Thanks to innovations in food science and agriculture, the world is producing more food than ever before. While this has significantly reduced global hunger since the 1970s, it has impacted the environment; in 2023, food production generated about 26 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to Our World in Data.
Now scientists at the Finnish startup Solar Foods are turning air and electricity into food. The result? A mustard-colored protein powder made from naturally occurring microbes that could reshape how the world is fed.
Inside a bioreactor, a single microbe plucked from the Finnish dirt is fed a cocktail of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus, and potassium. Renewable electricity powers the process, which the company says is "20 times more efficient than photosynthesis," and accelerates the growth of the microorganism into a protein-rich slurry.
After drying, what's left is Solein: a fine powder packed with all nine essential amino acids, unsaturated fats, dietary fiber, and vitamin B12. According to Food & Wine, 100 grams of the powder yields 75 grams of protein, which is comparable to many whey protein powders on the market.
Solein, which the company describes as having a "pleasant note of umami flavor," requires 600 times less water and 200 times less land to produce one kilogram of protein than is required to produce one kilogram of beef. The protein is also more efficient than other available vegan and plant proteins.
As of July 2024, the company had raised $47 million in equity funding and has been listed on the Nasdaq's First North Growth Market in Finland. It recently received a $10.6 million grant from the European Commission.
In May, Solar Foods' pilot facility ramped up its production 100-fold, reaching industrial scale and proving its ability to commercialize. It is currently in the pre-engineering phase of a second industrial production facility, with a third and fourth one possibly on the way.
The Food and Drug Administration has given the company a "Generally Recognized as Safe" designation, allowing Solein to be commercialized in the United States. In March, Solar Foods announced its first multimillion-dollar supply agreement with Superb Food, "a startup with a mission to advance community health through smart functional foods." In 2024, the company was selected as one of the winners of NASA's Deep Space Food Challenge, which was launched to develop food innovations for space travel.
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