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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
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
Fermentation
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
Fermentation
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
|
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
Fermentation
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
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
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
|
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
|
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
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
Fermentation
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!
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.