New analysis has revealed the rapid growth of Europe’s alternative protein research, with the number of studies published and public funding levels almost tripling over the last five years.

Our new reports have found that 798 academic research papers examining plant-based foods, cultivated meat and ingredients, and fermentation-made foods were published in 2024, up 282% compared to 2020.

Public funding for the field also expanded from just over €80 million in 2020 to reach a record €320 million last year – a 296% increase. 

The acceleration means that research and innovation funding has grown by an average of 44% per year, and scientific publications have increased by 30% per year in the first half of this decade. 

Germany has led Europe with 368 publications, followed closely by the Netherlands (363) and the UK (349). Smaller countries also punched above their weight, with Denmark publishing the highest number of papers per million inhabitants, followed by Ireland and Finland.

Public investment reaping rewards

Our reports found that sustained public investment is beginning to reap rewards in some countries, with the top three national investors among the highest-performing nations for scientific output: 

• The UK funded more research than any other country, having invested €127 million since 2020. This included establishing a series of alternative protein research centres, such as the £15 million National Alternative Protein Innovation Centre. 
• Denmark came a close second at €126 million, largely due to a 2021 announcement to advance the development of plant-based foods. 
• The Netherlands came third at €77 million, including  €60 million of public funding announced in 2022 to help establish a network of university-based cultivated meat and precision fermentation researchers working with businesses. 

The European Commission is the region’s largest funder, having invested €308 million since 2020.

Most of this has come from the EU’s flagship Horizon Europe research programme, but the European Innovation Council (EIC), which aims to identify and scale up new technologies, has stepped up alternative protein funding in recent years.

New sources of funding

The reports also revealed that new sources of funding are opening up for alternative protein researchers. Investment has come from more than 67 independent bodies, representing 22 countries across Europe, as well as global funders – 12 of which made their first investment in 2024, suggesting a growing number of funders are exploring the area. 

While western European countries dominate the space in terms of publications and investment, the reports predict an increase in scientific output from central and eastern European countries, which are increasingly funding alternative protein research.

Estonia and Poland were the sixth and seventh-highest investors per capita in Europe over the last five years, with most of this funding awarded in 2024. 

Fermentation funding grows

Since 2020, most of Europe’s research funding has gone to developing innovative plant-based foods – at €441 million. But research into developing innovative foods using modern methods of fermentation, such as precision fermentation, was the highest funded area last year, with scientists exploring these approaches receiving more than €100 million.

Funding for fermentation research has also grown fastest year-on-year at 77%, compared to 27% for plant-based foods.

The analysis finds that many of the technical roadblocks preventing alternative proteins from competing with conventional meat are being overlooked. 

A wide range of areas – such as improving the taste and texture of plant-based meat, and designing the fermentors needed to scale up cultivated meat and precision fermentation production – remain underfunded.

Expanding academic field 

This analysis paints a picture of an academic field on the rise – with a rapid increase in both public funding and publications across Europe. 

With most of these investments having been made in the last three years, we can expect to see researchers publish an even greater volume of innovative findings in the near future. 

Europe is home to some of the world’s best universities, and the region’s scientists are well-placed to tackle the challenges preventing these sustainable foods from coming to the market. 

Governments and funding bodies need to provide dedicated funding to overlooked areas to ensure the region’s success as a global leader in this field.

Methodology: 

Data for the State Of The European Ecosystem Publishing Landscape Analysis report was sourced from Dimensions, an interlinked research information system provided by Digital Science. Given the interdisciplinary nature of alternative protein research and the wide range of potentially relevant publications that could fall under that definition, complex search terms were devised that allowed us to trigger numerous publications that may be relevant to our analysis.

Data for the State of the European Public Funding for Alternative Proteins Research and Innovation report was sourced from a combination of public funding databases, manual information curation, and the Dimensions information system. For public databases, searches were conducted using a series of keywords relating directly to alternative proteins to generate a shortlist of grants that contained these keywords (ie, in the title or description of the project).

Authors

David Hunt Senior Research Community Manager

David works to help sustainable protein scientists across Europe access the knowledge, resources, infrastructure, and collaborators to conduct their research effectively.

Stella Child Senior Research Funding Advisor

Stella works to help the alternative protein research community across Europe secure grant funding for open-access research.