The Halo Effect in Food Selection

I recently attended the Livestock, Environment and People (LEAP) Conference 2020, which included several thought-provoking and varied presentations. 

Heidi Zamzow from the London school of economics and political science gave an incredibly engaging presentation on a psychological effect known as the ‘halo’ effect. She opened her talk with “do you think David Attenborough pays his taxes on time”. The Halo effect is where our initial evaluations tend to influence (or cast a halo on) our later evaluations. In this example, as Attenborough is beloved by many in the UK, many of us may assume he does pay his taxes on time without any evidence proving this. This study focused on whether this halo effect could influence our food choices. Heidi referenced a fascinating 2012 study led by Jonathon Schuldt that had people estimate the number of calories in a chocolate bar. When told the chocolate manufacturers treated their workers ethically, the participants infer the chocolate had fewer calories. However, when told they treated their workers poorly, calories were inferred to be higher. This shows an ‘ethical halo’ affected people’s views on the chocolate. Heidi questioned whether an ‘environmental halo’ could do the same. The answer was yes - an environmental halo will lead to positive product recommendations. Interestingly the effect of a negative halo was stronger than a positive halo which was attributed to negativity bias (otherwise known as the idea that bad is more powerful than good).   Patricia Eustachio Colombo from the Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, also spoke on an intervention study on the effects of more sustainable and nutritional school meals. This sort of change could be a significant contributor to both environmental change and lowered levels of obesity. The latter is frequently addressed by healthcare experts as key in the fight against the Covid-19 crisis. School meals reach children for at least one meal per day and often cover a large part of public; in the UK the school catering industry alone is worth £1.2 billion a year. Therefore, optimising these to promote health and climate change friendly dietary habits could be ground-breaking. Something I found interesting about her presentation was the delicate balance of aligning the different health objectives with the climate change ones.  I think these presentations really showed how consumers are rethinking what they eat and buy is growing the plant-based meat substitute market. This trend is, in my view, an incredibly attractive investment. As an active investor, spotting trends early is very important, which is why I have chosen to invest in companies that offer plant-based alternatives such as ALOHA and JUST.

Supermarkets: a drive towards sustainability?

I heard so many thought-provoking presentations from outstanding academics at the Livestock, Environment and People (LEAP) Conference 2020. 

One such talk was given by Joanna Trewern from the Centre for Environment & Sustainability, University of Surrey. Her study focused on the intervention in supermarkets for “less and better meat”. She found that retailers have no targets or strategies for reducing meat sales, however many are trying to focus on more sustainable meat, for example, locally sourced. Some intend to make targets for plant-based products, and indeed recently Tesco has set a sales target for plant-based alternatives. Many supermarkets did not feel they had the duty to influence customer attitudes and demands, merely to reflect them. This is something I found very interesting, especially in light of the next presentation I heard which was from Cristina Stewart at the University of Oxford, who spoke on meat consumption trends in the UK. It is well known that reducing meat consumption protects the environment, but that globally average per capita meat consumption is increasing. In UK beef consumption needs to decrease 89% to stay within planetary boundaries. This study took place from 2008/9-2016/17. Groups were categorised by year of birth rather than age group. An interesting find was that the youngest survey group- born after 1999- are the only group increasing their consumption. Although they did have a lower starting base point, I found this a surprising trend. The study found that on average daily meat intake decreased by 12g per day, 8.4 g of which was red meat. In contrast, white meat consumption increased. This distinction is significant - as is well documented, frequent and sustained consumption of red meat has negative impacts upon health. This trend in decreasing meat consumption and an increase in plant-based foods is, in my view, an incredibly attractive investment. As an active investor, spotting trends early is important, which is why I have chosen to invest in companies that offer plant-based alternatives such as ALOHA and JUST.

Future-proof and sustainable healthy diets based on current eating patterns in the Netherlands

Earlier this week I attended the Livestock, Environment and People Conference (LEAP), hosted online as all such events have been in 2020. One session I attended was provided by Marcelo Tyszler, PhD on “Future-proof and sustainable healthy diets based on current eating patterns in the Netherlands.”

