Alternative Protein Asia Seminar Agenda

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APA Seminar

Hear from industry experts and thought leaders from leading manufacturers, start-ups, investors, and other organisations will come together to discuss the current landscape, business strategies, and investment opportunities in the sector. Attendees will have a chance to learn about the latest trends and developments in the alt-protein space, as well as gain valuable insight into the various investment opportunities in the sector.

Due to limited capacity of the seminar theatre, seating will be on a first-come first-served basis.

Location: Hall 3

Seating capacity is limited for each seminar, registration is strongly encouraged. Registration for seminars is a 2-step process:

1st step: registration for the tradeshow including questionnaire,
2nd step: register for onsite events/seminars (FHA-Food & Beverage)

Day 1: 25 APR

Time	Sessions name	Speakers
11:00 – 11:30	Opening Presentation: Overview of alternative protein sources in Asia Three main pillars of alternative proteins Impact on environment, health, and food security in the region What benefits do they bring to Asia’s food supply?	William Chen Michael Fam Endowed Chair Professor in Food Science and Technology, Nanyang Technological University
11:30 – 12:15	Panel: Building an ecosystem for alternative protein innovation What are the key ingredients of a successful innovation ecosystem? What are the main challenges in accelerating alternative protein innovation? Cultivating the next generation of food tech talent What role does the current wave of innovations play in achieving food security and a resilient food system? What more needs to be done?	Panellists: William Chen Michael Fam Endowed Chair Professor in Food Science and Technology, Nanyang Technological University Hsien-Hui Tong Executive Director, Investments, SGInnovate John Cheng Director, Innovate360 Jolene Lum Client Development Manager, Nurasa Moderator: Tim Hill Key Accounts Director, Southeast Asia, GlobalData PLC
12:15 – 13:15	Panel: How are alternative protein brands localising in Asia Understanding consumer behaviour – How do different demographics and countries in Asia view alternative proteins? What are companies doing to understand and respond to varying needs of Asian consumers? Localising branding and marketing strategies to increase adoption in different markets Personal health has been shown to be the top driver for alternative protein consumers in Asia. How can companies effectively communicate health benefits to consumers?	Panellists: Vikas Garg Founder & CEO, abillion Justin Chou Executive Director, Growthwell Foods Blair Crichton Co-Founder, KARANA Bianca Wassmann PhD Researcher, Singapore-ETH Centre Moderator: Tim Hill Key Accounts Director, Southeast Asia, GlobalData PLC
13:15 – 14:00	Lunch and Networking Break
14:00 – 14:30	Startup Pitches with ProVeg Incubator Join this session with The ProVeg Incubator, the world’s leading Incubator for plant-based, fermentation and cultured food startups and learn about the latest innovation in the alt protein market. Startup pitches by Bifidice and Plantagusto.	Antje Räuscher Co-head/Senior Innovation and Partnerships Manger, ProVeg Incubator Divya Murthy Senior Investment Manager, ProVeg Incubator Anastasia Gutkevich Founder and CEO, Bifidice David C. Winegar CEO & Co-Founder, Plantagusto Group
14:30 – 15:00	The Design Language of Alt Protein As alt protein brands move from labs and factories into people’s lives, driving demand becomes critical to their success. We’ve analyzed the world’s top 100 alt protein companies to identify how they’re strategically using design to: Lean into established food codes to make their products approachable Stand out and get attention to drive trial Develop distinctive brand assets that can drive loyalty	Zoran Svetlicic Partner, Shift
15:00 – 15:30	Psychological well-being and consumer acceptance of cultivated meat As existing works have yet to understand the link between well-being and consumption of novel foods, researchers at SMU set out to fill this gap by examining the relationship between people’s psychological well-being and their willingness to consume cultivated meat via different reasons. Explaining the positive link between well-being and receptivity to cultivated meat What can cultivated meat companies learn from this research when it comes to marketing their products?	Joint Presentation by: Angela Leung Professor of Psychology, Singapore Management University Mark Chong Associate Professor of Communication Management (Practice), Singapore Management University
15:30 – 16:00	Developing and investing in China’s alternative protein market China’s alternative protein market is expected to see rapid expansion as the government has expressed support for the development of alternative proteins alongside traditional food sources to ensure China’s food supply. How does the alternative protein start-up scene in China look like? Investment opportunities in China’s alternative protein sector	Albert Tseng Co-Founder, Dao Foods

