
antibodies against the Ebola virus in a plant related to tobacco.401
• Researchers in Spain have used a viral vector to produce antifungal 
proteins in a plant related to tobacco. These antifungal proteins have 
potential uses in both medicine and agriculture.402 


Artificial 
Intelligence 
(AI)/machine 
learning 
informed 
alternate 
protein 

Using computer models to accelerate 
development of microbial strains able 
to produce novel food properties and 
ingredients. Mid-stage TRL.

• NotCo (CL) – using AI to develop plant-based foods such as meat and milk 
alternative products. AI is used to create recipes that match the taste, 
colour or texture of existing foods or result in new flavours.403
• Amai Proteins (IL) – creating proteins with novel properties for the mass 
food market using computational protein design and fermentation.404
• Protera (FR/CL) – applying deep learning to large protein databases 
to predict the structure and function of proteins that can enable new 
and improved food products. In 2020, Protera raised $5.6 million scale 
production of a natural protein preservative for baked goods.405 


Cell cultured 
beverages

Cultivating mammalian cells 
to produce beverages that are 
nutritionally and functionally 
comparable to animal-based products. 
Early to mid-stage TRL.

• BioMilk (IL) – culturing mammary cells from cows, sheep, or camels to 
produce alternative milk products without livestock farms. BioMilk is 
working to improve production efficiency and eventually licence their 
technology to the dairy industry.406 
• BIOMILQ (US) – culturing human mammary cells to produce an infant milk 
product that is nutritionally similar to breastmilk.407 Raised $21 million in 
2021 for process development and optimisation.408






*TRL: Technology Readiness Level

397 ABC (2020) New seaweed processing plant opens in southern NSW - The Science Show. Viewed 17 November 2021, <https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/
programs/scienceshow/new-seaweed-processing-plant-opens-in-southern-nsw/12512334>.

398 Watson E (2021) ‘If we can control the light, we can control the DNA…’ Provectus Algae unlocks algae’s potential as an industrial platform for high-value 
ingredients. Viewed 17 November 2021, <https://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Article/2021/07/06/If-we-can-control-the-light-we-can-control-the-DNA-
Provectus-Algae-unlocks-algae-s-potential-as-an-industrial-platform-for-high-value-ingredients>.

399 ABC News (2020) Rural algae farm produces alternative plant-based protein, rich in Omega-3, in Goondiwindi. Viewed 17 November 2021, <https://www.
abc.net.au/news/rural/2020-06-16/goondiwindi-outback-algae-farm-producing-plant-based-protein/12317032>.

400 Kopertekh L and Schiemann J (2017) Transient Production of Recombinant Pharmaceutical Proteins in Plants: Evolution and Perspectives. Current Medicinal 
Chemistry 26(3), 365–380. DOI: 10.2174/0929867324666170718114724.

401 Phoolcharoen W, Bhoo SH, Lai H, Ma J, Arntzen CJ, Chen Q and Mason HS (2011) Expression of an immunogenic Ebola immune complex in Nicotiana 
benthamiana. Plant biotechnology journal 9(7), 807–816. DOI: 10.1111/J.1467-7652.2011.00593.X.

402 Shi X, Cordero T, Garrigues S, Marcos JF, Daròs JA and Coca M (2019) Efficient production of antifungal proteins in plants using a new transient expression 
vector derived from tobacco mosaic virus. Plant Biotechnology Journal 17(6), 1069–1080. DOI: 10.1111/PBI.13038.

403 London L (2020) NotCo: Creating Plant-Based Food Alternatives with AI. Viewed 22 November 2021, <https://digital.hbs.edu/platform-digit/submission/
notco-creating-plant-based-food-alternatives-with-ai/>.

404 Amai Proteins (2018) Home. Viewed 22 November 2021, <https://www.amaiproteins.com/>.

405 Cumbers J (2020) Say Goodbye To Moldy Bread: AI-Driven Biotech Startup Is Fermenting Natural Ingredients To Double Bakery Shelf Life. Viewed 22 
November 2021, <https://www.forbes.com/sites/johncumbers/2020/07/07/startup-protera-rises-in-the-51-billion-clean-label-market-with-cultured-
ingredients-that-double-bakery-shelf-life/>.

406 Watson E (2021) Cell-cultured milk: Tech fantasy or a liquid goldmine? BioMilk goes public. Viewed 29 November 2021, <https://www.foodnavigator-usa.
com/Article/2021/04/23/Cell-cultured-milk-Tech-fantasy-or-a-liquid-goldmine-BioMilk-goes-public>.

