Key Takeaways

  • The global biotech market is expected to grow to nearly $730 billion by 2025, with food tech being a crucial sector.
  • Skyline Construction has seen significant growth in the food tech industry, and they’re committed to assisting clients in this niche market throughout the Bay Area, San Diego, Chicago, and Seattle.
  • Skyline Construction is currently building a warehouse/lab space compound for M2 Ingredients, a leading producer of functional mushroom powder.
  • Food-tech spaces have unique features not typically seen in traditional life science labs, such as showrooms accessible to the public, display presentation kitchens, and sensory display rooms.
  • As the food-based biotech industry continues to expand, it will bring unique features and requirements for lab spaces not typically seen in traditional life science labs.

The Rise Of Food-Based Biotech

The world of life sciences has been expanding rapidly in recent years, with biotech, including food science, becoming an increasingly important sector. In fact, the global biotech market is expected to grow to nearly $730 billion by 2025! As the demand for sustainable food production increases, so does the need for lab space and research facilities in the food science sector.

Skyline has seen significant growth in the food tech industry and is committed to assisting clients in this niche market throughout the Bay Area, San Diego, Chicago, and Seattle. We’ve assembled a team of experts to design and build specialized lab spaces that meet the unique requirements of the food tech sector. A current Skyline project in this market is for M2 Ingredients, Inc., one of the world’s leading producers of certified, 100% organic mushrooms that are grown, dried, milled, and packaged into powders to support daily health, sports performance, recovery, and cognition. The company’s relocation to Vista, California involves the construction of a 150,000 square-foot warehouse/lab space for industrial indoor farming, manufacturing, and distribution, along with an additional 20,000-square-foot traditional office space needed to maintain its operations.

Food-tech spaces also have unique features not typically seen in traditional life science labs. For example, food-tech spaces often have showrooms accessible to the public for viewing and testing, display presentation kitchens, sensory display rooms, and are built with an investor mindset. It’s important to consider the critical adjacencies between the space in the building in both the life sciences and food-tech sectors.

The food-based biotech industry is an exciting and rapidly growing field that is driving innovation and investment. As the industry continues to expand, it will bring unique technology, regulations and expectations for lab spaces not typically seen in traditional life science labs. Qualified general contractors will play a crucial role in meeting the demand for sustainable food production and supporting the growth of the food-based biotech industry. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help your company thrive in this exciting and rapidly growing field.

Gordon Zagar, president of Zagar Consulting, a consulting firm that works with a wide range of life science tenants, has witnessed the rising activity in the food-tech sector. He believes that the plant-based section within grocery stores will continue to grow, with cell-cultured meats and mycelium products joining these food options in the next five to ten years.