Mycoprotein’s finished being quiet and about to raise its game

Mycoprotein was available for decades and consumers had perhaps grown complacent, but the product was in the perfect position to tap into a series of essential consumer and climate needs, experts speaking on a panel at the Future Food-Tech event in London said.

“It’s [mycoprotein] available now. We have it and have it at scale, so it’s possible [to scale further],” said Marlow Ingredients managing director Stephanie Jochems.

Few of the technologies out there meet all the key consumer prerequisites, such as taste, nutrition and sustainability, she argued. “I think that combination of all these factors make mycoprotein really unique.”

How to scale mycoprotein

While the product was in a good position technically, nutritionally and environmentally, “the market hasn’t progressed in the way we wanted it to, and unless we make better food it won’t work”, said Enough Foods CEO Jim Laird.

Though mycoprotein was in a stronger position when it came to taste and other values, as Jochems outlined, it wasn’t necessarily ready to hit bigger scales.

“A lot of alt meats are getting to that point, where they need to cross the division of scale,” said Big Idea Ventures general manager Andrew Ive.

To do that, the sector needs to reach tens-of-millions of tonnes of biomass capacity to reach those levels, which will cost a lot, said Laird.

Investment in mycoprotein

“That’s hit the nail on the head, it’s capital intensive,” said Enifer CEO and co-founder Simo Ellilä.

Yet the sector was at a stalemate of terms, as it could only scale with investment, though investment would only come if there was proof of scale, argued Laird, who believed “build it and they will come, unless we’ve got sustainable capacity, how can we build a sustainable business plan?”.

Though Jochems remained optimistic and was “excited” about the range of alternative meat opportunities in front of the sector. “We have an opportunity to build so many different categories to meet the different consumer needs with different products and different applications,” she said.

“It will help to accelerate the transition. As a business, we’ve been on a journey of really innovating and seeing so many things that are possible. The challenge is prioritising.”