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 Research Grant Programme, launched in 2019, aims to boost strong open-access research, provide a talent pipeline by funding the next generation of food innovators, and unblock some of the technical obstacles preventing the commercialisation of affordable plant-based, cultivated meat and fermentation-made foods.

Recent analysis has revealed the rate at which Europe’s alternative protein research network is growing. More than a quarter of all academic studies relevant to these foods were published in 2023 – 472, compared to just 19 in 2010 – while public and philanthropic investment reached a record €290 million.

This astonishing growth is reflected in the fact that seven of the 14 latest researchers selected for this year’s GFI funding will be carrying out their work in European institutions or companies.

They were chosen following a rigorous review process after we released requests for proposals (RFPs) for projects investigating three key areas of alternative protein production.

Upcycled plant proteins

Current food manufacturing methods produce large amounts of sidestreams that are often discarded, providing opportunities to add value by turning them into high-quality, nutritious ingredients for alternative protein production. 

By optimising processing methods to be more environmentally friendly and cost-effective, alternative protein companies can reduce food waste and increase adoption of these protein-rich food sources.

Dr Mehdi Abdollahi, Sweden

Dr Abdollahi, Associate Professor of Food and Nutrition Science at Chalmers University, is targeting wheat bran  – a common side stream from milling flour – as a feedstock for biomass fermentation.

His project will identify which microorganisms are best suited to upcycle this common sidestream, develop processes for using them in biomass fermentation, explore the potential of these newfound ingredients in plant-based products, and assess the scalability and economic viability of this approach. 

Dr Petra Först, Germany

Dr Först, Professor of Food Process Engineering at the Technical University of Munich, will use an optimised processing route to recover underused albumin side streams from protein crops like peas for use in plant-based foods.

Albumin is found in plant seeds and beans and is a food source for seedlings at germination. It is a protein-rich byproduct left over from processing these crops and the project will explore new ways to realise its potential as an ingredient. 

Dr Carolina González Ferrero, Spain

Dr González Ferrero, Head of Novel Food Ingredients at the National Centre for Food Technology and Safety (CNTA) in Spain, will work to address the challenge of effectively using sunflower meal for ingredients in human food. 

Sunflower meal is a common, nutrient-rich by-product of sunflower oil production. Currently, it is often used as animal feed, but with the right extraction techniques to optimise digestibility and taste, it could be used to provide high-protein ingredients for human consumption. 

This project will work with a Spanish sunflower oil milling plant to develop such a process, evaluate its economic feasibility, and prototype new plant-based foods made using sunflower protein.  

Next-generation fermentation downstream processing

Existing downstream processing methods for proteins produced via microbial fermentation are costly, complex, and resource-intensive, often involving multiple steps and so reducing efficiency for food applications.

Innovations are needed to overcome these technical and economic barriers, reducing resource use while maintaining ingredient functionality and food-grade purity – essential for scaling precision fermentation in the food sector.

This year’s selected projects focus on novel approaches to protein purification, offering novel solutions to reduce resource intensity and operational expenses in this growing sector.

Dr Antoinette Kazbar, the Netherlands

Dr Kazbar, Assistant Professor of Bioprocess Engineering at Wageningen University and Research, aims to explore the opportunities offered by under-used species of yeast to make beef protein ingredients like heme – which can enhance the flavour and texture of plant-based meat – using precision fermentation. 

As part of this project, her team will refine two new processes, which companies can then adapt to develop these ingredients in a sustainable and cost-efficient way.

Dr Ashkan Madadlou, Ireland

Dr Madadlou, Senior Lecturer in Food Structuring and Formulation at University College Cork, seeks to improve the efficiency of precision fermentation by finding better ways to extract fermentation-made ingredients at the end of the process. 

As part of this project, her team will refine two new processes, which companies can then adapt to develop these ingredients in a sustainable and cost-efficient way.

His team’s process also aims to produce less waste than other methods, further improving sustainability. 

Hydrolysates for cultivated meat

Currently, most amino acids used in cell culture media for cultivated meat production are produced using costly individual fermentation processes. 

It has been hypothesised that hydrolysates – protein fragments made by breaking down proteins in water – should be the primary source of amino acids to address price bottlenecks for cultivated meat. 

Protein hydrolysates from various sources have been used for decades in cell culture as a supplement for amino acids and other nutrients, and are also commonly used in sports nutrition to provide easily digestible amino acids for building muscle. 

The cultivated meat field will need to optimise the production of hydrolysates, and their performance will need to be evaluated in detail across the species and cell types used in cultivated meat production.

Dr Jake Bell, UK

Dr Bell, Senior Scientist at Multus Biotechnology Ltd, will use a combination of modern metabolomics, cell biology, and machine-learning techniques to evaluate how functional hydrolysates impact the growth, health, and sensory properties of beef cell lines.   

Dr Alberta Pinnola, Italy

Cell culture media is used extensively in the production of cultivated meat, after which the exhausted media is typically discarded as waste. 

Dr Pinnola, Associate Professor in the Department of Biology and Biotechnology at the University of Pavia, seeks to use a sustainable method to transform spent media from cultivated meat into feedstock for amino-acid-rich microalgae. 

This can then be fed back into cultivated meat production, improving the process’s circularity and reducing cost and environmental footprint.

Get involved

We’re very excited to see the outputs of these leveraged, tractable projects with high potential to advance the field of alternative proteins and accelerate protein diversification in Europe. 

If you want to learn more about our research grants programme, including projects from previous years, check out the GFI global website. For information about alternative proteins research funding in Europe more generally, check out our funding page here. 

Our work, including our research grants program, is powered by philanthropy. If you want to support our work to overcome key obstacles to alternative protein uptake through investment in open-access research and innovation, join our fantastic family of donors today.

Are you interested in getting involved in the science of plant-based food, cultivated meat and fermentation? Take a look at our resources or check out our science page.

If you’re a researcher:

• To find funding opportunities, check out our research funding database for grants from across the sector, and our research grants for funding available from GFI.
• Explore our Advancing Solutions initiative, which highlights key alternative protein knowledge gaps.
• Subscribe to the alternative protein researcher directory to find potential collaborators or supervisors in the field.  
• Look out for monthly science seminars run through our GFIdeas community.

If you’re a student:

• Find educational courses around the globe through our database.
• Sign up for our free online course introducing the science of sustainable proteins, explore our resource guide explaining what is available to students or newcomers to the space, and check out our careers board for the latest job opportunities in this emerging field.