biological fermentation technology enables food innovation and explores the infinite possibilities of new protein fermentation technology.
Food security is related to the national economy and the people’s livelihood. It is of great significance to ensure protein supply to ensure national food security. Expanding biological resources and protein sources can help China better cope with the challenges of food security and protein supply, and at the same time, fully tap the potential of emerging industries.
In response to China’s call to expand biological resources and meet the challenges of food security and protein supply, Gufu released the first domestic report focusing on the application of fermentation technology to the new protein industry, 2022 new egg white fermentation industry report, which is the first domestic report focusing on the application of fermentation technology to the new protein industry, An online industry seminar with the theme of “bio fermentation technology empowering food innovation” will be held on August 24.
Gufu believes that fermentation technology can fully exploit the potential of microorganisms and break the pattern of relying on “traditional crops and livestock and poultry resources” to obtain heat and protein. In the past two years, Gufu team interviewed more than 30 experts and scholars in the new protein industry at home and abroad. From the perspective of business, investment and scientific research, it sorted out the development logic and valuable cases of the whole new protein fermentation industry in six chapters, and summarized the opportunities of each link of the new protein fermentation industry. In the report, the information overview of China’s new protein fermentation enterprises and academic and scientific research institutions was disclosed for the first time, and the factors affecting the development of the industry, including regulatory regulations and large-scale production, were analyzed in depth. The following are some highlights of the report:
Multiple ways to boost protein supply
At present, China’s feed protein raw materials (soybeans and corn) are highly dependent on imports. In recent years, due to the impact of animal epidemic, the supply crisis of pork and poultry is taken as an example, and the vulnerability of traditional animal husbandry, that is, animal protein supply chain, is prominent. At the same time, population growth and economic development have further driven the overall consumption of food in China, and the demand of the new generation of consumers has also brought challenges to protein supply.
Expanding biological resources and protein sources can help China better cope with the challenges of food security and protein supply, and at the same time, fully tap the potential of emerging industries. It is pointed out in the report that by promoting technological innovation and raw material innovation, the new protein (alternative protein) developed, produced and supplied is an effective way to expand the protein source, and is also the only internationally recognized protein production mode that is expected to realize large-scale production as soon as possible. In particular, microbial fermentation, as a key technology to enable new protein industry, is the key to enrich protein sources and large-scale production.
Picture source: Gu Fu’s 2022 new egg white Fermentation Industry Report
The key to the development of new protein — fermentation
Since ancient times, our country has been convenient to use traditional fermentation technology to make various kinds of unique flavor
Nutrition and health are increasingly concerned in the domestic food consumption market. New protein raw materials and additives produced by applying fermentation technology can not only enhance the nutritional value and functionality of existing food, but also expand the categories of protein supply – on the basis of animal protein and plant protein, provide consumers with brand-new microbial protein products. In recent years, leading domestic food and biotechnology enterprises, investment institutions, and scientific research institutions have increased capital and R & D investment to lay out the new protein fermentation field. At the same time, new protein fermentation is also one of the application directions of synthetic biology in the field of food. As the biological manufacturing technology vigorously advocated by the country, the development of synthetic biology will certainly accelerate the research and development and industrialization of new protein fermentation.
Industrial parties promote new protein fermentation
The development of new proteins is transforming the value chain of animal husbandry and even the whole food industry. The introduction of more advanced technologies (such as biological manufacturing, information technology and artificial intelligence) has attracted the attention of companies from different industrial fields such as agriculture, food and biotechnology. Therefore, many suppliers of raw materials and formula solutions, producers of meat, eggs and dairy products, comprehensive and biotechnology enterprises have actively arranged and invested in new protein raw materials and product innovation, scale-up production, cost reduction and efficiency improvement.
At present, in addition to launching their own new protein product lines or creating new brands, various enterprises in the world mainly have three ways of strategic layout to promote the development of the new protein fermentation industry, namely, establishing partnership, project investment or incubation, and mergers and acquisitions and joint ventures. The fourth part of the report gives detailed examples and introduces how enterprises invest and layout the new protein fermentation field through the above three ways, and lists the main factors that promote various enterprises to make corresponding decisions.