407 Watson E (2021) Cell-cultured human milk will be nutritional gamechanger for infant formula, says BIOMILQ, ‘but it’s not bio-identical to mother’s milk’. 
Viewed 29 November 2021, <https://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Article/2021/06/01/Cell-cultured-human-milk-will-be-nutritional-gamechanger-for-infant-
formula-says-BIOMILQ-but-it-s-not-bio-identical-to-mother-s-milk>.

408 Watson E (2021) BIOMILQ raises $21m in series A round to accelerate production of cell-cultured human milk. Viewed 29 November 2021, <https://www.
foodnavigator-usa.com/Article/2021/10/20/BIOMILQ-raises-21m-in-series-A-round-to-accelerate-production-of-cell-cultured-human-milk>.



Appendix F – Country-based 
protein initiatives

Table 15: Select countries and associated protein initiatives

COUNTRY

PROTEIN FOCUSED INITIATIVES

Australia

Relevant national initiatives include:

• Ag2030 – Government plans to exceed $100 billion farm gate output by 2030.409 
• CSIRO’s Future Protein Mission – Aiming to create new protein ingredients and products that earn an additional 
$10 billion in revenue by 2030.410 
• National Agriculture Innovation Policy Statement – sets out four new innovation priorities for Australian agriculture 
(exports, climate resilience, biosecurity and digital agriculture).411 
• The Modern Manufacturing Strategy – includes food manufacturing as a key focus area.412 


Strong focus on agriculture and food systems: 

• In 2021-22, agricultural production is expected to reach a record value of over $78 billion.413 
• Exports make up approximately 70% of the value of agriculture, forestry, and fisheries production.414
• Agriculture accounts for over half (55%) of land use and a quarter (25%) of water extractions in Australia.415


The 
Netherlands

Reputation for food and agricultural accelerators:

• Startlife – accelerator that has helped to grow 3,000+ companies and is well positioned to support plant-based 
protein opportunities.416 
• OnePlanet Research Centre – focussed on digital and AI approaches to food sustainability.417 


Home to Foodvalley: 

• A region of the Netherlands has been labelled the ‘Silicon Valley of food’ given the number of food companies and 
agriculture innovation research centres in the area.418
• Protein cluster – a Foodvalley business network supporting collaboration across all levels of the supply chain.419






409 Department of Agriculture Water and the Environment (2021) Delivering Ag2030. Viewed 20 January 2022, <https://www.awe.gov.au/agriculture-land/farm-
food-drought/ag2030>.

410 CSIRO (n.d.) Future Protein. Viewed 8 November 2021, <https://www.csiro.au/en/about/challenges-missions/future-protein-mission>.

411 Department of Agriculture Water and the Environment (2021) National Agricultural Innovation Policy Statement.

412 Australian Government (2020) Make It Happen: The Australian Government’s Modern Manufacturing Strategy. Canberra.

413 Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (2021) Agricultural overview: December quarter 2021. Viewed 20 December 2021, <https://www.
awe.gov.au/abares/research-topics/agricultural-outlook/agriculture-overview>.

414 Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (2021) Snapshot of Australian Agriculture 2021. ABARES Insights (2). DOI: 
10.1071/9780643094659.

415 Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (2021) Snapshot of Australian Agriculture 2021. ABARES Insights (2). DOI: 
10.1071/9780643094659.

416 Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency (2020) No Beef Here: How the Dutch are Innovating Plant-Based Proteins. Viewed 20 January 2022, <https://
investinholland.com/news/no-beef-here-how-the-dutch-are-innovating-plant-based-proteins/>.

417 OnePlanet Research Center (2021) Home. Viewed 20 January 2022, <https://oneplanetresearch.nl/>.

418 Fast Company & Inc (2020) How the Netherlands became a plant-based protein powerhouse. Viewed 20 January 2022, <https://www.fastcompany.
com/90573547/how-the-netherlands-became-a-plant-based-protein-powerhouse>.

