The Good Food Institute Europe

📰 August newsletter 📰 It might be the time of year for summer holidays, but alternative protein news in Europe isn't taking a break! Check out this month's bumper edition of the GFI Europe newsletter, including the first ever regulatory submission for cultivated meat in the EU, cultivated pet food approved in the UK and investment figures revealing growing interest in fermentation. All this and more here👇

💷 Breaking: UK invests £15 million in alternative protein commercialisation 💷 Two of the UK’s largest government funding bodies – the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and Innovate UK – are investing £15 million in an innovation centre aimed at accelerating the commercialisation of plant-based, cultivated and fermentation-made foods. The establishment of the National Alternative Protein Innovation Centre (NAPIC) will be supported with an additional £23 million coming from public and private sector partners, bringing the total investment sum to £38. The new hub is hosted by the University of Leeds and co-led with The James Hutton Institute, The University of Sheffield, and Imperial College London. NAPIC aims to develop products and ingredients from innovation to commercialisation while investigating how consumers can integrate these foods into their diets. The centre will also focus on using these same techniques to develop more sustainable animal feed and aquaculture. This new funding has pushed the UK’s total government investment in alternative proteins to more than £91 million (€103 million) and it clearly demonstrates the country’s continued commitment to developing this cutting-edge area of science and food production. Our UK Policy Manager Linus Pardoe said: “It is welcome to see the UK government making another significant investment in alternative proteins, bringing together scientific and business experts to accelerate the development of foods that can help boost our food security and create new green jobs.” Read more here: https://lnkd.in/dddV7RNV

📅Upcoming event!📅 We are excited to announce the upcoming conference, 'The science of cultivated meat: a multidisciplinary approach for the meat of the future', to be held on 26 September at the University of Torino in Italy, as part of European Biotech Week, organised by Assobiotec. The event will convene experts from across the fields of biotechnology, engineering, law, psychology and nutrition to explore the next steps for cultivated meat, and its potential to transform our food system. Save the date! More information coming soon.

👩🏻🔬Meet the researcher👩🏻🔬 Dr Petra Kluger’s background in tissue engineering has proven more than useful in the emerging field of cultivated meat, and she now leads a team at Reutlingen University in Germany, applying principles from biomedicine to tackle the bottlenecks needed to bring cultivated meat closer to commercialisation. She came to the field following years of researching human and animal tissue as an alternative to animal testing. Petra talked to us about the successes and new approaches developed by her team and shared her insights on the importance of networking, open-access research and collaboration to accelerate progress in cultivated meat R&D. Read more about Petra’s work in our latest blog, available in English and German: https://lnkd.in/eC-fG4Pj #cultivatedmeat #research

🎉A warm welcome to Charlotte Flores who joins the GFI Europe team this week as our UK Policy Assistant, on secondment for four months from Bryant Research! Charlotte will support GFI Europe’s policy work in the United Kingdom, advocating for supportive legislative frameworks that promote alternative proteins in the UK. Welcome to the team, Charlotte!

🥳 Happy birthday to us! Today marks five years since GFI Europe’s founding, and our new blog takes a ‘before and after’ look at the last five years of alternative proteins in Europe, and everything we’ve been able to achieve with the generous support of our donors.🥳 Since 22 August 2019, a lot has happened in the world – and also for alternative proteins. To celebrate GFI Europe's fifth 'birthday', our Head of Development Emily Johnson takes a look at the 'before and after' of alternative proteins in Europe, from the perspectives of science, policy, industry and our team, in 6 maps. GFI is powered by philanthropy, and everything we do is only possible thanks to the generous support of our family of donors, who share our commitment to impact-oriented approaches that can drive tangible change in the food system. In five years 🙌 We have welcomed 29 new team members, and our team is now spread across seven European countries. 💬 Our team has grown a lot more multilingual, from two to ten languages spoken fluently within the team. 💡 We have built a compelling evidence base for alternative proteins by commissioning, drafting and sharing Europe-centric research and insights. 📣 Our website has been expanded to cover three different languages (English, German, and Italian – fourth language Spanish coming soon), and we have published 150 news stories and blogs on our website. 📰 We have generated over 7,000 media hits. 🔬 The European scientific ecosystem has started to flourish as the number of our Alt Protein Project (APP) chapters in European universities has grown from one to 17. Also, the number of European research projects receiving GFI grant funding has increased from five to 30. 📈 European governments have started to invest more and more in alternative protein research. Five years ago, only one government-funded research project exceeded €1 million and now 14 countries have invested over this sum. 🚀The number of European alternative protein startups and companies has skyrocketed from 497 companies to 723 across the continent. This remarkable process has been the product of the combined efforts of countless European researchers, entrepreneurs, policymakers and nonprofits and we are so proud of the role we have been able to play in contributing to this progress. There is still a lot more work to be done if we want alternative proteins to meaningfully address some of the world's most pressing issues. We are up for the challenge, and we hope you are, too! Check out our new blog to learn more (available in English and Italian): https://lnkd.in/dvr--KYG

