Innovation, Science and Technology Ministry to lead national food-tech plan

The Innovation, Science and Technology Ministry will lead the national effort to formulate a plan to remove barriers in the food-tech arena, Minister Ofir Akunis said Monday.

The Ministerial Committee for Innovation, Science and Technology, chaired by Akunis, met Monday to discuss the urgent need for developing such a plan, which will be done in collaboration with the Prime Minister’s Office, the National Council for the Economy, the Health, Agriculture, Economy and the Negev, Galilee and National Resilience ministries.

“Food-tech is an industry with great potential that will make a huge contribution to Israel’s economy in the coming years, similar to cyber in the previous decade,” Akunis said.

Israel: A leader in food-tech

In April, the PMO announced that promoting alternative proteins was a “national goal, on the understanding that it is a solution for food security and that the supply and production of alternative proteins will strengthen the Israeli economy.”

Then, the Health Ministry provided first-of-its-kind regulatory approval to the Israeli company Remilk to sell its non-animal dairy products to Israeli customers.

Remilk uses microbial fermentation to reproduce milk proteins and craft dairy “identical to traditional dairy, without harming a single cow,” it says.

“We thank the ministry for recognizing the field of food-tech as a leading and significant engine for Israel’s economic growth, an engine that provides an efficient and quick solution not only for the country but for global challenges in the field of climate and food security,” Remilk told The Jerusalem Post on Monday, following Akunis’ announcement.

According to the Good Food Institute (GFI) Israel, the country is already a leader in the food-tech industry.

From 2018 to 2020, investments in Israeli alternative food companies increased from $14 million to $114m.

According to numbers from Start-Up Nation Central, around 230 food tech companies were in Israel at the end of 2022. There had been $473m. invested that year – the majority in the alternative protein sector.

A July report by GFI noted that Israel leads the world in investment in plant-based proteins and is second only to the United States regarding money invested in the alternative protein industry.