The renaissance era of fermentation

Fermentation: not new, yet innovative

Fermentation is a natural process, already known back in 10,000 B.C., through which microorganisms convert carbohydrates into alcohols or acids, making food much nutritionally richer, with greater bioavailability of macronutrients. Originally used as a method of preserving food, the fermentation process was used by Egyptian and Sumerian peoples to make bread, wine and beer. Nowadays, the renewed consumer focus on products with properties beneficial to the immune system and gut health is contributing to the increased popularity of fermented products, such as yogurt, miso and kimchi. The same fermentation process is also currently being used in the development of new alternative products to animal products-such as meat substitutes, dairy products and eggs-as a promising technology for making products that are good for health and tasty to the palate. In fact, according to the article, fermentation is a technology that offers several opportunities in food production as it influences aspects of processing, texture, taste, bringing health benefits, such as probiotic properties.

Commercial landscape: start up on the rise

Fermentation in the alternative protein industry refers to the cultivation of microbial organisms to produce an edible product or ingredient such as protein, flavorings, enzymes or fats. In today’s scenario, there are many new startups in the fermentation industry, traditional, biomass or precision fermentation, active in the alternative proteins and ingredients industry. According to the Good Food Institute’s annual report, in 2021, companies focused in this area-which number about 88-have raised about $1.69 billion, about three times what they raised the previous year. Of these companies, most are focused on precision fermentation (which uses microbial hosts as “cell factories” to produce high-value functional ingredients) and biomass fermentation (which takes advantage of the rapid growth and high protein content of certain microorganisms to produce proteins), leaving few companies dedicated to traditional fermentation (which uses live microorganisms to improve sensory, functional and nutritional attributes of many ingredients and products).

How can fermentation boost innovation in the alt-proteins context?

Different types of products can be produced through fermentation: from ground meat from fungal fermentation, to whole-cut meat, avoiding extrusion processes. Also in the dairy alternatives, fermentation from biomass offers several possibilities in the creation of proteins and fats for use in dairy applications. The production of alternative fats represents a huge opportunity for companies operating in the fermentation sector, as it would allow alternatives to animal products to be given the right texture, given in the animal counterpart precisely by the lipid component.

Examples of startups operating in the fermentation sector include Impossible Food, with its use of leghemoglobin obtained from soybean fermentation as a featured ingredient in their plant-based burgers, which imparts the famous “blood effect” and iron taste. Or, the company EVERY, known as Clara Food, recently the target of investment by actress Anne Hathaway, which produces an alternative protein to egg developed through precision fermentation that can be used in bakery applications, supplements and more. In the area of fats derived from fermentation, the German company NoPalm Ingredients for example, has developed a proprietary yeast strain that produces fats of food interest , as cited in the Position Paper “The Fat Revolution is coming” by Grey Silo Venture.

Research in the area of fermentation in alternative proteins is moving forward quickly. Hhowever, scalability still remains the main bottleneck. Nonetheless, there are multiple of entities and companies that are focusing on the development and funding of these technologies as extremely promising for the entire alternative-to-animal products segment, because of the ability to improve products organoleptically to make them closer to consumer taste, using a process perceived as natural and healthy for which, according to the article, they would also demonstrate greater “willingness-to-pay.”