Read on to discover what our robot, Athena, has found on the future of Food and act accordingly, or click any link to read the evidence she found in 5,243 reports, articles and PowerPoints from the Web and Social Media in a few seconds.

If you are new to foresight, we recommend you view this slide presentation first to get the best out of this report.

Quick Summary

The summary visuals below are completely machine produced, showing our robot's global analysis of:

• driving forces
• causes
• potential solutions
• radars of the key topics underlying these forces
• cloud representations of the organizations and sectors driving or influencing change.

Driving Forces

What is changing?

Causes

Who and what are causing these changes:

Potential solutions

What are others doing to seize opportunities or minimise risks?

You can learn more, click through to more detail on 'thoughts for food' and run collaborative, digital  workshops on these findings. Please contact us if you need assistance.

More analysis
The more detailed analysis below draws from our robot's visualizations on 'thoughts for food' from different vantage points to tell the story of what's emerging; just like a GPS system.

Cloud: The world's population is expected to rise to 9.8 billion by 2050, requiring a 70 percent increase in food production that will need to be achieved with a limited number of hectares of arable land and in a context of accelerated land and soil degradation. Plus, the impact of climate change, forced migration of both humans and animals  and territorial conflict over water and food supplies will considerably worsen the situation and increase sickness, malnutrition and deaths.

Systems map: The systems map indicates the growing concern for food supply in Europe, North America, and Asia. But. it notably does not show much interest in the burgeoning growth of African populations and the resultant need for continent-wide food supply. Unless something is done soon to address this, we can expect many more hunger led disasters in Africa being reported on devices.

Radar chart: The key ideas to solve upcoming food crises involve creating better protection, intelligence and sensing mechanisms and increased manufacturing efficiency. But, will this be enough? Or, will the food industry and governments' have to turn to cultured meat, biotech solutions and new logistical solutions such as drones to deliver just-in-time supply.

Graph-It: By 2025, we can expect to see far greater online education in food preparation and waste handling for both animal and human consumption alike that medicate as well as feed populations.

Spline chart: In the past three years the two presented Trend Wave charts show there has been a significant raising of awareness about the need to feed the world's rapidly growing population and the potential for income growth. This is currently forecast to peak between 2028 and 2032 but the number of variables involved in food supply and demand may significantly change a future Trend Wave' shape and peak. We recommend the creation of scenarios with such uncertainty. Do contact us for help in constructing your scenarios and responding to the findings in just a few hours.

Sentiment: Overall sentiment is considerably positive with most pundits and the public recognizing that food supply and demand is being increasingly met in many more countries of the world. But the negative sentiments come from those seeing the elephant in the room that means insufficient food in the future for many millions of people around the globe.

Pie Charts: Achieving sufficiency of global food supply is likely to take the rest of this century but it's a prize worth having in terms of the billions and trillions of dollars that experts attach to delivering nutrition worldwide.

However, most initiatives are still at early stage (59%) with almost all the remainder still evolving or gaining traction. Much more needs to be done for the public to believe that food insecurity has been eliminated by the likely tipping point of 2034.

Heat map: The Heat Map shows the current weak efforts of most countries to fix emerging food issues with the USA and UK leading the charge. But there is very little focus on achieving food sustainability from the environment, food and agriculture, science and government sectors.  

Emergent Drivers: These weak signals are reflected in the Emergent Drivers chart which shows Food and Agriculture with only medium attention behind Retail, Manufacturing, Pharma, Software, Energy and Real Estate.

SWOT: Given the above it is not surprising that opportunities for improvement considerably outweigh the treats associated with delivering food stability.

Visuals
For more detailed explanation of the graphics below please click here. All outlooks based on 2025 unless otherwise stated.

Cloud
The world's population is expected to rise to 9.8 billion by 2050, requiring a 70 percent increase in food production that will need to be achieved with a limited number of hectares of arable land and in a context of accelerated land and soil degradation. Plus, the impact of climate change, forced migration of both humans and animals  and territorial conflict over water and food supplies will considerably worsen the situation and increase sickness, malnutrition and deaths.

