Alternative Protein Solutions Database
Discover ideas for new startups, commercial ventures and products, research projects, ecosystem support, and investment opportunities for plant-based, cultivated, and fermentation-derived proteins.
Additional Filters
Cultivated
Fermentation
Plant-Based
| Opportunity | Production platform | Value chain segment | Technology sector | End product focus | Relevant actor | Maturity level | Solution category | Topic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Consumer education on the food safety of cultivated meat
Consumer education on the food safety of cultivated meat can positively impact consumer acceptance when sufficient information is provided. Additional research and efforts to increase transparent science communication on the… |
Cultivated
Fermentation
|
Demand Generation End Products | Species-agnostic | Academics GFI Industry NGO’s Startups | Ecosystem | Science | ||
|
Scientist / engineer outreach and education
To expand the technical talent pipeline, various players in the alternative protein field should reach out to scientists and engineers in relevant disciplines (e.g., biotech, biopharma, and food science) to… |
Cultivated
Fermentation
Plant-Based
|
Workforce | Species-agnostic | Academics Donors GFI Industry NGO’s Policymakers Startups | Ecosystem | |||
|
Life Cycle Assessment for alternative seafood relative to conventional fishing and aquaculture
To date, no robust environmental assessments have been conducted to compare alternative seafood to its conventional counterparts. An open-access, quantitative analysis of the relative environmental impacts of alternative seafood will… |
Cultivated
Fermentation
Plant-Based
|
Demand Generation Distribution Channels End Products Investment Production R&D Raw Materials, Ingredients, & Inputs | Seafood | Academics GFI Industry | Research | Science | ||
|
Repurposing and retrofitting facilities for use in alternative protein manufacturing
The manufacturing capacity for rapid and cost-effective scale-up of alternative protein production is a current constraint on the growth of the industry. Repurposing and retrofitting stranded or underutilized assets such… |
Cultivated
Fermentation
Plant-Based
|
Business Services Production Raw Materials, Ingredients, & Inputs | Bioprocess design End product formulation & manufacturing | Species-agnostic | Academics Donors GFI Industry NGO’s Policymakers Startups | Commercial Ecosystem Policy Research | Industry Policy | |
|
Facilitating import and export of alternative protein products
Many alternative protein companies are interested in exporting their products or ingredients, and this is matched by interest from businesses in many countries eager to import exciting products. But import/export… |
Cultivated
Fermentation
Plant-Based
|
Business Services Compliance Distribution Channels | Species-agnostic | Academics GFI Industry NGO’s Policymakers Startups | Commercial Ecosystem Policy | Industry Policy | ||
|
Plant-based protein makerspaces
Plant-based protein makerspaces would be publicly available spaces where interested members of the public could learn, experiment, and work collaboratively on projects related to plant-based proteins. They could offer access… |
Plant-Based
|
R&D Workforce | Crop development End product formulation & manufacturing Ingredient optimization | Species-agnostic | Academics Donors GFI Industry NGO’s Startups | Ecosystem Research | Science | |
|
Cultivated meat makerspaces to promote public engagement
Both the cultivated meat industry and interested members of the general public would benefit from the creation of makerspaces focused on cultivated meat. These would be publicly available spaces where… |
Cultivated
|
R&D Workforce | Bioprocess design Cell culture media Cell line development Scaffolding | Species-agnostic | Academics Donors GFI Industry NGO’s Startups | Ecosystem Research | Science | |
|
Alternative protein high school summer program
There is currently a lack of resources for high school students interested in alternative proteins. Students interested in entering this field would benefit from the creation of summer courses that… |
Cultivated
Fermentation
Plant-Based
|
Workforce | Species-agnostic | Academics GFI Industry NGO’s Startups | Ecosystem | Industry Policy Science | ||
|
Build alternative protein sessions into scientific conferences
Elevating the visibility and credibility of the field at scientific conferences will expand the technical talent pipeline and amplify collaboration and funding efforts. |
Cultivated
Fermentation
Plant-Based
|
R&D | Species-agnostic | Academics GFI | 2 – Early adoption | Ecosystem | Industry Science | |
|
Building alternative protein programs and majors at universities
To ensure a strong talent pipeline, there is a need to launch robust university programming, ranging from certificate programs to short multi-course modules, centered around alternative protein. Full majors would… |
Cultivated
Fermentation
Plant-Based
|
R&D Workforce | Species-agnostic | Academics GFI | Ecosystem | Industry Science |
Get involved
If you’d like to fund a research project, work on any of these solutions, share information about related efforts that are already underway, or elevate new ideas for advancing the alternative protein industry, we’d love to hear from you!
Explore key innovation priorities
Review commercial whitespaces, research gaps, technological needs, and investment priorities at each stage of the alternative protein value chain.
How we built this
Full report
Delve into the full report on the motivation, methodology, rationale, and key findings and recommendations of the Solutions initiative.
Futures wheels analysis
Explore our framework for uncovering second-order or third-order consequences and implications of hypothetical future scenarios to support better decision-making in the present.
Future-proofing
Discover key findings from GFI’s premortem analysis of potential threats to the widespread adoption of alternative proteins, including strategies to avoid or mitigate the most pressing risks.
