Food Frontier’s AltProteins 24 conference returns to Melbourne on 10 October this year, gathering players from across Australia and New Zealand’s plant-based foods, cultivated meat, and precision fermentation industries.
The event – which is entering its third year – brings together professionals in primary production, investment, R&D, academia, government, manufacturing, foodservice, and retail to address the top trends and challenges in the ANZ alternative protein sector.
Last year’s event drew 400 industry experts who discussed topics such as the rise of the ‘conscious consumer’, company consolidation, and the role of food service in advancing the sector.
It was also host to a rare, face-to-face panel between regulator Food Standard Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) and Vow, Australia’s first company to apply for certification of a cultivated meat product.
According to Food Frontier, AltProteins 24 will feature workshops on accessing global markets, cellular agriculture bridging evidence gaps with accountability, and the pressing challenges and solutions facing cultivated meat. The think tank added that with global food systems estimated to account for one quarter to one third of all greenhouse gas emissions, this year’s conference will spotlight sustainability.
Food Frontier CEO, Dr Simon Eassom, said that sustainability is top of mind for many food businesses and is still an issue that manufacturers, ingredient suppliers, and retailers “need to get their head around”.
“We also need governments to implement policy and funding, we need businesses to invest and collaborate, we need academia and research to prioritise R&D, and ultimately, we need consumers to adopt more sustainable foods,” said Dr Eassom.
“AltProteins 24 will include a debate on the most efficient strategies for advancing the food-as-a-climate-change-issue agenda and promoting alternative proteins as a viable solution. We look forward to this discussion which will involve experts from many different disciplines.”
Minister for Agriculture Ros Spence said: “We are proud to sponsor the AltProteins conference for a third year, encouraging innovation, sustainability, and growth in the agriculture industry. We are investing in pulse research as part of the Government’s Agriculture Strategy, which is working towards enhancing the commercialisation of research and innovation, ensuring our agriculture sector is stronger and sustainable.”
In addition to the diverse series of workshops, Food Frontier said delegates can look forward to tasting a wide range of plant-based meat dishes prepared by expert chefs.
The 2024 conference will be held at Sofitel on Collins, Melbourne and is being sponsored by the Victorian Government as lead sponsor through support from Agriculture Victoria, Global Victoria, and Invest Victoria. Other sponsors include Merck, Eden Brew, Tetra Pak, Rockwell Automation, v2food and Unigrain.
Early bird tickets are now available at foodfrontier.org/altproteins-conference/.
To stay up-to-date on the latest industry headlines, sign up to Future Alternative’s enewsletter.