System map
The systems map indicates the growing concern for food supply in Europe, North America, and Asia. But. it notably does not show much interest in the burgeoning growth of African populations and the resultant need for continent-wide food supply. Unless something is done soon to address this, we can expect many more hunger led disasters in Africa being reported on devices.

Radar chart

The key ideas to solve upcoming food crises involve creating better protection, intelligence and sensing mechanisms and increased manufacturing efficiency. But, will this be enough? Or, will the food industry and governments' have to turn to cultured meat, biotech solutions and new logistical solutions such as drones to deliver just-in-time supply.

Graph-It
By 2025, we can expect to see far greater online education in food preparation and waste handling for both animal and human consumption alike that medicate as well as feed populations.

Spline
In the past three years the two presented Trend Wave charts show there has been a significant raising of awareness about the need to feed the world's rapidly growing population and the potential for income growth. This is currently forecast to peak between 2028 and 2032 but the number of variables involved in food supply and demand may significantly change a future Trend Wave' shape and peak. We recommend the creation of scenarios with such uncertainty. Do contact us for help in constructing your scenarios and responding to the findings in just a few hours.

Trend Wave - Today

Trend Wave – 4 years ago

Sentiment

Overall sentiment is considerably positive with most pundits and the public recognizing that food supply and demand is being increasingly met in many more countries of the world. But the negative sentiments come from those seeing the elephant in the room that means insufficient food in the future for many millions of people around the globe.

Pie Charts

Achieving sufficiency of global food supply is likely to take the rest of this century but it's a prize worth having in terms of the billions and trillions of dollars that experts attach to delivering nutrition worldwide.

However, most initiatives are still at early stage (59%) with almost all the remainder still evolving or gaining traction. Much more needs to be done for the public to believe that food insecurity has been eliminated by the likely tipping point of 2034.

Heat map

The Heat Map shows the current weak efforts of most countries to fix emerging food issues with the USA and UK leading the charge. But there is very little focus on achieving food sustainability from the environment, food and agriculture, science and government sectors.  

Emergent drivers

These weak signals are reflected in the Emergent Drivers chart which shows Food and Agriculture with only medium attention behind Retail, Manufacturing, Pharma, Software, Energy and Real Estate.

SWOT

Given the above it is not surprising that opportunities for improvement considerably outweigh the treats associated with delivering food stability.

 Questions

• Will the technology evolution reveal a surprising new way to shop or will the rise of the conscious consumer give way to more sustainable and ethical practices?
• If you are a food business, for example, what are you doing about the soil that is in your supply chain?
• As the world population is growing while producing more food through farming strains the resources of the planet, could artificial food ensure appropriate nutrition for everyone on the globe?

Evidence

Search term: food: Use this search term to explore our database for more knowledge and wisdom and latest data and information on the topic.

market

• Asia-Pacific Packaged Food Market is expected to $875.3 billion by 2020, registering a CAGR of 5.6 %during the period 2015-2020.
• The food and beverage market in Europe is expected to show some staggering growth which is expected to drive the plastic packaging market by 2022.
• Competition in the Asian food and beverage market should intensify in 2019 as rising trade tensions threaten to hamper economic growth and erode consumer confidence.
• Revenues in the U.S. food and beverages market are expected to witness a CAGR of 12.5% between 2018 and 2022 and reach $25.98 billion by 2022.
• The broader CBD market, including food, is predicted to reach $22 billion by 2022.
• With robust food trends driving future investments in the region, the Canada frozen bakery market is forecast to cross USD4.1 billion by 2024.
• Food packaging will remain the dominant market for biodegradable films and is expected to account for 62% of demand in 2023.
• The Ethanoic Acid market is expected to register substantial growth in the coming years, owing to a wide area of application of acetic acid in Chemical & Material and Food & Beverages industries.

