Around the world in seven questions: New foods we’ll love

Last year was not a year of hyped-up headlines for alternative proteins. Perhaps that is precisely why it was an important year for food biotech, the biotechnology behind everyday foods and ingredients. While the sector worked through a difficult funding environment, approvals were still granted, pilot lines set up and new platforms tested in the background. In short: headlines are turning into infrastructure. Frederieke Reiners heads GEA’s New Food business. She and her team work at the intersection of biotechnology and industrial food production. In this interview, she takes us on a world tour of food biotech in seven questions. 

Frederieke, if you had to explain where food biotech stands today to a friend over dinner, what would you say?

I would say: The mood has changed, but we're heading in the right direction. The hype surrounding alternative proteins is over, financing is more selective, and some important pioneers have closed their doors. At the same time, we are seeing food biotech enter its next phase – away from the “moonshot” toward becoming part of the world’s everyday food infrastructure.

Three forces are driving this: First, biotechnology and process efficiency. So, fermentation and cell culture processes which improve yields while reducing costs, energy and water consumption. Second, capital and industry. Companies are very careful about which technologies they invest in. And third, regulation. Authorities are taking concrete action versus just talking about novel foods. This intersection will decide which technologies can realistically be scaled into everyday food production.

Looking at the technology, which recent biotech and process breakthroughs stand out most in your view?

For me, it's about a mix of individual milestones and trends. Precision fermentation is coming of age: Start-ups and major players are working on continuous processes, better-controlled strains and drastically improving energy and water balances. In fact, there are even concepts on the table for energy- or water-positive factories. Likewise, new platforms are emerging that use waste streams or even CO2 as raw materials.

In cell culture research, there is exciting work on producing more robust cell lines and low-cost media; this might sound pretty boring, but both are crucial for reducing costs and scaling up new foods. Also, the focus is shifting away from the end product – the “burger on the shelf” – to what I will call food biotech building blocks. These include proteins, fats, colorants and functional ingredients and are what end up in everyday foods. This is exactly where our classic plant expertise comes into play: aseptic technologies, downstream processing, heat recovery, drying – all of these factors determine whether a good laboratory result can become a viable business model. 

If we drew a world map of food biotech hotspots, which regions are leading the way, and why?

Asia-Pacific continues to lead. China is very active – from novel food decisions for fermentation-based proteins to pilot lines for cultivated meat. Singapore and Australia have made food biotech a part of their food and food security policies. And in Japan and South Korea, biomanufacturing hubs are emerging that combine classic industrial experience with new biotechnology.

In North America, the focus is strongly on bio platforms and ingredients: Precision fermentation proteins are entering supermarkets; designer fats and gas fermentation are being scaled up; and at the same time, the political debate over cultivated meat is raging. Europe is more hesitant, but we are seeing important signals – from new bioeconomy strategies and research programs to pilot farms that show how farmers can be part of cell culture value creation. The key point is that wherever biotech has moved from a niche topic to being part of a country’s infrastructure, things are moving forward. 

The industry talks a lot about the investment dip. What is your assessment and what role do contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) play?

First of all, we are experiencing a correction, not a collapse. Investments are significantly lower than the boom years, but capital continues to flow – especially into models with clear industrial logic, such as precision fermentation for proteins, fats or other high-value functional ingredients.

The leap from pilot to large-scale plant is challenging, especially in such a young field. It requires robust intermediate steps in which biology, process control and the business case grow together. This is exactly why GEA built piloting test centers in the U.S. and Germany.

It is also clear that cellular agriculture is capital-intensive and requires partners with real staying power. This is where CDMOs come into play. These are specialized development and contract manufacturers whose infrastructure other companies can rent instead of immediately investing millions in their own stainless steel. They allow companies to bring their first small-scale products to market, start building their brand and generate initial revenue before investing in their own facilities. Without more of these CDMOs, New Food will find it difficult to reach the next level in many regions.

Where have regulators recently helped move things forward for food biotech?

Australia showed with the first approval for cultured meat, following Singapore, that Asia is ready to move beyond pilot projects. China is taking the topic of biomanufacturing very seriously – from regulatory initiatives around biotech and fermentation-based proteins to large-scale programs for fermentation and cell culture capacities. And Brazil has modernized its novel food rules and explicitly tailored them to cell culture and fermentation.

In the United States, the picture is mixed but highly relevant. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has already cleared several precision-fermented dairy proteins via its GRAS process (“generally recognized as safe”, a streamlined safety review), so ingredients made this way are entering the market in sports nutrition and “animal-free” dairy. At the same time, political debates about cultivated meat and initiatives such as the proposed BIOSECURE Act – a bill in the U.S. Congress that would impose strict limits on certain biotech collaborations, especially with China – show how quickly geopolitics and security concerns can reshape biotech supply chains.

In Europe, we also see mixed signals. The new Biotech Act, an EU package to boost biotech innovation, expands guidance for novel food applicants, but the first package explicitly excludes novel foods from the planned regulatory sandboxes – the test environments where companies and authorities could trial new technologies together. At the same time, there are already discussions about a second pillar that could explicitly include food applications. If Europe delivers on that, the Biotech Act could turn regulation from a bottleneck into a real location advantage for food biotech investment.

What does this all mean in concrete terms for what people eat day-to-day?

You would probably never hear someone say, “I'm eating biotech food today.” Instead, they are more likely to notice that familiar products have improved or appeared on the market for the first time: milk alternatives with a better protein profile thanks to precision-fermented whey; chocolate or baked goods with new fats that partially replace cocoa or palm oil; ready meals, snacks and sports nutrition that provide more protein with fewer additives.

The connection to weight-loss drugs and the longevity debate is exciting. When people eat less but have higher demands in terms of satiety and nutritional value, the question of smart calories comes to the fore. Biotechnology in food can help here by designing proteins, fats and functional ingredients to better balance health and sustainability – still delivering on taste. 

In your opinion, who will shape the next chapter of alternative proteins – and what role can a company like GEA play?

The leaders will be those who don't think of biotechnology in isolation, but as part of entire food systems. On the one hand, these are the start-ups and research teams that are building new platforms – from gas fermentation and mycelium-based proteins to cell cultures for meat, fish or specialty fats. On the other hand, there are established food, agricultural and technology companies that are opening up their infrastructure and scaling up together with these pioneers.