Opinion: One topic late last year that grabbed my attention was the speed of the development of plant based proteins. The exponential pace of expansion with these new technologies will leave traditional industries reeling.

Synthetic meat and milk will become the reality for many millions worldwide; it simply has too. Increasing the supply of traditional proteins to satisfy the demand of a burgeoning global middle class most likely will not be feasible.

Organic, industrial, traditional and we can now add synthetic to this list, food systems will need to be performing and complementing each other if we are serious about satisfying impending global demand.

SUPPLIED US company Impossible Foods is debuting its lab-grown "meat" burger in partnership with New York restaurant Nishi.

Non-animal based proteins will fill the space that traditional biological animal systems cannot. Environmentally friendly proteins with low energy components, will feed the masses.

READ MORE: Southland farmer trying to get ahead of environmental issues

I'm sure this fledging industry born out of Silicon Valley will understand and then push their own key attributes with vigour.

Our traditional biological systems of growing meat and milk will not compete on unit cost with an industrial system. We cannot afford to follow them down this "rabbit hole" as we will never resurface.

Are synthetic proteins a threat to our farms and economy? Most likely so. Here are a couple of possible reactions that "New Zealand Inc." could respond with.

Ignore it and hope it will go away. Our wool industry collectively pulled back on industry investment at precisely the same time as synthetic fibres started to benefit from investment which drove their product development. We had the opportunity then to identify and promote our own key attributes and then position wool above synthetics instead we retrenched investment and let our "wool story" fall away.

What we have now is a dynamic synthetic fibre industry which is driven by product innovation that dominates the mind space of consumers. The fantastic attributes that wool enjoys, has been largely forgotten by a generation of consumers.

Another possible reaction is to be proactive, identify this threat, and see it as an opportunity to elevate our own key attributes as a country to selective markets. Collectively promote and market our protein stories aggressively to wealthy consumers globally. Differentiating ourselves and then securing that elite position is necessary. We cannot afford to meekly watch this unfold before us without firing a shot.

A regulation, hands-off approach by the Ministry for Primary Industries would be a miscalculation; commercial companies manage their own margins and have proven reluctant to collectively work together for the betterment of all. The Government must start bringing our relevant industries together so we can jointly map out an overarching programme similar to Ireland's "Origin Green" promise that could future-proof our way of life for the foreseeable future.

No one owes us a living; we must protect our own position.