Picture source: Gu Fu’s 2022 new egg white Fermentation Industry Report
Factors affecting the development of new protein fermentation industry
On the premise of giving full play to their own technological advantages, new protein fermentation enterprises evaluate different product opportunities before product development. Market potential and launch cycle are two key considerations. Enterprises need to consider the current situation and future development potential of specific categories in the market environment, and analyze in combination with the consumption demand and price level, as well as the market scale and profit rate of replacing existing products. At the same time, the factors that affect the product launch cycle are also crucial, including the existing regulatory framework, the scale-up production of products, and the cost control ability.
The process of introducing new protein products produced and processed by fermentation technology to the market will be restricted by relevant regulatory and approval policies. The market access of new protein fermentation products mainly involves biosafety and food safety. At present, China chooses to apply the existing legal framework for assessing the safety of new food raw materials and genetically modified products, and also mainly regulates the two safety risks mentioned above. The report specifically analyzes the field of new protein fermentation from four aspects: new food raw materials and new varieties of food additives, genetically modified foods, regulatory authorities, and the content and classification naming of commodities before entering the market
New protein fermentation, boosting protein supply
新蛋白的发展正在变革畜牧业甚至是整个食品行业的价值链，而更多前沿技术（例如：生物制造、信息技术及人工智能等）的引入，更是吸引了来自农业、食品、生物科技等不同产业领域公司的关注。因此许多原料和配方解决方案供应商、肉蛋奶制品生产商、综合性以及生物科技企业都在新蛋白原料与产品创新、放大生产及降本增效等环节进行积极布局和投资。
目前全球各类企业除了在推出自己的新蛋白产品线或创立新品牌之外，主要有三种方式战略布局，以推动新蛋白发酵产业的发展，分别是建立合作伙伴关系、项目投资或孵化，以及并购与合资。报告第四部分详细举例和介绍了企业如何通过以上三种方式投资及布局新蛋白发酵领域，同时列举了促进各类企业做出相应决策的主要因素。
新蛋白发酵企业在充分发挥自身技术优势的前提下，在产品开发前评估不同产品机会时，市场潜力和上市周期是两大关键考量因素。企业需要考虑具体品类在市场环境中的现有状况和未来发展潜力，结合消费需求和价格水平，以及替代现有产品的市场规模、利润率等进行分析。与此同时，影响产品上市周期的因素也至关重要，包含现有监管框架、产品的放大生产，以及成本控制能力等。
运用发酵技术生产和加工的新蛋白产品推向市场的过程，会受到相关监管和审批政策的制约。新蛋白发酵产品的市场准入主要涉及生物安全和食品安全，我国目前选择适用现有的评估新食品原料和转基因安全性等法律框架，亦是主要针对以上提到的两种安全风险进行监管。报告从新食品原料和食品添加剂新品种、转基因食品、监管部门，以及商品准入市场前的属性与分类命名四个方面，具体分析新蛋白发酵领域不同技术路径涉及到的市场准入监管和审批重点。
此外，报告根据专家意见，总结新蛋白发酵公司从实验室到规模化生产的惯常路径，分析食品应用放大生产的重点和难点，最后列举了全球以及中国新蛋白发酵领域规模化生产的进展和展望。
图片来源：美国生物制造领域的产业专家 Mark Warner，谷孚
持续增长的消费需求是推动新蛋白产业发展壮大的关键要素。后疫情时代，全球消费升级趋势持续，食品安全、营养健康以及气候变化等问题在畜牧业以及动物蛋白产品中逐渐凸显，消费者已经意识到新蛋白产品作为对标动物蛋白产品的全新选择，是缓解以上问题的有效解决方案。对比植物基产品，新蛋白发酵产品的市场份额相对较低，但是已经有不少针对各式产品种类的消费者意愿研究，可以为现有或者潜在的发酵公司提供参考。报告包含了精密发酵产品特别是乳制品的消费者意愿研究结果，以及我国新蛋白发酵市场需求分析。
我国新蛋白发酵产业尚属发展早期，在商业、投资和科研领域都有待进一步挖掘机遇，以及应对挑战。因此，无论是大型食品、生物科技企业，还是关注新蛋白产业的投资机构，和涉足发酵领域的学术科研人员，都应秉持积极开放的态度，加强兼顾横向（不同技术路径）和纵向（遍布上下游价值链），需求端和供应端的的合作和交流。此次谷孚主办的“生物发酵技术赋能食品创新”行业研讨会，正是旨在创造更多跨学科、 跨领域、 跨区域，以及覆盖全产业链生态圈的合作交流机会。8 月 24 日 晚 6 点，谷孚期待与您共同探索新蛋白发酵技术的无限可能！
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