45+Research opportunities
50+Commercial whitespaces
35+Ecosystem support needs

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Key: Cultivated icon Cultivated Fermentation icon Fermentation Plant-based icon Plant-Based
Opportunity Production platform Value chain segment Technology sector End product focus Relevant actor Maturity level Solution category Topic
Scaffolds and structural approaches to optimize fat distribution and content in cultivated meat

The inclusion of fat and marbling in cultivated meat is likely to increase its flavor, texture, and consumer appeal. Structural approaches using edible microcarriers, hydrogels, and 3D bioprinting present promising…

Cultivated icon Cultivated End Products Production R&D Raw Materials, Ingredients, & Inputs Bioprocess design End product formulation & manufacturing Scaffolding Species-agnostic Academics Industry Startups Commercial Research Industry Science
Cost-effective sterility controls for cultivated meat

Meticulous attention to sterility controls throughout cultivated meat production is essential to optimize food safety, but the cost of biopharmaceutical-based sterility—the current standard for cell-based processes—is incongruent with large-scale food…

Cultivated icon Cultivated Production Bioprocess design Cell culture media End product formulation & manufacturing Species-agnostic Industry Policymakers Startups Ecosystem Research Industry Policy Science
Plant-based scaffolds to improve cultivated meat nutrition

A variety of plant-based scaffolds present the opportunity to combine the natural nutritional and structural benefits of plants with the taste and high protein of cultivated meat. Bacterial nanocellulose from…

Cultivated icon Cultivated Plant-based icon Plant-Based End Products Investment Production R&D Raw Materials, Ingredients, & Inputs Bioprocess design End product formulation & manufacturing Scaffolding Species-agnostic Academics Industry Startups Commercial Research Industry Science
Semi-continuous bioprocess for whole cut cultivated meat using simultaneous perfusion and stretch

Stretching of engineered muscle constructs has been previously demonstrated to induce alignment and maturation of muscle fibers, which is desirable for whole cut cultivated meat. Stretch stimuli could also be…

Cultivated icon Cultivated Production R&D Bioprocess design Scaffolding Terrestrial-specific Academics Industry Startups Commercial Research Industry Science
Incorporating omega-3s into cultivated seafood

Cultivated seafood will need to be supplemented with long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids to be nutritionally equivalent or superior to conventional seafood. However, how these compounds can best be incorporated…

Cultivated icon Cultivated Production R&D Raw Materials, Ingredients, & Inputs Bioprocess design Cell culture media Cell line development End product formulation & manufacturing Scaffolding Seafood Academics Industry Startups Commercial Research Industry 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 icon Cultivated Fermentation icon Fermentation Plant-based icon 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
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 icon 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
Co-cultured support cells for cultivated meat

Cultivated meat research focuses primarily on muscle fibers and fat cells. However, other cell types serve functions that are often under appreciated in their relevance to cultivated meat. Co-culture methods…

Cultivated icon Cultivated Production R&D Raw Materials, Ingredients, & Inputs Bioprocess design Cell culture media Cell line development Seafood-relevant Academics Industry Startups Commercial Research Science
B2B bioreactor technology company

Alternative protein companies would benefit from the availability of off-the-shelf or customizable bioreactors for cultivated meat and fermentation-derived products. This need could be filled by increased investment in and support…

Cultivated icon Cultivated Fermentation icon Fermentation R&D Raw Materials, Ingredients, & Inputs Bioprocess design Species-agnostic Industry Startups Commercial Industry Science
Metabolic modeling for cultivated meat

Academic researchers or consortia consisting of several cultivated meat companies should undertake research aimed at understanding metabolic pathways and fluxes within cultivated meat-relevant cell types. The outputs of this research…

Cultivated icon Cultivated R&D Bioprocess design Cell culture media Cell line development Seafood-relevant Academics Industry Investors Startups Research Science

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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!

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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

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Executive summary

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Full report

Delve into the full report on the motivation, methodology, rationale, and key findings and recommendations of the Solutions initiative.

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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.

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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.