New food tipping point
July 21, 2025
Wildtype cultivated seafood. (Photo: Arye Elfenbein/ CC BY)
Alternative proteins are promising – yet still expensive to produce. The usual response is that scaling up will solve this issue. But what if the solution was really about getting better, not just bigger? From more efficient, high-yield processes to upcycling waste heat, engineers are reshaping how we grow food.
For all the attention on cultivated meat and precision fermentation in recent years, the real transformation begins now. Engineers, not just entrepreneurs, are advancing the process and thus leading the next phase: scaling new food with better bioreactors, more stable cell lines and smarter energy systems. It’s a shift from breakthrough to build-out – one that moves faster when the process set-up itself becomes the lever.
New food at GEA
Behind global food production are the systems that make it work – from hygienic to aseptic handling, mixing, fermenting, clarifying, concentrating and drying. GEA is one of the few companies that spans this full process chain. Now, that expertise is helping accelerate the shift to alternative proteins. Instead of building new systems from scratch, many new food producers are adapting existing infrastructure and technologies. GEA’s role is to make that transition faster, cleaner and more efficient.
In 2022, GEA established a dedicated business line focused on new food – covering precision and biomass fermentation, cultivated meat, plant-based products and insect-based nutrition. The goal: help producers move from early-stage concepts to scalable, stable processes.
Morten Holm Christensen (Application Manager Biotechnology, GEA) and Tatjana Krampitz (Head of Technology Management New Food, GEA) discussing gas fermentation processes with Dr. Juha-Pekka Pitkänen, (Co-founder & Chief Technology Officer, Solar Foods).
Another example is Solar Foods, which produces Solein – a microbial protein made using air and renewable electricity. The company has successfully scaled up its unique gas fermentation production, supported by process design and downstream technology integration from GEA.
Better bioreactors: The perfusion breakthrough
As companies work to scale cultivated meat production, one challenge remains central: how to increase cell yield while ensuring processes are stable and cost-effective? Bioreactor functionality is at the heart of that equation.
At GEA, a team of engineers is advancing perfusion-based processing – an alternative to batch and fed-batch methods that allows for higher cell densities and productivity and continuous cell harvesting. “Our studies and modeling show that perfusion is the path to reach production capacity,” says Tatjana Krampitz, Head of Technology Management at GEA’s New Food unit. “To achieve continuous operation, we combine smart process control with optimal perfusion performance, enabling well-timed (partial or continuous) harvesting and feeding strategies.”These insights led GEA to launch an entry-level perfusion platform for aseptic pilot projects in 2024, including the Axenic P bioreactor and Kytero single-use separator. This unique combination enables high-density cell cultivation, while the centrifuge also streamlines continuous cell harvesting and reduces cleaning and sterilization efforts.
GEA’s R&D in new food is also advancing areas like process control (improved mixing for example), machine learning (to enhancing yields through efficient planning and scheduling) and operational efficiency improvements (by reducing downtime and ensuring the availability of production media).
New food
GEA tech centers support alternative protein scaling
Here, food-tech companies can test and refine fermentation and cell cultivation processes under industrial conditions – before investing in large-scale infrastructure.
Efficiency is not just about output – it’s about building systems that work smarter from the start.
Tatjana Krampitz
Head of New Food Technology Management, GEA
Circular new food processes are the next innovation
With engineering expertise across the entire production chain, GEA brings a holistic view to new food. The company goes beyond reconsidering how food is made – to challenging producers to (re)structure their production for long-term efficiency and sustainability.
This holistic approach draws on GEA’s deep knowledge in heating, refrigeration, bioprocessing and plant optimization. Rather than scaling up by default, GEA helps food and biotech companies design smarter factories – built for energy efficiency, circularity and real-world performance.“Efficiency is not just about output,” says Tatjana Krampitz. “It’s about building systems that work smarter from the start – with energy recovery, automation and flexible platforms that adapt as the market evolves. That also means using resources wisely, without compromising on quality or yield.”