industry

• The agriculture industry is attractive to investors, as global demand for food is forecast to grow by more than 50 percent from 2010-2050 to feed 10 billion people, and projections say that supply is likely to be tight in the coming decades.
• Europe's agricultural workforce is expected to fall by 28% between 2017 and 2030 largely as a result of structural changes within the EU agri-food industry and better employment opportunities in other sectors.
• Europe hydrogen generation industry is anticipated to exhibit lucrative growth rate over the coming years: The growth can be attributed to the surging requirement for chemicals in construction as well as food & beverage industry.
• Despite the universal awareness of the associated health risks, the fast food industry shows no sign of contracting: its global value being just under $800,000 million by 2022.
• The Ethanoic Acid market is expected to register substantial growth in the coming years, owing to a wide area of application of acetic acid in Chemical & Material and Food & Beverages industries.
• The National Restaurant Association predicts that jobs in the food service industry will top 15 million in 2019, and lists recruiting and retaining employees among the top challenges for operators.

demand

• Forecasts suggest the whey protein market could be worth more than £12bn by 2022 as demand for health food and fitness products continues to grow.
• Asia-Pacific is projected to witness phenomenal growth in the coming years due to a rise in the demand for food with the growing population.
• Demand for converted flexible packaging in food applications is projected to increase 3.3% annually to $17 billion in 2023.
• Asia-Pacific is expected to show a very high rate of growth in demand for plastic packaging over the coming years, owing to rising disposable incomes and the booming packaged food, and pharmaceutical industry.
• By 2050 demand for food is projected to be doubled.
• While the concept of personalised nutrition is nothing new, the increase in demand is creating new marketing and revenue opportunities for food and beverage manufacturers.

production

• By 2025, 20% of the top ten global grocers by revenue will use blockchain for food safety and traceability to create visibility to production, quality and freshness.
• By 2025, 20% of the top 10 global grocers by revenue will be using blockchain for food safety and traceability to create visibility to production, quality and freshness.
• According to the IPCC, reduction in the quality of soil, compounded by climate change, will lead to a worldwide decline in agricultural production, thereby threatening food security.
• In the longer term, in our 2050 world of 9.5Bn people, fusion power will be up and running, alongside efficient solar and other forms of energy production, proving an energy glut that will help with water supply and food production as well as our other energy needs.
• The world's population is expected to rise to 9.8 billion by 2050, requiring a 70 percent increase in food production that will need to be achieved with a limited number of hectares of arable land and in a context of accelerated land and soil degradation.

population

• To compound the food situation, the population of the world's poorest countries will more than triple, from 954 million in 2015 to 3.2 billion by 2100.
• As food shortage, the expanding global population, and unsustainable consumption takes center stage in 2019 and beyond, NGOs will have to come together to provide a systemic solution.
• With climate change fuelling a rise in food prices and the global population expected to hit 9 billion by 2050, Bioversity International says it plans to issue a second index examining the performance of companies in relation to agrobiodiversity, to promote better practices in the private sector.
• Asia-Pacific is projected to witness phenomenal growth in the coming years due to a rise in the demand for food with the growing population.
• The challenge of providing nutritional food to an increasing global population, projected to reach 9.8 billion by 2050, is one good illustration of how loss of biodiversity and ecosystems, inequality and climate crisis cannot be viewed and addressed as issues apart.

unsustainable development goal

• Businesses are expected to set their own targets to help contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goal of halving per capita global food waste by 2030.
• The think tank's alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals will make Denmark a 'pilot country' for food waste and food loss.

waste

• Food waste is a booming business worth $46.7 billion in 2019 and has an expected CAGR of 5% for the next 10 years.
• The UK government has teamed up with Tesco, Sainsbury's and Waitrose for campaign to halve food waste in 20 years: Supermarkets and businesses which waste food could face penalties.
• The think tank's alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals will make Denmark a 'pilot country' for food waste and food loss.
• The highly ambitious 2030 target could potentially be achieved if behavioural actions that make a global contribution, specifically reducing almost all food waste and reducing meat and dairy consumption and steel and concrete by a third by 2030, are accounted for.
• The Welsh Government will be consulting during 2019 on plans to increase recycling targets and halve food waste in Wales by 2025 in Wales's forthcoming waste strategy.

