Summit in Review

The sixth edition of the Asia-Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Summit welcomed leading agribusinesses, food brands, growers, entrepreneurs, and investors from around the globe to exchange ideas, share experiences and forge new partnerships with the goal of building greater capacity, security, and resilience in Asia’s agri-food system.

An anchor event of Singapore International Agri-Food Week, the summit featured in-person sessions on-stage and networking at the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre in Singapore with an audience of 960 attending from across 40 countries.

Scroll down for our highlights from a fantastic three days of fresh thought leadership, critical debate and high-level networking.
We hope you can join us again in Singapore on November 12-14, 2024 at the Asia-Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Summit.

Highlights Video

What was it like to attend the Asia-Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Summit this year? Relive the best moments from the summit in this highlights video:

What Delegates Said

“A truly unique gathering of industry leaders, innovators and investors, the Asia-Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Summit has undoubtedly established itself as a mainstay in the Asian ecosystem. We’re pleased to have utilised the platform to promote the launch of our second fund and the rebranding from VVNP to Clay Capital. We remain committed to being a key contributor to future editions and look forward to helping shape the conversations for years to come.”
Partner, CLAY CAPITAL

“The Asia-Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Summit in Singapore is a perfect moment to connect with the stakeholders that matter in the industry, in Asia, to get the latest low-down and network. Not to be missed”
Managing Director Alt Proteins, THAI UNION

“I think it’s very challenging for any single organization to stay on top of what’s going on out of there. Your summits really provide a great opportunity by bringing people in the entire ecosystem together so that we can accelerate network building.”
VP,R&D, AMEA, KELLANOVA

“The event gave us the opportunity to connect with decision makers and leaders in the fast-pace world of plant based proteins. Singapore offers a vibrant eco-systems that fosters the development of new technologies and innovative solutions.”
Chief Research & Development Officer, SIME DARBY PLANTATION

“APAC Agri-Food Innovation summit is a melting pot for food-minded innovators, entrepreneurs, corporates and investors to come together to share ideas, discuss trends and talk about the future.”
Director, AGFUNDER ASIA & GROW ACCELERATOR

“This is the kind of summit I look forward to coming to because it’s an incredible convening place. I think it’s a fundamental anchor for our ecosystem to grow and these are meetings I won’t miss.”
CEO and Founder, UPSIDE FOODS

“Summits like this one are really important for bringing together the different sorts of actors, regulators, financiers, private sector, and others, so that we can share our learnings and really align on the next steps towards a more sustainable future.”
CSO, OLAM AGRI

Keynote Addresses

The summit hosted senior ministers and key stakeholders leading the agri-food innovation sector in Asia and worldwide to deliver keynote addresses and presentations throughout the course of the summit.

Speakers included:
Minister of State Alvin Tan, MINISTER FOR TRADE & INDUSTRY, Singapore
Sunny Verghese, Co-Founder and Group CEO, OLAM GROUP, Singapore
Jeannie Lim, Assistant CEO, Lifestyle & Consumer, ENTERPRISE SINGAPORE, Singapore
Jiunn Shih, Global Chief Marketing, Innovation & Sustainability Officer, ZESPRI, Singapore
Uma Valeti, CEO and Founder, UPSIDE FOODS, USA

WATCH MINISTERIAL KEYNOTE

Highlights from the Summit Stage

Building Resilience: Food Security at the Intersection of Agriculture, Water and Climate

“I’m highly confident that innovation is coming. Our task is to make sure that we can get it to smallholders and help them understand how to properly use it.”
Brian Naber, Head, Region Asia Pacific, BAYER, Singapore

“Getting financing to the grassroots is going to be the key to rejuvenating the sector towards a modern agricultural system.”
Anuj Maheshwari, Managing Director & Head of Agri-Food, TEMASEK, Singapore

“Don’t wait for other people to make the change. We have the gift to get things moving and be the catalyst to transform this whole system.”
Hataikan Kamolsirisakul, AVP , Group Strategy, Sustainability, Innovation, THAI WAH, Thailand

“Emission figures are based purely at the production end. I think the question is, how do we address decarbonisation all the way across the value chain?”
Cathy Marsh, Deputy Director-General, ADB, Philippines

“Urgency is the key here in terms of being able to figure out a win-win situation across innovation, capital and market facing teams.”
Ezhil Subbian, Founder and CEO, STRING BIO, India

Decarbonisation: Emissions Reduction from Food and Agriculture Systems

“If we don’t find pathways of channeling financing incentives to every smallholding farmers and make that transition capital available, we are not going to meet these climate challenges.”
Dhruv Sawhney, CEO, RIZE, India

“We give farmers all the risk, no return. And now we want everything to change with very little reward. The business models have to deliver that financial balance or risk reward balance back.”
Adam Anders, Managing Partner, ANTERRA CAPITAL, Amsterdam

Ecosystem Building: Extending South-South Cooperation and Connecting the Dots across the APAC Region

