Cell-based seafood for the Chinese market - Carrie Chan and Avant Meats
Carrie Chan’s story is a classic corporate-escapee turned innovator one. With 18 years of experience in the property development sector leading multi-million dollar projects in Greater China and Asia, Carrie learned to execute big visions and to mastermind visionary projects. Hence, it was no surprise how she seamlessly took a big leap from managing property development to creating a food startup- a cell-tech one no less. Her passion in environmentalism and food health was a strong catalyst to start Avant Meats, which is Hong Kong’s first cell tech company that produces high quality and sustainable fish and seafood products.
“Half of the world’s fish comes from fishing and the other half comes from aquaculture. However, aquaculture can only commercialise a limited species of fish. We still rely heavily on catching fish from the wild. The number of fish has been depleting by 4% each year since the industrial revolution and scientists predict that there will be no heavy population of fish species by 2050”. Carrie’s detailed breakdown of the environmental impacts of fishing also explains Avant Meats’s mission, which is to “gratify without sacrifice”. Through cell-based technology, Avant Meats is able to produce cutting edge sustainable fish products without damaging the ocean’s ecosystem.
“Our target consumers are fish and seafood eaters. We appeal to them to switch to our products which are produced in a more sustainable way,” says Carrie, who strongly believes in tailoring cell-based meat technology to the Chinese population. Chinese demand for dried fish maw has left a hefty environmental impact: the swim bladder trade, which is based in Hong Kong and China, has driven some species to near extinction. Having recognised the potential that lab-grown meat can have in reducing animal suffering and the environmental impact of animal agriculture, Avant Meats is attempting to develop fish swim bladders under laboratory conditions can therefore alleviate some of the associated environmental problems. Avant Meats’ cultured fish product can thus cater to its local Chinese audience without further endangering particular species or damaging aquatic systems.
Carrie is optimistic about the future of the clean-meat market, especially in Asia. “I find people in the Chinese market to be very open-minded. The prevalence of tech companies like Tencent and Alipay in China helps to pull up technological awareness amongst the Chinese. People are able to adapt very well and are able to understand the benefits of technological growth” shared Carrie- who believes that the Chinese population is extremely receptive to transferring their technological skills and know-how to multiple aspects of their lives. This receptiveness thus opens up possibilities for companies like Avant Meats to introduce cell-based meat technology into the conventional food market.
Carrie believes that there will be great growth in the prevalence of cell-based meat technology in the conventional market. According to her, the increasing awareness on food health will allow for people to learn from food scandals and gain more knowledge about what could go wrong in a food supply chain. Consumers will gain buying power by becoming more selective and voting with their money. As such, other than price, taste and food safety, traceability and sustainability will gradually move up the list of criteria for purchase decisions. Moreover, the increased emphasis on innovation and ecoconsciousness is cultivating open-mindedness and tech-savviness amongst the younger generation. Hence, Carrie confidently believes in the potential of the clean meat market in Asia to grow.
In a world that’s spinning towards new technology and skills, now is definitely the time to think about the future. “Artificial Intelligence and Fintech were once considered novel technologies ten years ago. Now, they play such a significant role in our current market” explains Carrie- justifying the importance of exploring new fields and skills. Having switched from property development to cell-based technology herself, Carrie acts as a walking testament to the wonders innovation can do. She encourages students and innovators to venture into novel technological research and training in the hopes of creating future trends. “If you have the aptitude, why not?”
Article by Vandana Venkataraman