security

• Climate hazards, such as extreme weather, high temperatures, droughts, floods, wildfires, storms, sea level rise, soil degradation, and acidifying oceans are intensifying, threatening infrastructure, health, and water, and food security.
• Overpopulation and the constant decline in land area under cultivation will put a heavy burden on food security.
• Mitigation policies that have side-effects on agricultural markets could adversely impact food security, particularly in low-income countries, and could increase the number of people at risk of hunger by 160 million in 2050.
• Hunger continues to rise as conflicts and protracted crises have worsened in the Near East and North Africa region, which is likely to affect food security for years to come.

food

• 1 billion people will be displaced from uninhabitable land and food and water shortages will occur worldwide, leading to social breakdown and outright chaos.
• Scotland's Good Food Nation ambition is that by 2025 people from every walk of life will take pride and pleasure in, and benefit from, the food they produce, buy, cook, serve and eat every day.
• Last year, a report from an Indian government think-tank warned that by 2020, 21 Indian cities, including Delhi and Bangalore, are likely to run out of groundwater, impacting both food and water security for a further one hundred million people.
• The agriculture industry is attractive to investors, as global demand for food is forecast to grow by more than 50 percent from 2010-2050 to feed 10 billion people, and projections say that supply is likely to be tight in the coming decades.
• The food and beverage labor force is projected to grow by 14 percent between 2016 and 2026, faster than the average for all occupations.
• A new variety of Durum wheat, developed by ICARDA, can withstand 40 C heat, and could soon be producing 600,000 tonnes of food along the Senegal River basin.
• By 2025, the U.S. hemp-derived CBD market could be a $6 billion industry when considering legalized sales of food and beverage products containing CBD from hemp.
• Africa could nearly double its output from $500 billion in 2011 to $930 billion in 2025, three quarters of which could come from meeting domestic demand, mostly in food, beverages, and similar processed goods.

growth

• Asia-Pacific is expected to show a very high rate of growth in demand for plastic packaging over the coming years, owing to rising disposable incomes and the booming packaged food, and pharmaceutical industry.
• Europe hydrogen generation industry is anticipated to exhibit lucrative growth rate over the coming years: The growth can be attributed to the surging requirement for chemicals in construction as well as food & beverage industry.
• By 2030 the growth in African food market will increase from USD1 trillion to USD 300 billion.
• While Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) is not new, the pace of growth will change food and ag in the years ahead.
• Demographic changes, such as migration to urban areas and change in lifestyle and eating habits, will aid in the growth of the food packaging machinery market in APAC in the coming years.
• Ghana will be recording a rebound in Agricultural growth due to the policy initiatives introduced by the government to boost food production.
• The continuous increase in the occurrence of juvenile diabetes along with digestive problems and obesity due to the lack of physical activity will increase the product demand and propel the diabetic food market growth in coming years.

Potential Responses

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Sources
Athena used the sources as the top ones to create this report and determined which embedded forecasts are included in this Trend Alert. She found 5,243 forecasts in seconds on 11th July 2019 to allow us to publish this report in less than two hours. She can turn these into PowerPoint slides and Audio files in thirty minutes too as you wish, or we can prepare a full customized and professionally written brief for you to order covering all these forecasts.

Athena
Athena does show duplicates to aid your understanding of themes as well as contradictory forecasts. She may also show near-duplicates. You can speed read past the duplicates and near duplicates if you wish, though the latter may show additional information. You can use the contradictory, and likely uncertain forecasts she finds to imagine different scenarios. The future is unpredictable, but we can examine the possibilities and choose our preferable future from the choices she presents. 

Athena is apolitical. She will report forecasts from different viewpoints however distasteful that might be to our own values. Wearing rose-colored glasses is not her purpose; reporting potential futures is. So, we recommend you check her veracity before responding to her extracted forecasts.
Just like humans, Athena can be fallible. Do recognize that you and your associates are biased too. But whereas you tire, make mistakes and only recognize what interests you, she does not. She might miss or misinterpret as you do, but with far less frequency and she'll take uncomfortable truths and alternative ideas in her stride. But, please let us know if you feel her bias can be reduced. We want to do our best for you. And, as with any research, you should check and triangulate her findings for yourself.

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