Day 2: 26 APR

Time	Sessions name	Speakers
10:45 – 11:30	OnlyEg -Brunch Demo and Tasting	Kelvin Ng Executive Vice President, Float Foods
11:30 – 12:15	Panel: Observations from retailers, restaurants and distributors – Market trends and challenges Observations on the sale of alternative proteins in stores How are restaurants using alternative proteins and promoting these items on their menus? What do they want to see from alt protein brands going forward? How to win consumers over?	Panellists: Amanda Teng Lee Owner & Founder, Everyday Vegan Grocer Ken Kuguru CEO and Co-Founder, Love Handle Madeline Tay Country Head, OldTown Singapore Moderator: Kelvin Ng Executive Vice President, Float Foods
12:15 – 13:15	Panel: The role of regulatory approvals in accelerating a more secure and sustainable food system When it comes to market success in alternative proteins, a lot depends on obtaining regulatory approvals especially in newer fields like fermentation-enabled proteins or cultivated meat. What are the existing policies that governments have put in place? Learning from novel food regulations in Asia What are the key elements of a strong regulatory framework to further advance the sector?	Panellists: Peter Yu Program Manager, APAC Society for Cellular Agriculture Taya Huang Regulatory Scientist, Future Ready Food Safety Hub(FRESH) Teng Yong Low Branch Head, Risk Assessment and Communications Branch, National Centre for Food Science, Singapore Food Agency Christian Poppe Director, Global Public Affairs & Sustainability, Formo Moderator: David Ettinger Partner, Keller & Heckman
13:15 – 14:00	Lunch and Networking Break
14:00 – 15:00	Panel: Scaling alternative protein start-ups in Asia What are the key drivers for investing in Asia’s alt protein sector? What areas of investment are investors looking at this year – plant-based, cultivated meat or fermentation? What strategies are they implementing to enable the growth of their portfolio companies? Operational perspective from start-ups	Panellists: Aaron Yeo Director of Operations, Singapore, GOOD Meat Neha Poddar Principal, Investments, Good Startup Alex Ward COO, Next Gen Foods/TiNDLE Moderator: Jolene Lum Client Development Manager, Nurasa
15:00 – 15:45	Panel: ESG considerations for VC/PE investment in alternative protein Role of financial actors within the protein value chain How do alternative protein companies measure their climate impact? How do climate risks impact investment strategies?	Panellists: Dave Luo Research Lead, Protein Transition, Asia Research & Engagement John Friedman Asia Director, AgFunder & GROW Accelerator Vi Nguyen Principal Sustainability Strategist (Sustainable Finance), Forum for the Future Moderator: Keith Loo Deal Flow Manager, Trendlines Agrifood Innovation Centre
15:45 – 16:15	The state of global cultivated meat research It will not be an overstatement to state that innovations in Alternative Proteins have taken the world by storm. The global cultured meat/cultivated meat industry has exploded within the past few years regarding funds raised, the launch of several companies, announcements of production plants and even public tasting of products!  Peer-reviewed articles are the foundation of scientific rigour and would enhance the credibility of this field.  The speaker will quickly dive into and summarise the state of cultivated research in terms of published innovations in cell isolation/banking, edible biomaterials, biofabrication approaches, serum-free media development, and bioprocessing paradigms. The talk would also include other issues around cultivated meat research and industry, which needs necessary focus too.	Dr Deepak Choudhury Senior Scientist, Bioprocessing Technology Institute (BTI), A*STAR, Singapore; Co-Investigator – CRISP Meats

Day 3: 27 APR

Time	Sessions name	Speakers
11:00 – 12:00	Panel: Advancing alternative protein development This session will provide an overview of the current state of protein production methods and learn what technical challenges need to be overcome to accelerate the rate of progress across the alternative protein industry. Plant based meat Advances in crop development – optimising crops for protein content, quality and function Innovation in end-product formulation and manufacturing Cultivated meat What technological advances must be made to enable a costeffective cultivated meat value chain? Tackling the high cost of animal serum and cell culture medium Fermentation Precision fermentation in improving sensory characteristics of alt protein products Opportunities for advancing fermentation	Panellists: Dr. Crispin Howitt Future Protein Mission Lead, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Dr. Ng Say Kong Dr Ng Say Kong, Principal Scientist, A*STAR Leonard Chong Scientific Fellow, Big Idea Ventures Moderator: Dr. Wasamon Nutakul Scitech Manager, GFI APAC
12:00 – 13:00	Panel: Driving alternative protein supply chain capabilities How can supply chain in APAC meet with an increased demand for alternative proteins? Dealing with manufacturing and supply blockages What does the industry need to do to efficiently expand production capability? How can the industry overcome cost barriers in large-scale production?	Panellists: Damian Krüger General Manager of Sustainable Nutrition, Cremer Sustainable Foods Xiangliang (XL) Lin Founder, President & CEO, Esco Aster Francisco M. Codoñer Chief Executive Officer, ScaleUp Bio Dominique Kull Co-Founder and CEO, SGProtein Moderator: Jennifer Morton Corporate Engagement Specialist, GFI APAC
13:00 – 13:45	Lunch and Networking Break
13:45 – 14:30	Guided Tour led by GFI APAC Are you a meat, dairy, or egg industry representative who is curious about supply chain and market opportunities in alternative proteins? Join this expert-led tour through FHA’s Alternative Protein Asia space to meet some of the sector’s top startups and find out how existing food-industry stakeholders can cash in on this emerging field.	Valerie Pang Innovation Associate, GFI APAC Thiruchelvi Rajagobal Reddy (Thiru) Digital Marketing Associate, GFI APAC
14:30 – 15:00	How meat producers can benefit from the alternative protein boom Conventional meat producers have deep knowledge of production platforms, food technologies and infrastructure development. How can their capabilities be tapped on to rapidly ramp up alternative protein manufacturing?	Jennifer Morton Corporate Engagement Specialist, GFI APAC
15:00 – 16:00	In conversation with chefs: Putting alternative proteins on the menu What are the key factors for alternative proteins to win over hearts, minds and most importantly, stomachs? What is the recipe for successful alternative protein dishes?	Emmanuel Stroobant Chef-Owner, Saint-Pierre Aaron Tan Executive Chinese Chef, Intercontinental Singapore Jose Luis Del Amo Executive Chef, Classic Fine Foods Singapore Moderator: Kelvin Ng Executive Vice President, Float Foods