Funding Shifts in China Indicate Coming Boom for Alternative Proteins Sector

Based on the study of public records, The Good Food Institute (GFI) APAC, a non-profit working to advance alternative proteins, found a surge in funding from China to drive product development and to scale up its alternative protein industry. This activity is reminiscent of funding surges within the country for solar panel technologies and electric vehicles prior to market booms.

By giving its domestic companies access to investment as consumer interest in alternative proteins gains steam, China appears to be positioning itself to dominate the plant-based and alternative protein sectors in anticipation of global growth.

The Green Biological Manufacturing program has already invested $93 million across 20 future-focused projects, with alternative proteins claiming a portion of that funding. Although no official statement has been made by Beijing as to explain the funding shift, it has been suggested that disruptions to supply chains throughout 2020 due to the global pandemic, and China’s outbreak of African swine fever, and a growing acceptance within China of plant-based proteins and cultivated alternatives, are partial motivators.

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