BetaShares to launch food-based ETF

Dubbed as the Future of Food ETF (IEAT), it’s expected to launch on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) at the end of May, and will play a significant role in enabling investors a convenient and cost-effective exposure to a portfolio of high-profile companies involved in the creation and management of food and food chain technology.

According to BetaShares, these companies are at the forefront in changing the way food is produced, distributed and consumed, and aim to create a bigger global population, improve living standards, more awareness about the impact of livestock on greenhouse gas emissions and animal welfare considerations.

And the greater industrial move to overhaul how food is cultured and manufactured has come as a response to a major worldwide trend where people are expressing greater interest in ditching conventional animal-based foods in favour of plant-based alternatives, or seeking foods that are produced and distributed through more sustainable means.

This is backed by statistics from Ray Morgan, which found that the number of Australians adopting vegetarian diets had surged from 2.1 million people (11.2 per cent) in 2018 to 2.5 million people (12.1 per cent) in 2019.

BetaShares hopes to use that emerging market demand in the creation of its new ETF, which has a strict set of qualifications, including the requirement for companies to be engaged in activities around food productions, food chain improvement or food supply.

According to BetaShares, its IEAT index constituents includes food production companies, including Beyond Meat, a well-known producer of plant-based meat substitutes for burgers, sausages, and other beef products; Tattooed Chef, a leading producer of plant-based ready-to-cook frozen meals; and Danone, a global food products company with an increasing presence in the plant-based dairy market.

BetaShares chief executive officer, Alex Vynokur promoted BetaShares track record in selectively launching innovative new funds available to investors.

“Our leading thematic range, which will soon include IEAT, is a perfect example of our continued work to give investors access to a greater range of high conviction megatrends that will play out over the decades ahead,” Mr Vynokur said.

The IEAT ETF will also join the ranks of BetaShares' other thematic funds, including Global Cybersecurity (ASX: HACK), Asia Technology Tigers (ASX: ASIA) and Climate Change Innovation (ASX: ERTH).

The preliminary ASX listing for the IEAT ETF can be found here.