March 12, 2021

Finnish startup Solar Foods to commercialise lab-made protein

Finnish tech startup Solar Foods is looking to commercialise its plant-based product called Solein, a yellow-flour type lab-manufactured ingredient with 65% protein that can be made into various meatless meat products like a schnitzel, Reuters reported.

Solar Foods aims to introduce Solein to the market by early 2023, and is currently preparing to scale up manufacturing with a small demo factory.

The company, backed by government and private funding totaling EUR 25 million (~US$30 million; EUR 1 = US$1.20) manufactures its product in a miniature bioreactor, ground from a liquid microorganism that is made out of carbon dioxide from air, electricity, water, microbes, and nutrients.

The Finnish government provided EUR 4.3 million (~US$5.13 million) in funding in December to commercialise Solein, which was on top of funding raised from private investment companies and Fazer, a Finnish baker and candy maker.

Reetta Kivela, a professor of practice for food innovations at the University of Helsinki, said however, the company faces some issues as thet still needed to make the final product more appealing compared to most common lab-produced vegetable proteins that have a grainy texture and bitter taste. 

Kivela also said the company must find a way to use renewable energy for its production run and produce nitrogen sustainably.

Pasi Vainikka, chief executive of Solar Foods, said Solein is produced using less emissions than meat production, even though it uses used ammonia produced with fossil energy. Vainikka said the company is targeting to move towards green ammonia or self-produce ammonia in its own factory.

Vainikka said the company is applying for novel food approval globally.

- Reuters