Approximately 300 residents in Abu Dhabi were chosen to taste-test innovative alternatives to chicken and fish proteins as part of the XPRIZE ‘Feed the Next Billion’ global competition. This four-year, $15 million challenge, initiated in December 2020, has now entered its final stage, where teams aim to surpass traditional chicken and fish in terms of accessibility, environmental sustainability, animal welfare, nutrition, and taste and texture.
Out of the initial 300 entries, only six teams from Argentina, China, Canada, Austria, Estonia, and South Korea remain. These teams submitted their food samples to Abu Dhabi, where they were evaluated at the International Centre for Culinary Arts. The feedback from these 300 residents, selected by a market research firm, will assist a panel of experts in deciding the winner, set to be announced on October 30.
During the taste tests, residents evaluated three sets of samples, including two non-vegetarian and one non-meat option, without knowing the identity of the samples or the teams behind them. They assessed factors like taste, nutrition, and smell, and answered around 20 questions to aid in identifying sustainable and innovative food solutions.
The six remaining teams include CellX from China, Eternal from Argentina, PlantEat from South Korea, ProFillet from Canada, Revo Foods from Austria, and TFTAK from Estonia. Each team had to demonstrate the scalability of their products for global distribution. Chef Francisco Araya, director at the International Centre for Culinary Arts, highlighted the difficulty in choosing a winner, noting the high quality of the samples.
The final competition will focus on the structural, preparation, and cooking aspects of the samples, along with sensory analysis. The competition, launched in collaboration with ASPIRE and the Tony Robbins Foundation, addresses the urgent need for sustainable food sources as the global population approaches 10 billion by 2050.
