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
Consumer and sensory research to guide alternative fish R&D

Consumer and sensory research can help companies and academic researchers better understand seafood consumers’ needs and desires. Understanding consumers’ needs will allow alternative fish researchers to ask and prioritize the…

Cultivated icon Cultivated Fermentation icon Fermentation Plant-based icon Plant-Based End Products End product formulation & manufacturing Seafood Academics Industry Startups Commercial Research Science
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 icon Cultivated Fermentation icon Fermentation Plant-based icon 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 icon Cultivated Fermentation icon Fermentation Plant-based icon Plant-Based Demand Generation Investment Seafood-relevant Academics Donors GFI Industry Investors NGO’s Policymakers Startups Ecosystem
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 icon Cultivated Fermentation icon Fermentation Plant-based icon 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
Hybrid products to optimize nutrition, taste, cost, and sustainability

Hybrid products are a promising means to improve the cost and sustainability of animal-derived meat while improving the taste of plant proteins. Promoting the health benefits of hybrids may facilitate…

Cultivated icon Cultivated Fermentation icon Fermentation Plant-based icon Plant-Based Demand Generation End Products Production R&D Raw Materials, Ingredients, & Inputs End product formulation & manufacturing Ingredient optimization Species-agnostic Academics Industry Investors Startups Commercial Industry Science
Scientist / engineer outreach and education

To expand the technical talent pipeline, various players in the alternative protein field should reach out to scientists and engineers in relevant disciplines (e.g., biotech, biopharma, and food science) to…

Cultivated icon Cultivated Fermentation icon Fermentation Plant-based icon Plant-Based Workforce Species-agnostic Academics Donors GFI Industry NGO’s Policymakers Startups Ecosystem
Life Cycle Assessment for alternative seafood relative to conventional fishing and aquaculture

To date, no robust environmental assessments have been conducted to compare alternative seafood to its conventional counterparts. An open-access, quantitative analysis of the relative environmental impacts of alternative seafood will…

Cultivated icon Cultivated Fermentation icon Fermentation Plant-based icon Plant-Based Demand Generation Distribution Channels End Products Investment Production R&D Raw Materials, Ingredients, & Inputs Seafood Academics GFI Industry Research Science
Plant-based scaffolds to improve cultivated meat nutrition

A variety of plant-based scaffolds present the opportunity to combine the natural nutritional and structural benefits of plants with the taste and high protein of cultivated meat. Bacterial nanocellulose from…

Cultivated icon Cultivated Plant-based icon Plant-Based End Products Investment Production R&D Raw Materials, Ingredients, & Inputs Bioprocess design End product formulation & manufacturing Scaffolding Species-agnostic Academics Industry Startups Commercial Research Industry Science
Animal-free, non-recombinant albumin and transferrin for cultivated meat

The identification of non-animal, non-recombinant proteins with similar functionality to serum albumin and transferrin will lead to major cost reductions in cell culture media development, facilitating progress toward achieving price…

Cultivated icon Cultivated Plant-based icon Plant-Based Production R&D Raw Materials, Ingredients, & Inputs Cell culture media Crop development Target molecule selection Species-agnostic Academics Industry Investors Startups Commercial Research Industry Science
Repurposing and retrofitting facilities for use in alternative protein manufacturing

The manufacturing capacity for rapid and cost-effective scale-up of alternative protein production is a current constraint on the growth of the industry. Repurposing and retrofitting stranded or underutilized assets such…

Cultivated icon Cultivated Fermentation icon Fermentation Plant-based icon Plant-Based Business Services Production Raw Materials, Ingredients, & Inputs Bioprocess design End product formulation & manufacturing Species-agnostic Academics Donors GFI Industry NGO’s Policymakers Startups Commercial Ecosystem Policy Research Industry Policy

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.