419 The Protein Cluster (2018) The Protein Cluster. Viewed 20 January 2022, <https://www.theproteincluster.com/tpc/>.



COUNTRY

PROTEIN FOCUSED INITIATIVES

Canada

Strong ecosystem for plant-based proteins:

• Canada offers a combination of features including access to raw commodities, international trade agreements, 
an attractive innovation ecosystem and a highly integrated supply chain.420 
• Up to CA$173 million of funding has been committed to the Protein Industries Supercluster.421


Canada has set ambitious plans in their 2035 roadmap for the protein sector including:422

• Aiming to become a hub for plant-based protein innovation.
• Adding an additional CA$25 billion to plant-based sales per year.
• Implementing regulatory system changes to enable the development and commercialisation of plant-based foods
• Building, expanding, attracting and retaining companies (including internationals).


Singapore

Strong focus on alternative proteins:

• Singapore’s Agfood strategy includes sustainable proteins as a core theme. 
• First regulatory approval of cultured meat and the only country where alternative protein sales include cell-based 
products.423
• Food Tech Innovation Centre to receive more than SG$30 million of investment funding from Temasek and A*STAR 
over 3 years.424 
• Good Protein Fund (capital from 32 companies) established to guide companies on IP, org design, scale-up, 
recruitment and fundraising activities.425
• Home to South East Asia’s most advanced infrastructure for scaling plant-based proteins. 426


China

Focus on alternative protein production:

• Cultivated meat was included in China’s official Five-Year Agricultural Plan. According to GFI APAC, this indicates a 
national interest in cultivated meat and a high chance of future government funding in the area.427 
• Government R&D program called ‘Green Biological Manufacturing’ supported by US$93 million in funding for 
plant-based and cultivated meat manufacturing.428
• Nestle invested AU$155 million for a new plant-based product production facility in China.429






420 Protein Industries Canada (2021) Sector Roadmap 2035. Viewed 21 January 2022, <https://www.proteinindustriescanada.ca/sector-roadmap>.

421 Government of Canada (2021) Canada’s Protein Industries Supercluster. Viewed 21 January 2022, <https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/093.nsf/eng/00012.html>.

422 Protein Industries Canada (2021) Sector Roadmap 2035. Viewed 21 January 2022, <https://www.proteinindustriescanada.ca/sector-roadmap>.

423 Green Queen (2020) Breaking: Eat Just Wins World’s First Regulatory Approval For Cell-Based Meat In Singapore. Viewed 20 January 2022, <https://www.
greenqueen.com.hk/amp/breaking-eat-just-wins-worlds-first-regulatory-approval-for-cell-based-meat-in-singapore/>.

424 Temasek (2021) Temasek establishes the Asia Sustainable Foods Platform to accelerate the commercialisation of sustainable foods in Asia. Viewed 21 January 
2022, <https://www.temasek.com.sg/en/news-and-resources/news-room/news/2021/Temasek-establishes-Asia-Sustainable-Foods-Platform-accelerate-
commercialisation-sustainable-foods>.

425 Green Queen (2021) Good Protein Fund I: Singapore VC Raises US$25M To Build Sustainable Food System Through Alt Proteins. Viewed 21 January 2022, 
<https://www.greenqueen.com.hk/good-protein-fund-i-singapore-vc-raises-us25m-to-build-sustainable-food-system-through-alt-proteins/>.

426 Good Food Institute APAC (2021) MAPPED: Singapore’s Plant-Based Meat B2B Ecosystem. Viewed 21 January 2022, <https://www.gfi-apac.org/blog/mapped-
singapores-plant-based-meat-b2b-ecosystem/>.

427 Vegconomist (2022) China’s Five-Year Agricultural Plan Includes Cultivated Meat for the First Time Ever. Viewed 31 January 2022, <https://vegconomist.com/
cultivated/five-year-agricultural-plan/>.

428 The Good Food Institute (2021) Look closer: China is quietly making moves on cultivated meat. Viewed 21 January 2022, <https://gfi.org/blog/china-is-
making-moves-on-cultivated-meat/>.

429 Food & Drink Business (2020) Nestlé expands China operations. Viewed 22 January 2022, <https://www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au/news/nestl-expands-
china-operations>.



COUNTRY

PROTEIN FOCUSED INITIATIVES

Denmark

Strong focus on plants-based protein: 430

• The Danish government have dedicated EU€168 million to plant-based research and development.
• An EU€78 million eco-scheme will pay Danish farmers bonuses for growing plant-based protein crops for human 
consumption.
• Denmark’s green proteins strategy for animals and humans has been backed by EU€35 million in funding over five 
years. 


