Development of food technology for the future prospect of the livestock food industry

The global livestock food industry faces increasing challenges to reconcile the increasing demand for animal-derived foods owing to environmental sustainability, animal welfare, and public health concerns. Although conventional livestock production provides nutritionally valuable foods, it is constrained by biological inefficiencies, climate vulnerability, and growing societal scrutiny, challenging its long-term resilience. Consequently, food technology is a key driver of structural transformation in livestock food systems. Therefore, understanding the technological trajectories and their integration into existing livestock value chains is critical for evaluating the future prospects of livestock-based food systems. This review examines recent advances in food technologies shaping the future of the livestock food industry, focusing on precision livestock farming, artificial intelligence, automation, alternative protein systems, cellular agriculture, and innovations in processing and packaging. Digital technologies have enhanced production efficiency, disease detection, and animal welfare; however, their ability to fully mitigate environmental and ethical trade-offs remain limited. Additionally, alternative proteins and cell-cultivated meat offer pathways to partially decouple protein production from conventional livestock farming but face challenges related to scalability, cost, regulation, and consumer acceptance. Processing innovations, including healthier product reformulation, bioprocessing, precision fermentation, and smart packaging, further support alignment with sustainability and public health goals. Overall, this review highlights that the future of livestock food systems is likely to be characterized by integration rather than substitution, requiring strategic convergence of conventional livestock production with emerging food technologies under science-based regulatory frameworks.