"Cheeseburgers are my favorite food. But I wish they weren’t...," Bill Gates wrote in his latest blogpost. The co-founder of Microsoft, who has a net worth of over $124 billion as on February 14, wanted to draw attention to the impact some animal and plant extracts have on the environment, not just to people's health.
Simultaneously, he put the spotlight on two startups, which are working on sustainable alternatives to animal fat and plant extracts. No surprise, he has invested in both of them.
"It’s (animal fat) what distinguishes butter from margarine, dairy ice cream from a plant-based frozen dessert, and a great burger from one made of soy protein or peas. Unfortunately, it’s also a disaster for the climate. Each year, the world emits 51 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases — and the production of fats and oils from animals and plants makes up seven percent of that. To combat climate change, we need to get the number to zero. Our plan can’t be to simply hope that people give up foods they crave," Gates wrote.
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A 2021 research published in Nature showed that global greenhouse gas emissions from animal-based foods are twice those of plant-based foods.
One of the startups cited by Gates, the San Jose, California-based Savor, makes "rich foods without animals, farmland, fertilizers, hormones, or antibiotics," according to the company website. "These are real fats, not a substitute," it insists.
Kathleen Alexander, Co-founder and CTO of Savor since March 2022, published a more detailed piece on the company's purpose, motivation and end goal, after the mention from Gates. "If we are successful in commercializing our non-agricultural approach to fat production, we could capture an unprecedented opportunity to preserve existing forests and even rewild historic forestlands," she wrote.
Also read: India to allow edible oil imports at lower duty until March 2025
The other startup mentioned by Gates, the New York-based C16 Biosciences, has built a proprietary technology to create a substitute for palm oil that goes into ice creams, peanut butter, pizza, beauty oils and many more items that people consume every day.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation gave a $3.5 million grant to C16 Biosciences in January 2024, according to an Axios Pro report. The grant will help the startup create proof-of-concept for products derived from sugar feed and produced by converting carbon dioxide, which will be done by a third-party manufacturer.
C16 biosciences has trademarked a property called Palmless, which ferments naturally occurring yeast using "a method that has been used for centuries to make food (kimchi and beer!), as well as beauty actives (hyaluronic acid!), medicine (insulin!), and more.," according to its website.
The innovation, if and when it is proven to be a viable alternative to palm oil could be significant for India, which is the world's biggest importer of the commodity.
Also read: Patanjali Foods looking at sourcing 70% palm oil from own plantation in 6-7 years, says CEO
Palm oil made for 59% of India's total edible oil imports worth ₹1.38 lakh crore in the financial year ending March 2023.
Globally, various estimates pegged the size of the palm oil industry anywhere between $65 billion to $70 billion in 2022. That would mean a little less than one out of every five litres of the world's palm oil is consumed in India.
Bill Gates is putting his money where his mouth is. Will someone in India do the same too?
(Edited by : Jerome Anthony)
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