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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
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
Fermentation
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 Research | Industry Policy | |
|
Facilitating import and export of alternative protein products
Many alternative protein companies are interested in exporting their products or ingredients, and this is matched by interest from businesses in many countries eager to import exciting products. But import/export… |
Cultivated
Fermentation
Plant-Based
|
Business Services Compliance Distribution Channels | Species-agnostic | Academics GFI Industry NGO’s Policymakers Startups | Commercial Ecosystem | Industry Policy | ||
|
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 |
|
Dedicated broker or exchange for plant-based B2B sales
Opportunity exists for a broker, marketplace, directory, or other exchange platform to facilitate B2B sales of plant-based foods as ingredients to manufacturers of frozen and prepared foods. |
Plant-Based
|
Business Services Distribution Channels | Species-agnostic | Industry | 1 – Inception | Commercial | Industry | |
|
Establishing intellectual property pooling frameworks
Intellectual property pools and patent pledges can help member companies contribute to a suite of patents that can be licensed within the pool. |
Cultivated
Fermentation
Plant-Based
|
Business Services R&D | Species-agnostic | Industry Startups | 0 – Complete whitespace | Ecosystem | Industry | |
|
Industry workshops, courses, and training programs
The alternative protein industry has a significant need for workers and innovators with specialized knowledge spanning multiple traditional disciplines. However, since few universities offer alternative protein majors or dedicated subject… |
Cultivated
Fermentation
Plant-Based
|
Business Services Compliance Production R&D Workforce | Species-agnostic | Academics Industry NGO’s | Commercial Ecosystem | Industry | ||
|
Data lake for aggregating process data and informing process improvements
An alternative protein data lake could contain anonymized data from processing runs across many manufacturers, informing processing improvements and aiding process failure troubleshooting. |
Cultivated
Fermentation
Plant-Based
|
Business Services Production R&D | Species-agnostic | Academics GFI Industry NGO’s Startups | Ecosystem Research | Science | ||
|
Building workforce capacity through vocational programs
Given the strong and persistent growth in alternative protein production, the industry has a pressing need for a trained workforce. Technical colleges should establish programs to help train the next… |
Cultivated
Fermentation
Plant-Based
|
Business Services Workforce | Species-agnostic | Academics Donors GFI NGO’s Policymakers Startups | 1 – Inception | Commercial Ecosystem | Industry Policy Science | |
|
Pooled procurement/group purchasing for ingredients and inputs
Many alternative protein companies use similar inputs, but individually lack the purchasing power to negotiate favorable contract terms. A pooled procurement/group purchasing mechanism for ingredients, inputs (growth factors, media, etc.),… |
Cultivated
Fermentation
Plant-Based
|
Business Services Raw Materials, Ingredients, & Inputs | Cell culture media Crop development Feedstocks | Species-agnostic | Industry NGO’s Startups | Commercial Ecosystem | Industry | |
|
A toolkit for B2B sales resources and training
Tailored resources in the form of events, courses, thought leadership, directories, consulting services, and training programs for alternative protein B2B sales people. |
Cultivated
Fermentation
Plant-Based
|
Business Services Distribution Channels | Species-agnostic | GFI Industry | Commercial Ecosystem | 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.