Year in Review 2023
Learn about the people and partnerships growing the future of food from the ground up in our Year in Review.
Cultivated
Research Grant Program projects
Discover GFI research grant recipients breaking boundaries and spearheading global alternative protein innovation.
Consumer and sensory research to guide alternative fish R&D
Consumer and sensory research can help companies and academic researchers better understand seafood consumers' needs and desires. Understanding consumers' needs will allow alternative fish researchers to ask and prioritize the correct biological and technical questions. Appropriate and thoughtful prioritization can avoid unnecessarily diluting resources in the short term and ensure that the expanding product landscape in the long term is well-matched to customer expectations.
Catalog of animal meat flavors
Creating a catalog of molecules responsible for the characteristic flavor of a species will enable alternative protein product manufacturers to create products that more accurately replicate the sensory experience of animal meats, removing a major barrier to their widespread adoption.
- Academics
- Commercial
- Crop development
- Cultivated
- Ecosystem
- End product formulation & manufacturing
- End Products
- Fermentation
- GFI
- Industry
- Industry
- Ingredient optimization
- NGO's
- Plant-Based
- Production
- R&D
- Raw Materials, Ingredients, & Inputs
- Research
- Science
- Seafood-relevant
- Startups
- Target molecule selection
Synergistic climate and biodiversity benefits of alternative proteins
The direct climate and biodiversity benefits of alternative proteins are well understood by the alternative protein community, but the synergistic benefits of alternative proteins with other solutions—for example, clean energy and reforestation efforts—are often underappreciated. Leaning into these synergistic benefits can help efforts to build community with climate and conservation organizations and to drive engagement with policymakers.
Developing scalable, fit-for-purpose bioreactor and bioprocessing technologies for cultivated meat
Optimizing bioreactor and bioprocessing technologies for the needs of the cultivated meat industry has the potential to substantially reduce the cost of cultivated meat production. Innovations in cultivated meat bioprocessing can be broadly classified into strategies focused on food-grade operation, process intensification, and the exploration of novel bioreactor geometries.
Naturally adhesive and edible non-animal scaffolding materials
There is a limited number of edible non-animal scaffold materials that are naturally adhesive for use in cultivated meat production. Identifying a larger and more diverse set of these materials, which tend to be inexpensive and accessible, and characterizing their industrial scalability, environmental impact, and effects on food properties supports progress towards cultivated meat price parity.
Cell line development from food-relevant aquatic species
A lack of publicly-available cell lines from relevant species and cell types continues to be a challenge for the field of cultivated seafood. Addressing this challenge will require further investigation into the basic biology of aquatic species, development of optimized cell isolation procedures, and sharing of cell lines via existing and new repositories.
Cultivated, fermentation-derived, or hybrid surimi
There has been little publicly announced R&D and commercial effort to develop cultivated, fermentation-derived, or hybrid surimi. Compared to other meat products, surimi is likely to be by far one of the easiest to replicate well.
Food Label Conference
Join Prime Label Consultants in Washington DC June 2 - 5th to make sure you are current on new and evolving regulations and industry trends. Keynote speakers and complete breakout sessions will be curated to bring key government officials, legal experts, and food industry leaders together to help you solve your labeling and compliance challenges.
