Alternative Protein Solutions Database
Discover ideas for new startups, commercial ventures and products, research projects, ecosystem support, and investment opportunities for plant-based, cultivated, and fermentation-derived proteins.
Additional Filters
Cultivated
Fermentation
Plant-Based
| Opportunity | Production platform | Value chain segment | Technology sector | End product focus | Relevant actor | Maturity level | Solution category | Topic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Catalog of animal meat flavors
Creating a catalog of molecules responsible for the characteristic flavor of a species will enable alternative protein product manufacturers to create products that more accurately replicate the sensory experience of… |
Cultivated
Fermentation
Plant-Based
|
End Products Production R&D Raw Materials, Ingredients, & Inputs | Crop development End product formulation & manufacturing Ingredient optimization Target molecule selection | Seafood-relevant | Academics GFI Industry NGO’s Startups | Commercial Ecosystem Research | Industry Science | |
|
Synergistic climate and biodiversity benefits of alternative proteins
The direct climate and biodiversity benefits of alternative proteins are well understood by the alternative protein community, but the synergistic benefits of alternative proteins with other solutions—for example, clean energy… |
Cultivated
Fermentation
Plant-Based
|
Demand Generation Investment | Seafood-relevant | Academics Donors GFI Industry Investors NGO’s Policymakers Startups | Ecosystem | |||
|
Naturally adhesive and edible non-animal scaffolding materials
There is a limited number of edible non-animal scaffold materials that are naturally adhesive for use in cultivated meat production. Identifying a larger and more diverse set of these materials,… |
Cultivated
|
Scaffolding | Seafood-relevant | Science | ||||
|
Optimizing fat profiles for nutritional and sensory properties
Because alternative meat’s fat content and fatty acid profile can be more easily controlled than conventional meat’s, there is an opportunity to alter fat content for nutritional benefits. Additional research… |
Cultivated
Fermentation
Plant-Based
|
End Products Production R&D | Cell culture media End product formulation & manufacturing Target molecule selection | Seafood-relevant | Academics Industry Startups | Commercial Research | Science | |
|
Incorporating growth factors into scaffolds to reduce costs and introduce spatial heterogeneity
Growth factors (GFs) can be incorporated into scaffolds as a strategy for both reducing costs and improving product quality of cultivated meat. Open-access research is needed to test the feasibility… |
Cultivated
|
End Products Production R&D | Scaffolding | Seafood-relevant | Academics Industry Startups | Commercial Research | ||
|
B2B media development company
The cultivated meat industry needs dedicated suppliers of low-cost, food-grade cell culture media to reduce cultivated meat production costs. Close collaboration between the customer and supplier will be required in… |
Cultivated
|
R&D Raw Materials, Ingredients, & Inputs | Cell culture media | Seafood-relevant | Industry Investors Startups | Commercial Research | ||
|
Plant-based category marketing
Interest in plant-based products is growing, but many consumers still express skepticism about plant protein foods, or simply lack familiarity with the category. Category marketing campaigns to promote plant-based and… |
Cultivated
Fermentation
Plant-Based
|
Demand Generation Distribution Channels End Products | Seafood-relevant | Donors Industry NGO’s Policymakers Startups | Commercial Ecosystem Policy | Industry Policy | ||
|
B2B growth factors for proliferation
There is a need for a supplier of low-cost growth factors produced without the use of animals to support the proliferation phase of cultivated meat production. The cost of growth… |
Cultivated
|
R&D Raw Materials, Ingredients, & Inputs | Cell culture media | Seafood-relevant | Industry Startups | Commercial | Industry Science | |
|
Co-cultured support cells for cultivated meat
Cultivated meat research focuses primarily on muscle fibers and fat cells. However, other cell types serve functions that are often under appreciated in their relevance to cultivated meat. Co-culture methods… |
Cultivated
|
Production R&D Raw Materials, Ingredients, & Inputs | Bioprocess design Cell culture media Cell line development | Seafood-relevant | Academics Industry Startups | Commercial Research | Science | |
|
Biomaterials for scaffolding
A handful of companies and researchers are developing scaffold materials for use in various steps of the cultivated meat production process, but to date the topic of scaffolding has been… |
Cultivated
|
R&D Raw Materials, Ingredients, & Inputs | Scaffolding | Seafood-relevant | Academics Industry Startups | Commercial Research | Industry Science |
Get involved
If you’d like to fund a research project, work on any of these solutions, share information about related efforts that are already underway, or elevate new ideas for advancing the alternative protein industry, we’d love to hear from you!
Explore key innovation priorities
Review commercial whitespaces, research gaps, technological needs, and investment priorities at each stage of the alternative protein value chain.
How we built this
Full report
Delve into the full report on the motivation, methodology, rationale, and key findings and recommendations of the Solutions initiative.
Futures wheels analysis
Explore our framework for uncovering second-order or third-order consequences and implications of hypothetical future scenarios to support better decision-making in the present.
Future-proofing
Discover key findings from GFI’s premortem analysis of potential threats to the widespread adoption of alternative proteins, including strategies to avoid or mitigate the most pressing risks.