“When we start to talk about innovation and connections across the region, it’s a great reminder that women often sit at the center of these agricultural communities and across the value chains.”
Diane Holdorf, Executive Vice President, WBCSD – WORLD BUSINESS COUNCIL FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, Switzerland

“There is no one size fits all solutions because every government is unique. It’s a challenge for all globally innovating companies to create solutions that work on global as well as  local levels.”
Simone Barg, Senior VP, Agricultural Solutions Asia Pacific, BASF, Singapore


“I see data unlock investment in a way that creates a platform where the public sector and private sector innovators can come together to accelerate opportunities for smallholders.”
Lesly Goh, Senior Technology Advisor, THE WORLD BANK, Indonesia

“Knowledge sharing between regions should bring in models of co-development that are gender aware and culturally relevant.”
Julie Greene, CSO, OLAM AGRI, Singapore


“We need to incorporate new production systems besides existing ones. It’s not all about the new, it’s more about finding complementary approaches that decentralise food production.”
Didier Toubia, Co-Founder and CEO, ALEPH FARMS, Israel

From Traditional to Future Food: Enabling the Transition to a Sustainable Food System

“The overriding trend right now is really to sacrifice the cost and competitiveness of raw materials in order to have it closer to home.”
Francesca Kleemans, Managing Director, Food Solutions for South-East Asia, CARGILL, Singapore

“If you really want to make immediate change, you have to look into bringing novel tech into traditional farms.”
Joshua Soo, CEO, GROW, Singapore

Developing Carbon Markets for the Agri-Food Sector

“If carbon markets are to be a solution to the climate problem, they must grow by a thousand times in terms of magnitude.”
Aadith Moorthy, Founder and CEO, BOOMITRA, India

“It’s a dynamic landscape and I think policy enabling, robust measurements and data integration are key to propel carbon markets forward.”
Lia Nicholson, Head of Sustainability, TERRASCOPE, Singapore

Meeting Nutritional Needs in Asia: Exploring Culturally Relevant Approaches and Dietary Considerations

“We have a massive health crisis in the younger populations across the region. This drives our purpose to give access to affordable nutrition to as many children as possible.”
Corine Tap, President Asia, FRIESLAND CAMPINA, Singapore

“Give consumers the first moment of love but what really goes behind the scenes is how to maintain this critical balance of great taste and nutrition.”
Yanjing Wang, VP, Research & Development – AMEA, KELLANOVA, Singapore

 

The State of CEA & Vertical Farming and the Road Ahead

“In terms of recipe for success, what’s been fundamental is our ability to meet consumption demands and ensuring food production that is absolutely hyperlocal at the heart of communities.” 
Jay Desan, Co-Founder, BOOMGROW, Malaysia

“The key recipe for success can be linked to sustainability. I’m not talking about lowering carbon footprint but whether you drive your business in a sustainable and responsible way.” 
Jesper Hansen, CCO, YESHEALTH GROUP, Taiwan

The Seaweed Revolution: Capitalising on the Global Opportunity

“The real challenge in seaweed production has been mortality and risk. We can’t use tractors or agricultural machinery to de-risk these farms which impacts the economics of scale.” 
Nicholas Hill, Co-Founder and CEO, COAST 4C, Australia

“Seaweed is fairly a new kid on the block when it comes to product development. There is a lot of focus required on studying the biology of seaweed strains.” 
Steve Meller, CEO and Founder, CH4 GLOBAL, USA


“Sustainability has to be implemented across the value chain. You have to build businesses that are profitable and also make sense to consumers, otherwise you’ll just be washed away.”
Sowmya Balendiran, Co-Founder, SEA6 ENERGY, Indonesia

Thai Union Innovation Challenge

Earlier this year, Thai Union had set an Innovation Challenge challenge to discover fresh ideas and solutions on novel applications from ocean derived ingredients, attracting over 60 applicants from across the world.

The finalists then had the opportunity to showcase their solutions on stage in Singapore, before Oceanium was declared as the winner of the challenge.

READ THE FULL STORY

Daily Start-Up Pitch Hours

On each day of the summit, the innovators from the agriculture, food-tech, CEA, and aquaculture sectors showcased their unique solutions to a panel of distinguished investors and the summit audience.

SEE FEATURED START-UPS

Pitch Hour: Agri-Tech

Pitch Hour: Food-Tech

Pitch Hour: CEA & Vertical Farming

Pitch Hour: Blue Food

Who Joined Us?

Here are just some of the global players and industry leaders who joined us at the Asia-Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Summit this year:

See You Next Time!

Join the business leaders, innovators, investors and policymakers shaping the Asian agri-food ecosystem system at the Asia-Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Summit on November 19-21, 2024 – put the date in your diary now.

Don’t let the networking opportunities stop there! Start planning your trip ahead of next year to join our portfolio agri-food events  for more insights and solutions.

FIND OUT MORE

Contact Tom Bennett if you would like to help shape the content and be involved as a speaker, partner or exhibitor.