Solar Foods makes protein out of thin air
Finnish start-up Solar Foods has developed a complete protein made from carbon dioxide, air and electricity, CEO Pasi Vainikka told FoodNavigator.
Branded ‘Solein’, the ingredient aims to boost sustainable protein content in products such as bread, pasta, yoghurt, and ready meals.
When brands like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods scale-up further, Solar Foods’ CEO and co-founder Pasi Vainikka suggested Solein could help meet their high protein demands. “They need a lot of protein ingredients…[and] we can provide a way for them to disconnect from agriculture,” he told FoodNavigator.
In the future, Solar Foods could also help feed cultured meat cells the ‘amino acid cocktail’ required to produce lab-grown meat, Vainikka continued.
The company hopes to be part of a shift to reduce our dependence on conventional farming systems.
