Tech
Investors: Is this sector the one to watch? | ticker VIEWS
Money is pouring into the US stock market at the fastest pace since 2015.
This can’t and won’t last forever.
With valuations sitting close to all-time highs, and investors starting to predict higher inflation will push the US Federal Reserve to tighten monetary policy, let’s prepare for what happens next.
A combination of timing and changing consumer needs could see one sector offer huge potential:
“Our prediction is that over the next few years food tech, that is the convergence of food and tech to create new products, will become the most important growth sector. Not just for investors but for humanity.”
Steven Maarbani, VentureCrowd CEO
What role are consumers playing?
“Last year global food tech startups raised 26 billion US dollars. That was a 35% increase on the year before. The global food tech sector is currently forecast to grow to up to 346 billion US by 2027. Now that’s a massive rate of growth” according to Maarbani.
So why does the food and agriculture industry need fixing anyway?
Maarbani says it has a little something to do with our lives.
“The industrialisation of food has been driven far more by prioritising low cost food and economic development than the health and weakness of consumers on the planet.”
“75% of the western diet is composed of wheat. Sugar represents 20% of our daily energy intake. Now those ingredients might make good economic sense at a production level. But they’re literally killing us.”
There’s also a growing trend for conscious investing. We want great returns no doubt, but we want business to matter and take the world forward.
We know there’s a link between what we eat and obesity, diabetes, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.
If we combine these innovations in food tech, and our growing awareness around food education, it could reduce the overall burden of these health related issues. And that saves big money.
According to a report by Google and Boston Consulting Group there are a number of factors contributing to the growth of the industry.
The Indian food-tech industry is set for compound annual growth of 25-30 per cent to USD 8 billion by the end of 2022. Why? The rise of internet penetration, increasing number of orders and consumer disposition are all playing their part.
“Riding on the wave of higher consumption in a growing market and maturing dynamics on the supply side, we expect the industry to grow from USD 4 billion to USD 8 billion in the next three years, a massive 25 per cent growth rate,” the report titled ‘Demystifying the Online Food Consumer’ said.
And according to Maarbani, Covid-19 has played a role “I really think the last 18 months around Covid, the importance of health and wellness and lockdown has fuelled a lot of that.”