07/22/2026
Wow!! 😍
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1EdDtd9pVv/
Japan just made one of the boldest bets on the future of food. The country's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has published a draft investment roadmap that dedicates roughly one trillion yen, about 6.2 billion US dollars, to a new food category the government calls "new foods," a vertical that includes animal-free proteins and functional nutrition products.
The roadmap is part of a wider 9.7 trillion yen food tech package running through 2040, with indoor farming, land-based aquaculture, and food machinery making up the rest. Speaking at a June 26 press conference, Agriculture Minister Norikazu Suzuki said the plan should not remain "a pie in the sky" and that support must be concentrated where it can actually be realized.
The government wants to leverage Japan's long history in fermentation, seasoning, rice flour products, and marine ingredients. The initial export target is health and climate conscious consumers in Europe and the United States, with expansion into Asia planned after 2030. The total sales goal is 3 trillion yen from new foods by 2040.
One notable absence in the draft is cultivated meat, which is not listed in the new foods examples even as Japan continues separate work on locally produced cell-cultured products. Japan currently sells around 300 billion yen of soy-based meat alternatives and 15 billion yen of functional foods, so the ambition here is a tenfold jump backed by real state capital.