Holistic engineering solutions
Climate-smart food production
Another example of decarbonizing the beverage world: In 2026, a major beverage company will create its first brew at what will become Europe’s first carbon-neutral brewery – also powered by circular energy systems from GEA. Despite brewing’s heavy heating and cooling demands, GEA heat pumps and mechanical vapor re-compression systems cut thermal energy use by up to 90% by recovering waste heat from refrigeration and wort boiling.
If we can get breweries to net zero, we can do the same for precision fermentation.
Adam Mincher
Technical Director Engineering for Beer & Alcoholic Beverages, GEA
Applying brewery logic to new food
Adam Mincher, GEA’s Technical Director Engineering for Beer & Alcoholic Beverages, sees the same logic translating to alternative proteins. “New foods offer an alternative to what many consider unsustainable industrial agriculture,” he says. “But there are still questions about how much climate benefit they deliver – especially given the energy needed to run these plants. If we design them to be energy self-sufficient and circular from the start, we unlock a whole new layer of efficiency. So, if we can get breweries to net zero, we can do the same for precision fermentation.”
He adds that unlike breweries, new food systems often operate with a steadier energy load, making them even better suited for heat recovery.
Nature-inspired engineering
For GEA engineers, the goal is not only to shrink food’s footprint, but also to shift food manufacturing closer to utilizing nature’s own logic. As Morten Holm Christensen, Application Manager for Biotechnology, explains: “Microbial metabolism produces product; but it also releases water and CO2 – and both can be captured and reused. That might sound like science fiction, but it’s exactly how nature has always worked.”
Rethinking scale: Why process beats size
Just a few years ago, the excitement around alternative proteins focused primarily on scale – moving from lab experiments to industrial output. Scale still matters. But today, many experts argue that process efficiency may matter more: continuous operation, smart energy use and better bioreactor design are proving more powerful than size alone.
New food needs more than just steel. It needs smarter systems.
Morten Holm Christensen
Application Manager for Biotechnology, GEA
A recent McKinsey analysis supports this shift in thinking. According to their findings, process improvements can improve the cost of goods sold for fermented ingredients more than scaling alone – by up to 60 percent. While doubling plant scale can reduce unit costs by 20 to 50 percent, improving process parameters – such as product concentration, fermentation performance, and strain stability – can cut unit costs by up to 60 percent.
For precision fermentation, Christensen points to three areas where smarter processes are essential:
(Photo: Solar Foods)
- Strain efficiency: Microbes are engineered to deliver more product with fewer resources and shorter cycles. Access to advanced fermentation equipment at pilot scale enables strain developers to design microbes optimized for large-scale production, lowering the risk of inefficiencies during scale-up.
- Strain stability: Breakthroughs in recombinant protein technologies improve resistance to mutations, ensuring stable performance over long fermentation cycles. With stable strains and the right aseptic design, continuous operation becomes achievable. This shift from batch to continuous is one of the most effective ways to increase capacity in bioreactor systems.
- Bioreactor performance: At scale, oxygen transfer, heat management, mixing properties and shear stress become harder to manage. Few companies today operate beyond the industry’s comfort zone of 100 cubic meters – but a few systems running at 400 cubic meters are already online.
One bioreactor or 25,000 cows
As performance improves across these three dimensions, productivity could grow exponentially. “Today, one large bioreactor might replace 2,500 dairy cows in terms of protein production capability. But if strain engineering, stability and bioreactor tech progress in paralell – as we expect – those synergies could allow that same reactor to replace 25,000 cows.”
What fuels Christensen’s optimism is that much of the infrastructure for commercial-scale precision fermentation is already in place. “Whether it’s media prep, sterilization, separation, filtration, purification, spray drying or powder handling – GEA’s portfolio already covers what’s needed, especially on the downstream side,” he explains. “And bioreactors are net heat producers. Add GEA’s energy recovery systems to the mix, and the case becomes even stronger.”
The tipping point is coming
Technology, economics and social urgency are aligning. For Christensen, a new food tipping point is within reach – and with it, a shift in industry power. “The final bottlenecks are being solved. The companies that control robust production strains will lead. Especially those with scale-ready, stable strains – they have a major head start.”
His message isn’t about caution. It’s about timing. “The new food train hasn’t left the station yet. But when it does, it’ll be moving fast.”