Mr. Tyszler looked at the current dietary patterns in the Netherlands, alongside the required environmental targets for 2030 and 2050. His results firstly demonstrated that the Dutch baseline diet includes a high amount of dairy and a low amount of soy drink. This has a high environmental impact. It is a diet which does not meet all nutritional requirements, with too much carbohydrates and saturated fats. The diet is lacking in fibre, iron and some vitamins. When this diet is optimised to correct for nutritional inadequacies, more tree nuts, dry beans, lentils and peas, fish and vegetables are added, with same amount of dairy and soy drink. This diet had a reduced environmental impact; however, it still would not be enough to comply with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) +1.5ºC pathway. To comply with reduction of greenhouse gases for 2030 and 2050, none of the sustainable healthy diets contain beef. The flexitarians scenario contains the most meat with the consumption of chicken and pork. The Flexitarian, Pescatarian and Vegetarian scenarios contain the same amount of dairy other than a reduction in the consumption of cheese and more soy drink than the current Dutch diet. A vegan diet scenario only meets nutritional requirement for vitamin B12 and calcium through high consumption of fortified soy drink. In all, the research demonstrates to comply with the Paris Agreement on climate change, specific policies may be needed to help people shift to diets with lower environmental impacts. Strong product and process innovation will also be needed to meet the 2050 Greenhouse Gases target in terms of healthy and acceptable diets. Given the current strain on global healthcare systems, it is vital that we address both the nutritional and the environmental impacts of our diets.

Public attitudes to lab-grown food and other problems

I recently attended the University of Oxford’s Livestock, Environment and People (LEAP) Conference, which included a fascinating panel discussion of attitudes towards lab-grown food, specifically with regard to cultured meat and how the use of such products may be encouraged.

An analysis of Twitter responses discussing cultured meat found a polarisation of views on the matter. On one side, there are the potential benefits in reducing animal cruelty, food shortages, and reduce the spread of disease from animals to humans. Research has also suggested that lab-grown meat could have potential health benefits, with the potential for products with no saturated fat or growth hormones - important considerations to note given the current strains on global healthcare systems. On the other hand, there is a perception that measures (such as a meat tax) to incentivise the consumption of lab-grown products is an infringement upon freedom, with diet seen as a highly personal choice. This pushback comes with a counter-narrative about these products being non-natural, in addition to having to contend with religious rules and cultural traditions relating to meat. Further to the current issues of public perception, cultured meat products also come up against the hurdle that although the replacement of livestock would reduce methane production (a short-lived greenhouse gas), the industrial production of these products would increase CO2 production (conversely, a long-life greenhouse gas). There is the possibility that this could be counteracted by the use of renewable energy to power the production process, although there is still some way to go in the area of renewables before sufficient supply for this is available. However, although the production of lab-grown meat powered by renewable energy may invoke the image of a distant future, this situation may not be too far off – with a growing push for both renewable energy and alternatives to conventional meat products. There are several obstacles that any artificially produced meat product will need to overcome in order to be successful when the technology required to mass produce lab-grown food becomes available. However, the possibilities here are exciting and I keenly await hearing about the developments in this area.

Women of Wearables: Transforming Healthcare with AI

In the last year, we have seen transformation of healthcare in ways we might not have expected, and is now more accessible, driven by technology and focused on prevention.  As part of the Women of Wearables conference, I attended a panel discussion on how artificial intelligence (AI) can transform healthcare. The pandemic has been a catalyst for change in adoption of AI and adoption of digital technology. The panel discussed the challenges and benefits of using AI within their respective sectors.

It might be thought that regulations may be the biggest barrier to innovation within healthcare, but, Rebecca Wray, Associate Director in Digital Health Oncology at Astra Zeneca said it is the quality of data, and access to it. Access to large-scale, quality data is hugely expensive, and can be a major barrier. Hadeel Ayoub, founder of start-up BrightSign explained how this impacted her, and it meant she chose to collect her own data.

New solutions requiring new data, existing data being held inconsistently and lack of access to data due to privacy concerns pose further challenges for AI in healthcare. The panel also discussed the problems in research and development of AI, especially regarding inbuilt biases that may emerge. Melissa Berthelot, CEO of WarnerPatch explained that all data will be biased to some extent, and is recognised when ethical approval is sought.

One of my investments, Owkin, transforms data into knowledge, and combats some of these challenges. Owkin recognised that researchers, doctors and biologists benefit from available data, however, being able to extract insights becomes more challenging. Owkin’s solution is to build collective intelligence from distributed data at scale, which can provide personalised treatments for everyone without impacting on privacy.

