Interview with Hon Mun Yip
AV: What was the transition for you from working at Fortune 500 cos such as Microsoft and then Temasek to working with "Clean Tech" sectors (Renewable Energy & AgriTech/FoodTech). and help others expand their operations into Asia?
HMY: After more than a decade learning from the best-of-the-best, I wanted to do something meaningful: to apply what I have learnt in helping Asian family-owned businesses compete globally. I decided to take on the role of M&A acquisition working alongside Temasek Holding. During those 15 years, we grew a new business for a Thai Telco, perform one of the most successful turn-around for a listed Satellite company in China and fixed a Agri-Food Joint Venture in China. I soon realized if there is a purpose in what we do, the results can be life changing for everyone around you.
AV: Working with Unreasonable on sustainable agriculture ventures, drinking water and nutrition as well as the AgroFoodInnovation Summit and being a prolific alternative protein investor in cos in Singapore, China and the US, in your opinion what area of the food chain offers the most transformation from an ESG standpoint?
HMY: That is a good question. From an ESG standpoint the current method of producing food is inefficient and unsustainable. It is also environmentally damaging and causing undue stress to the animals. While the plant-based meat industry has done a great job raising awareness and generating revenue, the cell-based meat industry seems to demonstrate higher potential judging from the past 2 years of investment into this area. While the jury is still out there, I think in the foreseeable future, the combination of both would offer the most transformation.
AV: Singapore is the first country in the world to allow selling meat created in the lab with Eat Just and paves the regulatory way for SG based lab protein cos such as TurtleTree, Shiok Meats, Next Gen, etc. to scale in the region. How can Singapore’s regulatory authority balance the growth of these and future local ESG companies with the increase in greenwashing from venture capital and private equity companies?
HMY: What SFA did was admirable and practical for a country that imports 90% of its food and faces natural resources constraints. The SFA acknowledges the science for producing cultured meat is still in an early stage. So far, it has set up a modest framework defining the Requirements for the Safety Assessment of Novel Foods. And it has explicitly stated the information required may change based on the developments on the science of producing cultured meat. This openness and flexibility allow SFA to response and balance the needs of the various stakeholders.
AV: As an expert member of The Singularity Group and an adjust Partner at SOSV, how can applied innovations such as AI, robotics help organizations with ESG metrics while keeping costs for the consumer low?
HMY: Technology such as AI and Robotics play an important role in the commercialization of cell-based protein. As an illustration, the application of robotics and automation at the R&D stages of media development helps reduce cost and shorten the time towards price parity. These could also be used in combination with DoE (Design of experiments) strategies to screen fewer conditions but still provide a statistically significant evaluation. Similarly, we can automate in Precision Fermentation, a process that is popular among the animal-free protein, to accelerate the path to commercialization and price parity.
