ShapingBio is organizing a parallel session about Microbial Proteins as part of the Open Food Conference, which will take place on 11 March 2024 in Leuven, Belgium from 14:30-16:00.

Microbial protein is a highly promising alternative protein source that is rapidly gaining importance worldwide. The actual producers are bacteria, yeasts and fungi of which the whole biomass is used, or a purified protein is harvested. It is foreseen that microbial proteins will become a substantial part of our food and feed system in a circular bio-economy.

Today, a number of pioneer companies do already implement microbial fermentation for the production of proteins for food, feed and fine chemicals on a lab, demo or industrial scale. However, the widely extended and multifaceted potential of this technique encounters many regulatory and investment hurdles. Obstacles are faced when building value chains based on this technological innovation for microbial proteins, related to the use of sustainable bioresources, the necessary investments to build production facilities, and the regulatory hurdles to put products on the market.

With this parallel session the goal is to join our strengths to open the path for this innovation.