2019年8月28日

The food revolution - Trends disrupting the food industry

Challenges

Population growth The UN estimates farmers will need to produce at least 50% more food by 2050 because populations are growing and incomes are rising. Climate change Changing weather conditions will have a major impact on food production. According to the UN, the most important agricultural regions worldwide may face substantial declines in agricultural output due to climate-related changes (e.g. extreme heat).Water access Water use has tripled since the 1950s and demand continues to soar. Under current trends, demand for water will exceed supply by 40 % in 2030.Food waste The UN estimates 1.3 billion tons of food are lost or wasted annually, equating to roughly one-third of global food production.

Drivers of change

Consumer demands Demographic shifts are disrupting how food will be consumed in the future. Surging middle-class growth and increasing consumer demand for transparency and nutritious alternatives are forcing the food industry to adapt. Digital living The food and agriculture industry is on the cusp of digital revolution. New technological advances and their proliferation across industries are gradually ushering in a new wave of food-related innovation. Show less The speed of innovation led the WEF to declare 2016 the start of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.Profit with impact Governments all over the world are increasingly paying more attention to the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Moreover, policymaker's decisions will be significantly influenced by climate-related changes, as people pressure city municipalities to clean the air, and food producers to reduce GHG emissions and waste, and rebuild biodiversity.

Solutions

Food innovation Gene-editing, plant-based protein, 3D food printing, and personalized nutrition can make food much healthier. Smart farming Vertical farming, lab-grown food, and algae aquaculture, and the components of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (big data and AI) can reduce resource use, boost yields, and improve crop resilience.

Overall market: USD 700bn market by 2030 Overall, we estimate the food innovation opportunity represents a USD 700bn market by 2030. We expect it to grow more than fivefold, at a 15% CAGR, from USD 135bn in 2018.

Russia came out the winner of this year's G7 summit despite being kicked out

The prevailing takeaway from this year's G7 summit was that it resulted in little progress on many of the most pressing problems the global community faces.At the conclusion of the meeting, members agreed to endorse just a one-page document, and the summit ended with no tangible commitment on issues like Iran, global warming, and trade.

Trump's defense of Putin was all the more noteworthy given that Russia isn't even in the G7. It was booted from the group — known as the G8 at the time — in 2014 after it violated international law by annexing Crimea from Ukraine.In addition to continuing to encroach on Ukraine, the Russian government interfered in the 2016 US election and was behind the attempted assassination of a former Russian spy in the UK.

In fact, according to multiple media reports, Trump faced significant blowback from other G7 members when he raised the idea at a private dinner on Saturday night.The Washington Post reported that the meal began cordially, with a discussion of the wildfires in the Amazon, and then moved on to addressing Iran's nuclear threat.

One Russia expert noted that the country's state-run media reacted to Trump's G7 performance with laughter and mockery.Trump also said he would "certainly invite" Putin to next year's G7 summit as his guest. But he said Putin might "psychologically" not want to attend after Russia was kicked out of the group.

Peloton, the buzzy exercise-bike startup that ignited the connected-fitness craze, has filed for an IPO

Peloton is going public. The buzzy maker of expensive internet-connected stationary bikes and treadmills publicly released paperwork for an initial public offering on Tuesday.Describing itself as both a media company and a global technology platform, Peloton said it planned to trade on the Nasdaq exchange under the "PTON" ticker.

Peloton did not say how much money it planned to raise in the offering or the valuation it is seeking. The filing pegs the IPO at $500 million, though that is just a placeholder number that will almost certainly change.Peloton is the latest in a parade of richly valued, high-profile startups to list shares on the public markets this year, along with ride-sharing companies Uber and Lyft, social networking firm Pinterest and coworking startup WeWork.

Peloton said it has more than 500,000 paying subscribers, who pay between $19 and $40 a month for access to live exercise classes featuring adrenaline-fueled instructors, thumping music, and flashy showlike production. Many of the members have also purchased the company's $2,000 stationary bike.

Building out this exercise "media" platform is not cheap. With salespeople demonstrating its equipment in 74 showrooms, Peloton's sales and marketing expenses more than doubled from $151 million in fiscal 2018 to $324 million in 2019. Peloton's costs of revenue for subscriptions, which include music-royalty payments, also surged in the past year.

According to the filing, Peloton saw its losses nearly quadruple over the course of a single fiscal year, from a $47.9 million net loss in 2018 to a $245.7 million net loss in fiscal 2019. In the same time period, revenue rose from $435 million to $915 million.