Cow-free Milk Wins The Liveability Challenge 2020

By Robin Hicks 18 September, 2020

Lab grown milk takes top prize. See why & what other innovations placed from Eco-Business' Hicks

This article was originally published on Eco-Business on 8 Jul 2020. You can see the original article here.

An alternative to milk produced by cows has won the 2020 edition of The Liveability Challenge, an annual search for solutions to some of the biggest problems Southeast Asia’s cities face, organised by Eco-Business.

The innovative lab-grown milk concept, developed by Singapore-based biotechnology company TurtleTree Labs, emerged the winner in a field of six finalists from a field of more than 400 entries from 60 countries.

TurtleTree Labs’ cell-based milk wins 2020 Liveability Challenge…

…it avoids climate impact & animal welfare issues of traditional dairy

The company’s cell-based milk avoids the climate impact and animal welfare issues the $700 billion industrial dairy industry is associated with.

TurtleTree Labs will receive up to S$1 million (US$734,000) in funding for their project from the backer of The Liveability Challenge, Temasek Foundation, the philanthropic arm of government investment company Temasek.

Christina Lee, founder and CEO of sustainability consultancy Global Green Connect, and one of the judges, commented: “Cell-based products are well suited for an urban setting [like Singapore]. TurtleTree Labs has done a great job of scaling the product and making it price-competitive. Even if it wins one per cent share of the global dairy industry, it will have made a big environmental impact,” she said.

Even with 1% of dairy industry (USD700bn), it will have made a big environmental impact

The themes for this year’s Challenge, which was convened by circular economy investment firm Closed Loop Partners, were urban food production, circular packaging and decarbonisation.

The winning concept was chosen ahead of shortlisted solutions including a plant-based milk made from Bambara groundnuts, cell-based seafood, proteins made by fermented methane, packaging film and apparel made from milk waste, and a replacement for plastic film wrap made from crustacean shells.

NTU’s Alterpacks concept won the popular vote among viewers of The Liveability Challenge on the Zoom webinar platform, coming out ahead of TurtleTree Labs, which was the second most popular solution.

Other prizes went to film wrap made from shrimp shells & biodegradable plastics from methane

India-based String Bio, which converts methane gas into monomers that can be used to make biodegradable plastics, was awarded a one-year venture building package at The Circularity Studio.

TurtleTree Labs also won a S$100,000 investment, introductions to at least 10 impact investors with mentoring, and a spot on a leading accelerator programme with Planet Rise.

One of the finalists, American firm Galy, which produces lab-grown cotton from plant stem cells, withdrew from the competition. It would have needed to conduct some of its business in Singapore, and the company felt that the restrictions of the Covid-19 pandemic would have made that difficult.

Last year’s The Liveability Challenge winner was a meat protein substitute made with microalgae developed by Sophie’s Kitchen, a California-based sustainable protein firm. In 2018, the inaugural year of the Challenge, Singapore-based RWDC Industries won with a material made from plant-based oil to replace single-use plastic.

Further Reading

• Food Revolution 5.0: Digital Printing Meat – Food Revolution 5.0., clean meat… Hong Kong is there. Get the latest from Professor Kenneth Lee of Chinese University of Hong Kong and hear more on his 3D printed foie gras
• 5 Reasons Plant-Based Will Be Unleashed In Asia – Are you ready for Asia’s plant-based revolution? David Yeung, Founder & CEO of Green Monday, shares 5 reasons its coming soon including that it is only a matter of time before the current global food system collapses
• Diet, Food Waste & Kids In 5 Graphics – Agriculture emits as much greenhouse gas as electricity and this needs to change. CWR’s Woody Chan sees 3 ways to reduce this, from changing diets and cutting food waste to fewer kids
• Can China’s “Milky-ways” Continue? – Consumption of dairy products in China has notably increased over the last 16 years. China Water Risk’s McGregor, Li & Chan take a look if these “milky-ways” can continue and also how much leading dairy companies (Chinese & foreign) are disclosing
• Global Agriculture & Water Scarcity – With more than 25% of global agri grown in high water stress areas, WRI’s Frances Gassert tells us why tension between global crop production & water supply is expected to grow

More Latest

• Hong Kong & Asian Investors Jump On First Lever VC Asia Alt Protein Fund – Investor interest in alternative protein is at an all-time high and with a bullish Asia region. Lever VC secured USD23 million in capital. Green Queen’s Sally Ho expands
• Fashion Is Dead, Extreme Makeover Time – There have been 20+ bankruptcy filings in the last 6 months between brands & retailers. Surely, being broken can trigger an extreme industry makeover suggests CWR’s Dawn McGregor
• The Water Footprint Versus The Water Handprint – Corporate water stewardship is stalling. It is time to adopt a water handprint strategy with its positive and broader impact focus, seen already in the ICT sector, says William Sarni, Water Foundry CEO
• Are We Feeling the Shark’s Teeth? – With clear material water risks posing even more exposure to global systems, the Climate Disclosure Standards Board is working to better corporate water disclosure with a new guidance. Their Francesca Recanati expands
• A Practical Approach To Factoring Climate Risk Into Financial Valuation – It is not a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when’ physical climate risks are appropriately taken into account. So, Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation’s solution are sector-specific Climate Risk Matrices as their Kathryn Bakos outlines