Currently, we cannot expect AI to replace human intuitive aspects, as algorithms cannot assess the context of a patient’s life, but it can be employed in certain situations to alleviate pressure on doctors. As an investor in this space, I am excited to see how AI continues to contribute to innovation within healthcare, ultimately developing faster and more effective treatments for patients.

Philips: the intersection of health, science, technology and beauty

 

I recently attended the Women of Wearables conference where Raymon uit de Bulten delivered a keynote presentation on Philips and their work at the cross section of healthcare, science, technology and beauty. As an organisation, their guiding aim is to improve 2.5 billion lives per year by 2030 with their products, including 400 million in underserved communities. What I found of particular interest is the way in which Philips are mobilising technology to find healthcare solutions.

During the Covid-19 crisis, healthcare is being delivered at home more than ever before. The use of tele-health increased by 3000% in 2020. Despite this access to care, in the UK we have seen still births increase from 8 to 10 per thousand births, perhaps attributable to fewer hospital check-ups during pregnancies. Philips has developed a maternity tracker to be used from home or in designated hospital settings to protect pregnant mothers. This prevents the need for physical connection with healthcare professionals, without sacrificing the monitoring of the mother’s health. The potential for this device is not restricted to pregnant women — it can also be adapted to monitor patients with chronic conditions, and protect them from potential exposure to coronavirus.

Virtual care and health tech is a booming industry , and is likely to remain so. As an investor in the health tech industry, in particular the femtech space this was a fascinating talk. I am a proud investor in the Femtech sector, and one of NJF Capital’s investments is Elvie, a London-based company founded by Tania Boler. Frustrated to find that women’s health has been given inadequate attention in both the research and technological fields, Boler set out to make remedying this her priority and to “get women talking about health issues more”. She has achieved this goal through two of Elvie’s key products: the Pump and Trainer. The former is for breastfeeding, the latter is for the pelvic floor.

Digital health offers exciting opportunities for innovation within healthcare, and improves accessibility across populations, including those in underserved communities and those with chronic illnesses. The presentation offered an insight into how organisations can offer a holistic service to their consumers through technological innovation. As healthcare and femtech investor, I am looking forward to seeing how these developments can help to provide quality, accessible healthcare.  

Healthtech: Another Way to Improve Mental Health

 

 I recently attended the HealthTech 2.0 conference hosted by Women of Wearables Global. A panel discussion I found especially interesting was ‘Tech-Powered Solutions Paving The Way To Better Mental Health’. 

 

The global pandemic has taken a toll on mental health worldwide as it upends everyday life for so many people. Investment into mental healthtech has boomed, reaching £580 million in 2019. Technology-based products mean people can now access help and consultations. With Laura Lovett, the managing Editor of MobiHealthNews as moderator the panel spoke about how technology revolutionises access to mental health support. The panel consisted of Jolawn Victor, Chief International Officer at Headspace, Daniel Mansson, founder and CEO of Flow Neuroscience, Dr Monika Roots, Chief Medical Officer at Sanvello and Elettra Bianchi Dennerlein, founder and co-CEO at MyOnlineTherapy

 

I agreed with the panel when they discussed the important role technology plays in improving mental health. This is part of a broader trend of technology helping people live longer and healthier lives. Technology has been increasing access to mental health support as described by the panel. Fitness technology and home workout projects have been booming; for instance according to Bloomberg in September 2020, Peloton forecast a whopping $3.5 billion to $3.65 billion in revenue for fiscal 2021. Social media has played an exciting role in this boom.

The growing femtech industry has been making a real difference to the health and happiness of women around the world. An example of an investments I have made in the femtech sector is Elvie, founded by  Tania Boler.

This growth is also mirrored by a larger change in consumers' changing with the rise of plant-based alternatives that are healthy for the body and sustainable for the planet. According to a study by Polaris Market Research, the global plant-based meat market size is expected to reach USD 35.4 billion by 2027. This trend is, in my view, an incredibly attractive investment. Not only that, but these are all aspects I believe add up to make life healthier and better balanced for people around the world. I look forward to seeing new and innovative ways that technology can help people stay healthy in the future.