The Future Food System: Drivers, Trends and Challen

Many people have long taken it for granted that good, healthy and, above all, cheap food is available everywhere and around the clock. Food has become so self-evident that it is easy to forget that access to food is one of the foundations of the hierarchy of needs and the very base on which modern prosperity rests. This hasn't always been the case, the fight against hunger has shaped human history into the modern era.

In 1968, Paul and Anne Ehrlich predicted mass starvation due to population growth, an idea previously developed by Thomas Malthus in the late 19th century. This was not the case; instead, a new food revolution began, increasing food production on an unprecedented scale. The so-called Green Revolution put new crops, fertilizers and machinery to work in a global supply chain, reshaping not only the food we eat, but also the social relations that surround it.

Fifty years on, the success story is creaking at the seams - climate change and war are disrupting production and logistics around the world, many food producers are threatened by low profitability, the majority of the population is not starving but more people are eating themselves into ill health and biodiversity is under threat. At the same time, a new technological revolution is taking place that is again changing what is possible - some are now talking about food without agriculture. Could we soon be facing another food revolution?

This lecture is based on the drivers, megatrends and challenges shaping the food system of the future. The research is based on several years of trend scouting and environmental analysis in the various parts of the food system and is based on statistics, policy analysis and AI-supported mapping of the global start-up landscape in foodtech. This means that the lecture can then be deepened towards different tracks depending on current issues and interest.

With the breadth of our research, the lecture can be made exciting and relevant for actors throughout the food chain - from industry to consumers and the public.