The world’s largest conventional meat fair provided valuable insights into how alternative proteins are edging closer to the mainstream.
The latest investment figures show European privately held companies developing plant-based foods, cultivated meat, and fermentation raised nearly $509 million (€470 million) in 2024 – a 23% increase from the previous year.
Policymakers planning to shape the future of European research through FP10 – the successor to the EU’s flagship Horizon Europe programme – have a golden opportunity to capitalise on the expertise being developed by a growing network of food innovators.
Nonprofit and think tank the Good Food Institute Europe (GFI Europe) has welcomed the Climate Change Committee’s (CCC) advice that the UK government support the development of more nutritious and sustainable plant-based foods.
The first analysis of its kind has revealed that patent publications by European alternative protein innovators have increased by 960% over the last decade.
As Labour prepares to develop a new food strategy, analysis finds that the UK has invested £75 million in developing sustainable new foods – more than half of the amount recommended by a landmark review of England’s food system.
The latest round of Good Food Institute’s (GFI) research funding programme has demonstrated that European researchers continue to lead the way in alternative protein innovation – with half of the successful researchers based in the region.
The UK is fast becoming home to an expanding network of research centres dedicated to advancing plant-based, cultivated meat and fermentation-made foods.
As the new European Commission takes office, they should consider a missing piece of the policy jigsaw that would help tackle many of the EU’s challenges.
An Italian researcher has turned to the public to fund a project he believes has the potential to scale up cultivated meat production.
