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The amino acids that combine to form edible proteins are the building blocks of the human body. An adequate supply of protein is vital for childhood development and is an essential component of a healthy diet for all age groups. A physically active adult such as a strength athlete can require up to 2.2 grams of protein per kilo of body weight daily. Even a sedentary adult or senior requires around 1 gram per kilo of body weight to maintain optimal health. 

Traditional sources of edible proteins include animal derived meat and dairy foods, seafood and fish, and nuts and legumes. Conventionally farmed proteins - animal and vegetable - can be expensive to produce and distribute. They also come with a variety of negative environmental impacts, including water consumption, arable land depletion and an unsustainable carbon footprint. 

As the global food supply chain faces increasing challenges from climate change and population growth, AgTech innovators are developing high quality alternative proteins that are manufactured using smart processes located close to consumer markets. The goal is to deliver maximum efficiency with net-zero carbon emissions. 

Alternative proteins are emerging as commercially viable mainstream solutions with the potential to make a real contribution to global food security. Innovators are developing processes to replace animal-derived proteins with plant or fungal alternatives like lemna (a rapidly growing and highly nutritious aquatic plant), or are harnessing genetic engineering to enable the precision fermentation of edible proteins. 

Another method that is already gaining wider consumer acceptance is the creation of cultivated or lab grown meat (and hybrid meats engineered for optimal health benefits) as an ethical alternative to farmed meat. These emerging technologies are proving increasingly scalable and are attracting the attention of investors. If you’re interested in adding alternative protein companies to your portfolio, the first step is to gain an overview of the sector and a basic understanding of the technologies and markets. 

The following companies are harnessing breakthrough technologies to disrupt the food industry and augment the food supply chain with alternative proteins. They offer interesting insights into this rapidly growing segment of the food industry.

1. Beyond Meat (Nasdaq: BYND)

Founded in 2009, Beyond Meat was an early pioneer of alternative proteins and one of the first companies to successfully market vegetable-derived alternatives to popular meat dishes. The company was established with the stated goal of combating climate change and created pea‑protein burgers with texturizers designed to simulate muscle fibers, closely mimicking the “bite experience” of traditional burgers.

“Beyond Burger” became a flagship alternative protein food product and led to the creation of new Beyond ranges. The company is now focusing on making its meat substitutes healthier and is successfully reducing salt and saturated fat content in its foods. 

2. ICL Group (NYSE: ICL) (TASE: ICL)

ICL Group is one of the world’s leading specialty minerals companies and is one of the largest fertilizer manufacturers in the world. ICL Group leverages its specialty minerals expertise to develop advanced solutions that enhance the functionality of plant‑based ingredients, improving their appeal to consumers and extending the longevity of alternative protein based foodstuffs.  

ICL Group is helping manufacturers scale up by providing phosphate based solutions for texture improvement, stability and longevity in alternative proteins and dairy alternatives, as well as developing healthy ingredients like Salona low sodium and potassium chloride-free sea salt. ICL Group is helping manufacturers of alternative proteins to create foods that pass the crucial “bite test” and build brand loyalty.
 

3. Ginkgo Bioworks (NYSE: DNA)

Ginkgo Bioworks was established by a team of MIT scientists in 2008. The biotech company utilizes high‑throughput cell engineering to optimize microbial strains for precision fermentation on an industrial scale. Ginkgo Bioworks is developing technologies that can transform the supply of (specifically manufactured) edible proteins and introduce highly nutritious functional ingredients to the food supply chain. 

Ginkgo Bioworks is highly focused on research and development and has systematically acquired a range of smaller companies with niche specialties, R&D sites and laboratories with a view to strategic growth and the creation of new breakthrough technologies. 

4. Steakholder Foods (NasdaqCM: STKH)

Steakholder Foods is a leader in 3D bioprinting technologies for cellular agriculture or lab cultivated meat. The company was founded in Israel and operates a Belgian subsidiary Peace of Meat that produces cultivated meat, specializing in lab-grown foie gras - a luxury delicacy previously associated with unethical farming practices. The company is now capable of producing 100% cell cultivated chicken fat in a single production run.

The cultivated fat is showing impressive potential when it is blended with plant proteins to produce tasty alternative meat dishes. Steakholder Foods is developing scalable processes that can potentially make a significant impact on the meat sector by offering high quality alternatives to farmed meat.

5. Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE: BUD)

Anheuser-Busch is one of America’s most famous brewers, best known for its iconic Budweiser, Stella Artois and Beck’s beers. Anheuser-Busch is keen to penetrate the alternative protein market and is adapting and expanding its brewing skills and facilities to the development of precision fermented proteins. It is also repurposing and upcycling used barley grains (a byproduct of beer brewing) for the creation of animal-free proteins in a sustainable circular economy. 

The entry of a major global corporation like  Anheuser-Busch into the alternative protein market is extremely significant. The company has the resources and the reach to make a real impact on the food sector and to bring alternative proteins further into the commercial mainstream. 

Alternative Proteins: A Growth Sector

The alternative protein industry is rapidly evolving. Even a decade ago, it was a specialty sector that excited interest in the AgTech community and specific niche dietary markets, but cultivated meats and pea-derived proteins were a long way from widespread consumer acceptance. 

Increasingly scalable technologies, lower costs for consumers, and improved foodstuffs are making alternative proteins commercially viable.There are still regulatory and marketing challenges, and a need to raise consumer awareness and build brand loyalty, but the involvement of major companies like ICL Group and Anheuser-Busch suggests that the sector is set to expand. Investor interest in companies, across the entire spectrum of alternative protein design and manufacture, is set to grow.
 

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