New Zealand

Working on emerging alternative protein opportunities: 

• Partnering with Singapore to research alternative protein opportunities, dedicating NZ$11.8 million into the 
New Zealand-Singapore Bilateral Research programme on future foods.431
• Emerging Proteins NZ network set up to accelerate development of New Zealand’s alternative proteins sector.432


USA

Reduced meat consumption and an increase in alternative protein opportunities:

• American Heart Association’s dietary guidelines have recommended reducing animal-based meat consumption.433
• The USDA could guarantee up to US$200 million in loans for alternative protein companies.434
• Two of the most well-known plant-based protein companies were founded in the US (Impossible and Beyond Meat).435
• A market leader in synthetic biology R&D and scale-up, creating a favourable ecosystem for precision fermentation 
opportunities.436 


Israel

Hub for alternative protein innovation:

• Investments in alternative proteins are growing quickly with US$114 million raised in 2020, eight times greater than 
2018 investment capital.437 
• According to GFI’s database, Israel comprises 6% of alternative protein start-ups globally.438 
• Home to Super Meat a restaurant test kitchen allowing consumers to try cultivated chicken, 3D-printed cell-based 
meat and other alternative protein innovations.439 
• Released an Alternative Protein National Plan in 2020, a roadmap for Israel to become a global leader in alternative 
proteins.440






430 GFI Europe (2021) Denmark announces 1 billion kroner for plant-based foods in historic climate agreement. Viewed 22 January 2022, <https://gfieurope.org/
blog/denmark-plant-based-investment-in-climate-agreement/>.

431 New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (2020) Singapore: Alternative Proteins. Viewed 31 January 2022, <https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/trade/
mfat-market-reports/market-reports-asia/singapore-alternative-proteins-9-december-2020/>.

432 Emerging Proteins NZ (2021) What will it take for the sector to thrive? Emerging Proteins in Aotearoa New Zealand: What will it take for the sector to thrive?

433 Geraghty M, Leonard J and Metrick C (2019) Sustainable Protein: Investing for Impact at the Nexus of Environment, Human Health and Animal Welfare.

434 The Breakthrough Institute (2020) Federal Support for Alternative Protein for Economic Recovery and Climate Mitigation.

435 Food & Drink Business (2021) Report: Australian plant-based protein sector doubles in a year. Viewed 23 January 2022, <https://www.foodanddrinkbusiness.
com.au/news/report-australian-plant-based-protein-sector-doubles-in-a-year>.

436 Bergin J (2020) Synthetic Biology: Global Markets.

437 GFI Israel (2021) Israel State of Alternative Protein Innovation Report 2021.

438 Green Queen (2021) Israel Alternative Protein Companies Tripled Investment In 2020, New Data Shows. Viewed 21 January 2022, <https://www.greenqueen.
com.hk/israel-alternative-protein-companies-tripled-investment-in-2020-new-data-shows/>.

439 Green Queen (2020) Israel’s Prime Minister Tries Aleph Farms Cultivated Steak & Pledges Government Support For Cell-Based Meat. Viewed 20 January 2022, 
<https://www.greenqueen.com.hk/amp/israels-prime-minister-tries-aleph-farms-cultivated-steak-pledges-government-support-for-cell-based-meat/>.

440 GFI Israel (2021) Israel State of Alternative Protein Innovation Report 2021.



Appendix G – Glossary 

Absorptive 
capacity

A firm’s ability to identify, incorporate and apply 
new knowledge from external sources.441 

Agriculture 
4.0

The next generation of technologies set to 
revolutionise the agriculture and food sector, 
including robotics, remote sensing and machine 
learning, bioscience, novel farming techniques, and 
food innovation and processing.442 

Bioreactor

A culture vessel designed for growing organisms 
(yeast, bacteria or animal cells) under controlled 
conditions. They provide an effective environment 
for industrial scale conversion of raw materials into 
useful products.443

Cell culture 
media

Any gel or liquid that supplies the nutrients 
necessary for cell cultures to survive and grow 
in an artificial environment.444 

Circularity

A term used to describe environmental, economic 
and technical systems that aim to eliminate waste 
and maximise the reuse of resources. 

Co-products

Secondary red meat products that are still valuable 
but less so than primary cuts of meat such as 
skin, bones, blood and organs.445 Co-products are 
generally only intended for human consumption, 
whereas by-products can refer to edible or inedible 
materials.446

Crop 
pre-breeding

Involves identifying and isolating desirable genetic 
traits (e.g. disease resistance) in crop wild relatives 
and introducing these into breeding lines that can 
be readily crossed with modern crop varieties.447 

Cultivated 
meats 

The creation of animal cell-based proteins using 
tissue engineering concepts. Also known as 
cell-based meat, cell cultured meat, in vitro meat, 
lab grown meat and clean meat.

