What will take on the ubiquitous soy and pea? As well as chickpea, other plant proteins have come to the table looking to displace soy and pea and boasting potentially positive environmental and health footprints. [The European Institute of Innovation and Technology, or] EIT Food is championing Icelandic company Vaxa, which has developed a disruptive new technology platform to grow micro-algae. “Algea is a very promising sector,” said Giavedoni. Vaxa claims its patented, indoor, controlled and optimized process requires less than 1% of the fresh water and 1% of the land compared to a conventional omega-3 production facility. It is also carbon negative.
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Fermentation is another sustainable technology on the EIT Food radar. One company utilising it is UK company ENOUGH, which produces a mycoprotein (which it calls Abunda), made by fermenting fungi with the natural sugars from grains.
Another EIT Food cohort is Israeli start-up Redefine Meat, which makes plant-based meat alternatives using 3D printing and which is preparing to launch in Europe after announcing a $29m fundraise at the start of the year. In July 2019, Redefine Meat unveiled the world’s first plant-based steak produced using industrial digital manufacturing of plant-based ingredients.
