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.
Cultivated
Fermentation
Plant-Based
| Opportunity | Production platform | Solution category | Value chain segment | Technology sector | Maturity level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Affordable animal-free omega-3 ingredients for alternative seafood and other alternative protein applications
In order to appeal to health-conscious consumers, alternative seafood products should contain similar omega-3 fatty acids, especially DHA and EPA, content to conventional seafood. Animal-free omega-3 ingredients can be expensive… |
Fermentation
Plant-Based
|
Commercial | Investment Production R&D Raw Materials, Ingredients, & Inputs | Bioprocess design Crop development Host strain development Ingredient optimization Target molecule selection | |
|
Novel methods for long-chain omega-3 fatty acid production
As the alternative seafood industry scales up, a low-cost and abundant source of long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids will become necessary. Several means of producing these compounds have been investigated… |
Fermentation
|
Research | R&D Raw Materials, Ingredients, & Inputs | Bioprocess design Host strain development Ingredient optimization Target molecule selection | |
|
Preventing oxidation of omega-3 fatty acids before and after addition to alternative seafood products
Deeper fundamental knowledge of the causes and prevention of oxidation of omega-3 fatty acids before, during, and after addition to alternative seafood products is needed to improve their nutritional and… |
Cultivated
Fermentation
Plant-Based
|
Research | End Products Investment Production R&D Raw Materials, Ingredients, & Inputs | Bioprocess design Crop development End product formulation & manufacturing Host strain development Ingredient optimization Target molecule selection | |
|
Understanding uptake and interconversion of omega-3 fatty acids by cultivated fish cells
Although fish are one of the best dietary sources of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids (FAs), these compounds are mostly bioaccumulated from a fish’s diet rather than synthesized de novo. Consistent… |
Cultivated
|
Commercial Research | R&D Raw Materials, Ingredients, & Inputs | Cell culture media Cell line development Host strain development | |
|
Microbial strain-development contract research organizations for alternative protein applications
While emerging fermentation-derived ingredient companies often optimize their strain’s productivity in-house, it may be more efficacious for startups to engage contract research organizations with both deep microbial strain development expertise… |
Fermentation
|
Commercial Ecosystem Research | R&D | Host strain development | |
|
Comprehensive microbial screening to identify new protein production candidate strains
A systematic, open-access, comprehensive analysis of novel microbial strains could drastically expand the available strains that can compete on flavor, efficiency, cost, and nutrition. |
Fermentation
|
Research | R&D | Host strain development | 1 – Inception |
|
Producing animal-like fats through microbial fermentation
Microbial fermentation may be able to help us produce lipids that are identical or similar to animal fats—especially saturated fats, which are exceedingly rare in the plant kingdom. |
Fermentation
|
Commercial Research | R&D Raw Materials, Ingredients, & Inputs | Host strain development Target molecule selection | 1 – Inception |
|
Expanding options for food-safe genetic selection markers
Analysis of which food-safe selection markers exist and can be used orthogonally, as well as efforts to develop new selection markers, for alternative proteins. |
Fermentation
|
Commercial Research | R&D | Host strain development | |
|
Biosynthetic pathway discovery for fermentation-produced molecules
Microbial biosynthetic pathways can be mined computationally to identify candidate pathways for manufacturing high-value ingredients via fermentation. |
Fermentation
|
Commercial Research | End Products R&D Raw Materials, Ingredients, & Inputs | Host strain development Target molecule selection | |
|
Fat production & encapsulation within oleaginous yeast
Oleaginous yeast with durable cell walls may be able to serve as natural methods of fat encapsulation to protect fats through manufacturing, storage, and preparation. |
Fermentation
|
Research | R&D Raw Materials, Ingredients, & Inputs | Host strain development Target molecule selection |
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.
