This report provides an overview of the global growth rates of the food tech industry. Funding for food tech companies has risen exponentially from $60 million in 2008 to $16.9 billion in 2018. Data from 2016 projects the food tech market reaching $250.43 billion by 2022. One of the segments with the fastest growth is plant-based proteins, which will attain an estimated market of $85 billion in 2029. Additional findings from Europe reveal that food delivery is the segment receiving the most funding.
Global Food Tech Industry Growth Rates
- Funding for food tech companies increased from $60 million to over $1 billion from 2008 to 2015.
- By 2018, the funding for food tech increased to $16.9 billion.
- Major food chains such as Burger King and McDonald’s are now actively serving food tech-produced products such as Impossible Foods and Beyond Beef, fueling the rise in demand.
- Plant-based proteins are a food tech segment worth $5 billion in 2019. This single segment is expected to grow to $85 billion by 2029 at a growth rate of about 28 percent.
- In 2016, the food tech industry was projected to reach $250.43 billion by 2022 at a CAGR in the single digits.
- The number of food tech unicorns with substantial investments is increasing each year (see chart below).
Global Food Tech Industry Related Findings
- In 2019, the overall value of the food and agriculture industry was estimated at approximately $8 trillion globally.
- Food waste is a potentially viable segment ready for innovation. Some companies are targeting the 40 percent of pre-consumer food waste in the U.S. with a goal of reducing it (such as by improving food quality during transportation).
- In Europe, the abundance of food tech funding is in food delivery (see chart below).