🍣Incredible news from Instituto Superior Técnico at the University of Lisbon in Portugal, where researchers have successfully created 3d printed seabass fillets, using cultivated fish and microalgae. With this milestone achieved, the team hope as a next step to arange tastings to see how their new product compares against conventional sea bass. The team are also part of the Algae2Fish project, that received a GFI grant in 2022 to investigate the development of algae-based bio inks for the development of next generation alternatives to fish, and have seen huge progress in recent years in advancing their product. Check out the link in the comments to read more about their work.  With overfishing a serious problem worldwide, only made worse by rising sea temperatures putting further strain on aquatic ecosystems, alternatives to seafood are sorely needed to create new more sustainable options for consumers. A huge congratulations on this exciting milestone! 🙌 Find out more here: https://lnkd.in/dtwnM2uz #seafood #fish #cultivated #portugal Image: Técnico Lisboa

👽Can research into space food be relevant down here on Earth? In the midst of a changing climate and a growing global population, research into ways of making food efficiently with limited resources is not just a necessity for astronauts – it is also pivotal for boosting food security down on earth. Animal agriculture places huge strain on the planet's land and resources, as well as producing huge amounts of greenhouse gas, making alternative proteins a key target for space innovation. The ReThink Food Challenge from Wageningen University & Research wants students to find out! The ReThink food project invites students from all over the world to join forces and submit ground-breaking business ideas that can make use of the ongoing research into making food in space, and make it relevant down here on earth. Submissions to the challenge are now open (registration deadline 18 November), and an upcoming webinar will seek to answer key questions on the project. 🚀 What? ReThink Food Challenge is an international student competition seeking business ideas offering an innovative, circular and sustainable approach to growing food on Earth by drawing ideas from research on space farming. Submissions can either enhance current technologies, introduce new ones, or reimagine the whole concept of ‘food’. 🌱 How? Participants will work as part of an interdisciplinary team and focus on one of the two major topics within space farming: indoor farming or alternative proteins. The goal is to identify a real-life problem and a market and design a viable innovation that fills an existing gap. The teams will have support from industry leaders throughout the Challenge. 👩🚀 For Whom? Students from various academic backgrounds worldwide are welcome to join! You can be in any phase of your studies (BSc, MSc, PhD or equivalent) in a university or university of applied sciences, and can register individually or with a team. 🌎 Why join? The ReThink Food Challenge is more than just a competition. By joining the challenge, you will boost your professional skills and make life-long connections from universities and business experts worldwide. Finalists will also gain exposure for their idea and a chance to win €7,000. Learn more and sign up for the online info session 24 October 2024 here: https://lnkd.in/dCmzDqXs #studentchallenge #rethinkfood

📝New report📝Fat is key to the flavour and functionality of many foods, and alternative proteins are no exception. It's an area ripe for innovation, especially when production of some of the most commonly used fats, particularly saturated ones, cause problems for the health of people and the planet. Finding new ways of making tasty, sustainable, healthy fats is therefore a key priority for many startups and researchers working to produce next-generation plant-based, fermentation-made and cultivated meat, seafood, eggs and dairy. This new report from Anthony Warner at New Food Innovation Ltd takes a deep dive into fat in food – what it is, why we need it, the problems it presents and emerging innovations in future-proof fat production. Lean more here: https://lnkd.in/eh8dvY3Q

🥩What factors are most important in boosting the taste of plant-based products? Meeting expectations on taste is fundamental to mainstream uptake of plant-based meat, but what are the criteria that best achieve this? A fascinating recent report by NECTAR on the findings of extensive taste testing shed light on exactly what profiles allow market leaders to head up the field and better meet consumer needs. The report found that variation within product categories was huge, with category leaders often head and shoulders above the category average – and tending to rank higher for certain specific attributes like meatiness and juiciness. The sensory attributes tested included flavour, texture and appearance, each of which were subdivided into more specific sub-attributes to drill down into why different products were given those scores. These subcategories were saltiness, meatiness, juicyness, colour, firmness, spicyness, smokyness, sweetness and consistency. The report provides a fascinating hint at the various barriers still remaining for achieving taste parity, but highlights that a lot of work remains to be done. The research found that most plant-based products are not yet on par with animal products in terms of consumer satisfaction, highlighting the need for further investment in research and development in the sector, with a particular focus on enhancing these identified attributes. Check out the full report for a breakdown of all of these attributes by category here: https://lnkd.in/ezzjqKwt #meat #marketresearch #plantbased