Fractionation

Process that uses the difference in size, shape and 
density of starch, protein and fibre to separate 
these components of crops. Fractionation can 
occur via wet or dry processes.448 

Hydrolysis

A chemical reaction between a chemical substance 
(e.g. salts, proteins and fats) and water that leads to 
the decomposition of the substance and water.449 

Industry 4.0

The fourth shift in manufacturing enabled by a set 
of technologies including big data, autonomous 
robots, smart and autonomous systems, additive 
manufacturing, the Internet of Things (IoT) and 
machine learning.450 

In vitro

Biological processes made to occur in an artificial 
environment outside a living organism.451

Life Cycle 
Analysis (LCA)

A tool used to assess the environmental impact of 
a product’s entire life span, from production until 
after the product is no longer used.452 

Nutraceuticals

Products consumed for specific medicinal, health, 
wellness and/or additional nutritional benefits 
(usually food-derived). This includes vitamins, 
supplements and minerals. Nutraceuticals 
often result from the convergence of food and 
pharmaceutical technologies.453

Offal

Offal includes a variety of non-muscular parts of 
beef, sheep and lamb carcasses such as tongue, 
kidneys, liver and thyroid glands.454

Precision 
fermentation

A process that uses microorganism strains such as 
bacteria and yeast to produce specific functional 
ingredients such as proteins for global food supply 
purposes.

Prions

Transmissible pathogenic agents that can lead to 
abnormal folding of normal cellular proteins called 
prion proteins. The abnormal folding of these proteins 
leads to brain damage in humans and animals and is a 
characteristic sign of prion diseases.455

Synthetic 
biology

The application of engineered biological solutions 
to industrial, health and environmental challenges.

Technology 
Readiness 
Level (TRL)

A benchmarking tool used to track progress and 
development of a technology from early stage 
research (TRL 1) to system demonstration over its 
full range of expected conditions (TRL 9).456 





441 Lane PJ and Lubatkin MH (1998) Relative absorptive capacity and interorganizational learning. Strategic Management Journal 19(5), 461–477.

442 Australian Trade and Investment Commission (2019) Australia: Shaping the future of food and agriculture.

443 Reisfeld B (2021) Bioreactors — Introduction to Chemical and Biological Engineering. Viewed 1 February 2022, <https://www.engr.colostate.edu/CBE101/
topics/bioreactors.html>.

444 Technology Networks (2020) Which Cell Culture Media Is Right for You? Viewed 1 February 2022, <https://www.technologynetworks.com/cell-science/
articles/which-cell-culture-media-is-right-for-you-331552>.

445 Toldrá F, Reig M and Mora L (2021) Management of meat by- and co-products for an improved meat processing sustainability. Meat Science 181. DOI: 
10.1016/J.MEATSCI.2021.108608.

446 SciTech Connect (2018) The difference between meat processing co-products and by-products. Viewed 7 February 2022, <https://scitechconnect.elsevier.
com/the-difference-between-meat-processing-co-products/>.

447 Crop Trust (2019) Pre-breeding: Harnessing the Power of the Wild.

448 USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council (2022) Fractionated Pulses. Viewed 1 February 2022, <https://www.usapulses.org/technical-manual/chapter-5-applications/
fractionated-pulses>.

449 Obodovskiy I (2019) Chapter 33 - Basics of Biochemistry. Radiation: Fundamentals, Applications, Risks, and Safety. Elsevier.

450 Swinburne (2022) What is Industry 4.0. Viewed 21 January 2022, <https://www.swinburne.edu.au/about/strategy-initiatives/industry-4-0/what-is-industry-4-0/>.

451 Collins English Dictionary (2022) In vitro definition and meaning. Viewed 27 January 2022, <https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/in-vitro>.

452 PRé Sustainability (2020) Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) explained. Viewed 27 January 2022, <https://pre-sustainability.com/articles/life-cycle-assessment-lca-basics/>.

453 CSIRO (2020) Victoria’s Nutraceutical Industry.

454 Encyclopaedia Britannica (2021) Offal. Viewed 21 January 2022, <https://www.britannica.com/topic/offal>.

455 CDC (2021) Prion Diseases. Viewed 1 February 2022, <https://www.cdc.gov/prions/index.html>.

456 ARENA (2019) Technology Readiness Level Guide.



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