Over the past few years, food technology has seen an upsurge in innovation. In areas like precision fermentation and cultivated meat, start-ups have proliferated, patents have multiplied, and production has often become more efficient, despite ongoing challenges in the sectors.
But these are not the only areas in which food tech is innovating. In 2025, a whole plethora of technologies will be coming to the fore.
Alternative proteins
The future of plant-based foods, according to Floor Buitelaar, managing partner at strategy consultancy Bright Green Partners, will be shaped by the reaction against processing among consumers. A ‘less processed’ trend would be bad news for areas such as cultivated meat, for example.
With this in mind, she predicted that the industry may step away from protein isolates, and back towards protein concentrates. “Even though the protein quantity is a little bit lower, you also have a better story to tell because it’s less processed,” she suggested.
One area that is showing significant signs of growth, however, is fermentation. “Almost all of the projects we’ve done in 2024 were related to fermentation in some way or the other, whether it was precision fermentation in dairy and eggs, to biomass fermentation, to enzymatic conversion and fermentation. The whole biotech/fermentation boom is huge and I definitely expect to [continue to see it] in 2025.” The reason for this boom, she suggested, is “the potential of how this can be applied into the various activities of an organisation.”
According to Kim Odhner, co-founder and managing partner at Unovis Asset Management, the meat alternatives industry is moving away from direct meat replacements. “In 2025, I expect that the food industry will continue its pivot from focusing heavily on direct meat replacements, such as plant-based burgers or cultured meats, to investing in high-value strategic ingredients with applications across food, nutraceuticals, and functional foods.”
For example, it will focus on emerging technologies such as metabolic engineering (using microorganism like yeast or bacteria to produce nutrients, vitamins or flavour-enhancing compounds), synthetic biology (programming microbes to produce certain types of proteins, which may be used to replace animal-derived proteins) and transgenics (inserting genes into microorganisms or plants to express desired traits).
This trend is being driven because these techniques are “enabling the production of ingredients tailored to address diverse nutritional and functional needs. This shift is being driven by several factors, including operational challenges facing the meat replacers - achieving cost-effective scaling, improving taste and texture, etc. - and a growing consumer focus on health and nutrition.” A spokesperson from EIT Food agreed, saying that molecular farming and synthetic biology will enable “the creation of ingredients that are more sustainable and health focused.”
However, because of its long-term nature, Buitelaar does not see molecular farming as a major part of 2025’s food tech trends.
Like Buitelaar, Odhner and EIT have also predicted the continuing prominence of precision fermentation.
3D printing could also drive upscaling within the area of plant-based, suggested a spokesperson for EIT Food. This will enable more customisable production as well.
Traceability and sustainability
One of the key trends we will likely see in the realm of sustainability, according to Bright Green Partners’ Buitelaar, is developments in regenerative agriculture technology, specifically in precision agricultural tools, traceability and prediction via AI and blockchain, bio-fertilisers and bio-pesticides, and techniques around water management. EIT’s spokesperson agreed, suggesting that blockchain will be used for traceability.
Buitelaar also predicted the increase of interest in waste reduction and circularity platforms. While the food industry has been focused on this area for decades, she told us, interest is currently increasing substantially. Biotech and fermentation, for example biomass fermentation, may be prominent in this area, potentially to upcycle waste.
Vertical farming and hydrophonic farming (farming which uses a nutrient-rich water solution instead of soil to grow plants) will also continue to trend in 2025, suggested EIT’s spokesperson, as they will allow produce to be grown closer to urban areas, thereby reducing transportation costs and thus environmental impact.
Health
Functional foods will continue to be prominent in 2025, according to Bright Green Partners’ Buitelaar, meaning that techniques such as fortification will be used extensively.
Personalised nutrition will also be a key trend in 2025, suggested EIT’s spokesperson, which will become more mainstream in large part due to AI and wearable technology, allowing consumers ‘make informed choices’ about their nutritional inputs.
Traceability will not only be important due to sustainability, but due to food safety as well. “Having the ability to quickly trace food from source to plate has become an even more dire need in the wake of many recent high-profile food recalls, making tech-enabled traceability a priority for food companies around the world,” Bryan Hitchcock, Chief Science and Technology Officer at the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) told FoodNavigator.
We may also, he suggested, see a decrease in food consumption due to a proliferation in the use of GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic. This may in turn cause food companies to change their products to meet the needs of the GLP-1 user, making them denser in nutrients such as protein and fibre.
Packaging
Trends in sustainable packaging are likely to continue, suggested Bright Green Partners’ Buitelaar. Some of the trends she has seen in this area include upcycling waste into sustainable packaging, as well as the continuation of trends such as biodegradable films, edible packaging, and ‘smart packaging to improve freshness and thereby prevent waste.’
Mycelium, suggested EIT’s spokesperson, will be used not only as an ingredient for plant-based food but to develop bio-based packaging as well.
AI
AI will ‘strengthen its grip’ on food, according to IFT’s Hitchcock. “Its impact will be felt everywhere from lab counters to kitchen counters as organisations develop tools to leverage AI to accelerate development and capture consumer insight to build efficiency and drive innovation.” Consumers may use AI for recipes more often, he suggested.
We are also likely to see an increase in the use of AI in R&D, Bright Green Partners’ Buitelaar suggested. This is because not only does AI enable companies to develop products which humans might never have thought of, but to save time, money and resources in the process.
AI will “play an increasing role in optimising food production, predicting trends, and enhancing supply chain management,” added EIT’s spokesperson.
Robotics
Rising salaries have meant a significant increase into the cost of labour, according to Buitelaar. This problem could be exacerbated by aging populations in some parts of the world, decreasing the pool of labour available.
These trends could mean companies investing more into robotics to keep costs down, Buitelaar predicted.
“Advanced robotics are already changing the food system, from automation in production to innovative ways of packaging and distribution, improving efficiency across the board,” suggested EIT’s spokesperson.
