Food systems in the Anthropocene are unsustainable for both the planet and the people, in their current form. Large-scale transformations are therefore required to achieve sustainable, resilient and inclusive food systems. A plurality of different pathways towards sustainable food systems are necessary, exist, and are promoted in different contexts; for example, regenerative agriculture or reducing food loss and waste. In Sweden, among other regions, one potential pathway is promoted as a novel high-tech food system that is dominated and reinvented by innovations and new food system technologies. This licentiate thesis (and the overall PhD project) aims to contribute to the understanding of the role of Food Tech in sustainable food system transformation by asking the following overarching research question: What is the sustainability performance of Food Tech that is implemented to achieve more healthy diets from sustainable food systems in Sweden? Based on two publications, this thesis provides empirical and methodological contributions to the understanding of the environmental, nutritional, and economic performance of four selected Food Tech, with a particular focus on plant-based alternatives in the Swedish diet.

In Paper I, I reviewed the current peer-reviewed literature and investigated the sustainability performance of four different and representative types of Food Tech through a systematic scoping review and performance analysis. In Paper II, I conducted a modelling study to assess the sustainability implications of replacing current animal-based products in the Swedish diet with a wide range of plant-based alternatives as opposed to whole foods using two functional units. 

The findings reveal that the investigated Food Tech examples can have a better sustainability performance than the status quo they intend to replace and therefore carry the potential to support parts of the transformation towards more sustainable food systems and enhance human health. But, this thesis also shows that there are trade-offs between different dimensions of sustainability and that the performance of Food Tech is context-dependent. Hence, the thesis emphasizes that the rapid development of Food Tech and its expected impacts on different pillars of sustainability requires improved multi-indicator sustainability assessment to reduce the risks of unintended trade-offs. The results of this thesis provide important contributions towards such a scientifically informed framework to assess the sustainability of Food Tech.