State of the Industry Report: Fermentation
This report, part of our 2023 State of the Industry Report series, covers developments in the commercial landscape, product trends, investment data, public funding, and regulatory developments for fermentation-enabled meat, seafood, eggs, and dairy.
Explore new data and industry insights
Executive summary
The global fermentation industry continued to innovate on animal-free alternatives to conventional proteins in 2023. In 2023 alone, the number of fermentation companies globally grew by 16 percent, seven new fermentation-focused facilities opened their doors, and funding milestones were reached in Europe and Africa.
The year also delivered scientific advances, new products, more manufacturing facilities, and notable partnerships. All this progress brought the world more meat, seafood, eggs, and dairy made via microorganisms than in any previous year. While challenges in manufacturing capacity and reaching cost parity remain, this nature-inspired technology is primed to transform the future of food.
Report highlights
- Industry associations
- New facilities
- Strategic partnerships
- Product trends
- Private investment data and insights
- Research updates
- Public support and regulation
- Industry outlook
Key developments
The State of the Industry Report: Fermentation provides a comprehensive global analysis of the fermentation-enabled alternative protein industry including the commercial landscape, investment data, science and technology developments, and public funding and support. Highlights featured in the report include:
Commercial landscape
New industry associations, facilities, and partnerships
- In early 2023, nine precision fermentation companies co-founded the Precision Fermentation Alliance, which will focus on regulatory engagement and consumer messaging. Food Fermentation Europe, working to address several issues, including labeling and nomenclature for animal-free proteins, was also formed in 2023.
- Seven new fermentation facilities opened globally in 2023, and several more were announced or began construction.
- In 2023, 19 new partnerships focused on end products and bioprocess scaling were formed, adding to the 21 partnerships established in 2022.
Investments
All-time investment reaches $4.1 billion
- According to our analysis of data obtained from the Net Zero Insights platform, fermentation companies raised $514.7 million in 2023, a year-over-year deceleration mirroring similar trends across markets amid challenging macroeconomic and other global factors.
- Funding grew in Europe, totaling $179.4 million, a 22% increase from 2022 (and the highest annual total for the region to date).
- The number of unique investors in fermentation globally grew by 22% to 693 unique investors.
Science and technology
New ingredient and process research
- The EVERY Co. unveiled the world’s first precision fermentation liquid egg product in December 2023 on the heels of patent protection on recombinant protein purification strategies and precision fermentation-derived recombinant ovomucoid.
- Biotech company Melt & Marble was awarded several patents for strain improvements to increase fatty acid and protein production in fungi.
- Mycorena AB was granted two patents in Sweden for a dairy replacement and dry food product formulation containing their fungal biomass ingredient. Mycorena has developed a patent-pending method for a printable food product comprising its fungal biomass ingredient.
- Koralo Foods, an alternative seafood startup, received a patent for their novel alternative seafood product produced through the co-cultivation of fungal mycelium and microalgae that imparts the taste and texture of seafood while also providing the nutritional benefits of both the fungal protein and microalgae omega-3-fatty acids in a single process.
Government and regulation
Public funding and support
- The White House released “Bold Goals for U.S. Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing,” which proposed supportive policies for the domestic biotechnology sector and called for more research on alternative proteins, public-private partnerships, and an ecosystem of agriculture-focused biomanufacturing facilities.
- The White House released a Building the Bioworkforce of the Future report that named precision fermentation explicitly as a growing sector in the American bioeconomy that will benefit from government investment.
- In the United States, precision fermentation startup Liberation Labs received a $25 million loan guarantee from USDA to accelerate the construction of a facility in Indiana.
- We estimate total Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) funding for fermentation at around $40 million over four years—nearly matching the United States’ all-time investment in alternative proteins before 2023.
- The government of South Africa allocated what may be the first public investment in precision fermentation on the continent, with a grant of ZAR 11 million ($700,000) to South African startup De Novo FoodLabs.
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Find companies focused on fermentation
These companies focus primarily on fermentation for alternative proteins. This list is intended to be as comprehensive as possible, but should not be considered exhaustive. You can learn more about these companies in our company database. Are we missing something? Let us know about an update to a company’s record by filling out our company database edits form or submit a new company using this form.
Find production facilities focused on fermentation
These production facilities have fermentation-enabled alt protein capacity. This database is dynamically updated; the total number of facilities may differ slightly from what has been reported in the State of the Industry Report as we continuously improve our dataset. This list is intended to be as comprehensive as possible, but should not be considered exhaustive.
Are we missing something? Let us know by filling out this form to add a fermentation-enabled alternative protein-focused production facility to the database.
Download our at-a-glance summary
Don’t have time to read the full report? Check out our summary for a quick view of the highlights and key data points from our 2023 State of the Industry report for fermentation.
Meet the authors
Adam Leman, Ph.D.
LEAD SCIENTIST, FERMENTATION
Adam is focused on engineering a new paradigm in food production.
Areas of expertise: microbial fermentation, precision fermentation, molecular biology
Daniel Gertner
BUSINESS ANALYST
Daniel identifies market opportunities and analyzes the alternative protein industry landscape.
Areas of expertise: research and analysis, economics
Lucas Eastham
SENIOR FERMENTATION SCIENTIST
Lucas Eastham is focused on analyzing fermentation technologies, and progressing their applications in the alternative protein industry.
Areas of expertise: microbial biotechnology, upstream strain and process development, downstream process development, bioprocess product commercialization
