With the recent announcement of Topian, the ambitious new food company under the NEOM mega development in Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom has taken a momentous step towards revolutionizing the future of food. Topian aspires to push the envelope on developing innovative and sustainable solutions across the entire food value chain.

The launch of Topian comes alongside NEOM’s broader vision to create a futuristic, high-tech hub along the coastline of the Red Sea. The wider NEOM project, backed by Saudi’s Public Investment Fund, involves a planned investment of over $500 billion to construct a vast area spanning over 10,000 square miles. It has grand aims to attract new businesses, industries and tourists over the coming decades.

Topian specifically looks to make progress across five key strategic pillars:

climate-proof agriculture, regenerative aquaculture, novel foods, personalized nutrition, sustainable food supply chains, and strong environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards. Examples of innovations could include high-tech vertical indoor farming, alternative proteins using microbial fermentation, hyper-efficient last-mile logistics powered by EVs, DNA-based diets and nutrition plans tailored to individuals’ biomarkers, and more.

The recent announcement was made by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) and has the strong backing of the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture. Topian’s launch represents a push to use cutting-edge food innovation to align with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 plan. Central goals of Vision 2030 include improving food and water security, adapting to climate change, enhancing sustainability and reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.

Topian is positioned as NEOM’s “new innovative standard in sustainable food production,” per a news release published along the SPA announcement. It aims to embrace a “new era of food” and pioneer the “Art of More with Less” to enhance food availability and access through novel means while reducing waste. For instance, vertical indoor farms can grow crops year-round immune from droughts, and alternative proteins require fewer resources than traditional livestock.

Juan Carlos Motamayor, Topian’s Chief Executive Officer, said:

“As a wholly owned subsidiary of NEOM, Topian is fully aligned with NEOM’s commitment to providing high-quality, nutritious and sustainable food products to the market, and promoting food and water security along with environmental sustainability, while contributing to the Kingdom’s self-sufficiency objectives and long-term economic goals.”

In line with the Saudi Green Initiative and United Nations Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs), Topian intends to lead conversations and push policies around building resilient, equitable and healthy food systems. Such systems need to stand up to global megatrends like population growth beyond 10 billion people worldwide, shifting consumer behaviour’s preferring personalization, rising incomes demanding more resource intensive diets, and supply chain constraints from worsening climate change impacts.

Topian will collaborate with partners globally and locally within both private sector food businesses and academic food research institutes. Pilot projects and field trials will test, iterate and scale up various sustainable food production methods leveraging leading edge innovation. Its one-of-a-kind approach will be crucial in shaping the future path of the food sector towards security, safety and sustainability in Saudi Arabia and beyond.

With the creation of Topian, NEOM and Saudi Arabia have demonstrated bold and visionary leadership in transforming food systems to be resilient, equitable and sustainable in the face of global megatrends, aiming to set a new innovative standard for the future of food.