Advancement of Alternative Proteins: Aimutis on B2F Panel 

Bridge-2-Foods Panel | Minneapolis, MN October 10, 2024

Session: The Interface of Protein Strategies, Future Forward Agricultural Practices, and International Collaboration

NCFIL Executive Director Bill Aimutis was a panel participant at the recent Bridge2Food Alternative Protein Ecosystem event in Minneapolis. The panel was interviewed by Shannon Schlecht, executive director of the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute in Minnesota. 

The following blog captures Aimutis’ answers to select questions the panel tackled on October 10. 

Schlecht: Three countries represented here – I want to start with sharing best practices and opportunities for collaboration. What has worked in Canada (Tiffany), the United States (Bill) and in The Netherlands (Ton) to advance alternative proteins, and how are you collaborating across borders to share information and accelerate workable solutions, or how do you plan to in the future? 

Aimutis: NCFIL is a fee-for-service organization managed by NC State University employees. We work with both entrepreneurial and established companies, both domestic and international, that are suppliers or companies formulating with alternative proteins. Our collaborations and services include protein extraction and concentration, characterization, and product formulation. We are also involved in developing scaled processes in manufacturing alternative proteins or protein-fortified products in the dairy-, meat-, and egg-alternative sectors. 

Following best practices, as we begin working with new customers, we inquire about their depth of knowledge on their desired product(s) including raw material supply chain stability, who they view as their competition, who their target audience is for the product, and how they will market to their targets. This information is useful for both of us to align on multiple parameters quickly.

Schlecht: Let’s start at the producer level now – what does it or will it take for farmers to adopt new crops and feedstocks for alternative proteins, and what practices are producers exploring / transitioning to that are synergistic to the alternative protein movement? 

Aimutis: Farmers are concerned that new technologies may reduce their income or eliminate the need for products they currently produce. It’s vitally important, regardless of the technology being promoted, to build rapport with farmers, understand their situations, and show them evidence new technologies will not negatively impact their livelihood. Remember, they are humans with emotions, and they have been devastated in recent years by low farmgate prices, environmentalists pressuring their operations, and foreign competition. 

Gaining widespread acceptance of new technology will require incentives and support from newcomers. Companies presenting new technology for adoption should anticipate a long-time horizon with potentially multiple growing seasons requiring support until adoption.

Schlecht:  Producers have been increasingly focused on sustainability improvements for the crops they grow – can you share thoughts on some promising crops (one or two) that producers and businesses should have on their radar that can achieve economic, environmental and overall market success? 

Aimutis: Regardless of the crops chosen, a few factors are important for long term success of a new crop for alternative protein products:

• The crop must have a strong genotype with minimal genetic drift, followed by a good variety of phenotypes that are well characterized.
• There should be minimal, or preferably, no allergenicity with the proteins being produced as new concentrates or isolates. It should also not have any anti-nutritional factors.
• The crop must have a very solid supply chain in terms of global production (either in acres planted or tons harvested). It should not be disrupted by weather, pests or geopolitical activities.
• Lastly, it must be acceptable to many consumers.

I was originally going to propose that the emerging proteins we watch are chickpea, fava bean, canola and solubilized corn proteins. However, after watching technical and marketing trends the last couple of years, we are observing a resurgence in heirloom soybean and yellow pea varieties for higher protein yields.

Schlecht: While there have been some headwinds recently, we are still early in the alternative protein journey. Is the value chain working together from your perspectives to support long-term goals – is there enough of a market pull and coordination/value and collaboration across the value chain today? 

Aimutis: There are numerous challenges for protein entrepreneurs to collaborate with large seed companies. These companies focus on the large row crop varieties including corn, soybean, wheat and possibly canola. Their business models are not conducive to smaller production runs. Smaller seed companies are cost disadvantaged in paying premiums for crop acreage and production capacity. These factors alone place added pressure on protein manufacturers to meet cost parity particularly with soybean protein concentrates and isolates. 

Another critical challenge is there are just not enough mid-size contract manufacturers to process the crop and/or extract and concentrate the proteins. This has caused severe heartburn for many protein startup companies. The protein industry should focus their attention on potential winners in this space, for example rice, chickpea and fava bean, and limit the introduction of too many products from small acreage crops, for example hemp, quinoa, flax, almond and pumpkin. 

We suggest emerging protein companies focus on: 

• Cost parity (comparative to soy and yellow pea proteins)
• Favorable flavored crops 
• Identification of manufacturing capacity for extraction and concentration
• Confirmation of manufacturing techniques (e.g., acidification/alkalization vs. air classification) to provide the most nutritious and functional properties possible 
• Development of knowledge about potential customers
• Demonstration of the company’s efforts to sustainably produce high-quality products

Schlecht: What else is needed to further alternative protein production and producer participation in the alternative protein sector (better crop productivity or quality characteristics through breeding, producer awareness, regulatory barriers, regional programs to compensate changes, policy incentives to derisk trial, R&D funding, consumer education, etc.), and what can each of you do individually or collaboratively to move the needle on those challenges? 

Aimutis: We need better regulatory alignment both locally (FDA and USDA) and globally. Too often we have other countries waiting to see what the United States and/or Singapore are going to do before responding to approval requests. Frankly, this stymies progress globally and threatens the continued existence of many alternative protein startup companies. Although free trade is critical, there needs to be global guidelines regarding safety and nutritional quality of protein products. For this industry to grow, we will also need better financial models to fund capital for manufacturing plants. 

This may entail:

• Identifying methods to reduce manufacturing cost through improved methods
• Producing equipment for future manufacturing with materials alternative to stainless steel

This will be critical to meet protein demands by the year 2050 – we simply cannot recycle or manufacture enough virgin stainless steel for the number of plants that will be built to meet the demand.

Alternative protein manufacturers should also explore novel business models to reduce manufacturing costs, for example: 

• Clustering of manufacturing plants or co-locating processes closer to raw material sources
• Partnering on building or purchasing large production plants

Market differentiation will drive consumer purchase intent while being able to fulfill market needs at lower product cost.

Finally, alternative protein companies will need to educate/inform consumers from an early age about the benefits of their products with respect to nutrition, impact on environmental sustainability, and reducing, not eliminating, our reliance on animal agriculture to provide proteins in the future.