45+Research opportunities
50+Commercial whitespaces
35+Ecosystem support needs

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Key: Cultivated icon Cultivated Fermentation icon Fermentation Plant-based icon Plant-Based
Opportunity Production platform Value chain segment Technology sector End product focus Relevant actor Maturity level Solution category Topic
Build alternative protein sessions into scientific conferences

Elevating the visibility and credibility of the field at scientific conferences will expand the technical talent pipeline and amplify collaboration and funding efforts.

Cultivated icon Cultivated Fermentation icon Fermentation Plant-based icon Plant-Based R&D Species-agnostic Academics GFI 2 – Early adoption Ecosystem Industry Science
Building interdisciplinary university research centers of excellence

Interdisciplinary research is essential for tackling many of the complex problems facing today’s world. Though the number of research projects advancing alternative protein science has increased in recent years, this…

Cultivated icon Cultivated Fermentation icon Fermentation Plant-based icon Plant-Based R&D Workforce Species-agnostic Academics Donors Industry NGO’s Policymakers Startups 2 – Early adoption Ecosystem Industry Policy Science
Fiber spinning innovations for improved plant protein texturization

Fibers from non-traditional texturization techniques like electrospinning, jet spinning, or blow spinning could impart texture throughout a product even if they don’t comprise the bulk of the end product, which…

Plant-based icon Plant-Based End Products Production R&D Raw Materials, Ingredients, & Inputs End product formulation & manufacturing Species-agnostic Academics Industry Startups 2 – Early adoption Commercial Research
Coordination among investors with alternative protein industry-specific expertise

Investors specializing in alternative proteins should be leveraged to educate the broader investment community through coalitions, syndicated deals, and co-investments with industry-agnostic investors, and spearhead efforts to facilitate later-stage funding…

Cultivated icon Cultivated Fermentation icon Fermentation Plant-based icon Plant-Based Investment Species-agnostic GFI Investors Startups 2 – Early adoption Commercial Ecosystem Industry
Open-access product formulation specification sheets

Open-access product formulation specifications could provide clear metrics and objectives for product developers on attributes like taste, price, nutrition, and ingredient ratios.

Fermentation icon Fermentation Plant-based icon Plant-Based End Products R&D End product formulation & manufacturing Ingredient optimization Species-agnostic GFI Industry 2 – Early adoption Ecosystem Industry
Expanding private label plant-based offerings

Brands, dedicated private labelers, and co-manufacturers can take advantage of the private labeling opportunity, and would benefit from developing a wide range of products to fit every category and access…

Fermentation icon Fermentation Plant-based icon Plant-Based Business Services Distribution Channels End Products Production End product formulation & manufacturing Species-agnostic Industry 2 – Early adoption Commercial Industry
Plants as a recombinant protein expression platform

Plants can serve as expression platforms similar to microorganisms used as recombinant protein hosts. This may require minimal processing into value-added ingredients, such as egg and dairy functional proteins. Plants…

Plant-based icon Plant-Based Production R&D Raw Materials, Ingredients, & Inputs Crop development Ingredient optimization Species-agnostic Academics Industry Startups 2 – Early adoption Commercial Research Industry Science
Expanded product development in plant-based meat snacks

Plant-based meat snacks could tap into underlying trends in snacks replacing meals and increased consumer interest in high-protein, low-sugar foods. Product innovation is needed to match the taste, price, and…

Plant-based icon Plant-Based Demand Generation End Products Production End product formulation & manufacturing Seafood-relevant Industry Startups 2 – Early adoption Commercial Industry
Landscape/directory of major players in foodservice, retail, and distribution

Resources and services that make it easier to locate, filter, and prioritize sales and partnership efforts would ease transactional burdens for startups and add value to existing companies looking for…

Fermentation icon Fermentation Plant-based icon Plant-Based Distribution Channels Species-agnostic GFI Industry NGO’s 2 – Early adoption Ecosystem Industry
Infrastructure loan fund

The success of early-days products has demonstrated strong consumer interest, but investment is needed to enable alternative protein supply chain companies to build out the infrastructure needed to capitalize on…

Cultivated icon Cultivated Fermentation icon Fermentation Plant-based icon Plant-Based Investment Production Species-agnostic Industry Investors 2 – Early adoption Commercial Industry

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!

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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

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Executive summary

Get an overview of GFI’s Solutions initiative and a summary of key resources.

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Full report

Delve into the full report on the motivation, methodology, rationale, and key findings and recommendations of the Solutions initiative.

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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.

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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.