Alternative protein: Your 101 guide

Each type of alternative protein has its own advantages and challenges, and they can complement each other in creating a more sustainable and diverse food system. Here are three examples of alternative protein and how they’re made: 

• Plant-based protein: One of the most common and accessible types of alternative protein, plant-based protein is derived from various plants, including legumes, grains, nuts, seeds, and algae. Plant-based protein can be extracted or isolated from the plant material using mechanical, chemical, or enzymatic processes, and then processed into different forms, such as powders, concentrates, isolates, or texturised products – and you would have seen them at the grocery store. Think Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods, Oatly, and Just Egg. In Australia, Fable Food makes plant-based meat from mushrooms, v2food makes plant-based meat from legumes.
• Microbial protein: Produced by microorganisms, such as bacteria, yeast, fungi, and algae, microbial protein can be grown in large-scale fermentation tanks where the microorganisms feed on different substrates like sugar, starch, or methane, and produce protein as a by-product. The protein can then be harvested, purified, and processed into powders, flakes, or fibers. Microbial protein products include Quorn, Perfect Day, Change Foods and Eden Brew.  
• Cultivated protein: A novel and emerging type of alternative protein, cultivated protein is grown from animal cells in a bioreactor, without the need for slaughtering animals. Cultivated protein involves taking a small sample of cells from an animal, such as a cow, chicken, or fish, and placing them in a nutrient-rich medium that mimics the conditions inside the animal's body. The cells then multiply and separate into muscle, fat, and connective tissue, forming edible meat. The meat can then be harvested and cooked like conventional meat. Some examples of cultivated protein products are Mosa Meat, Vow and Meatable. 

Alternative protein has the potential to transform the global food system and create a more sustainable future for people, animals, and the planet. Compared to conventional animal products, alternative protein offers various benefits, such as: 

• Reducing greenhouse gas emissions: Alternative protein can significantly lower the carbon footprint of food production just by needing less energy, land, and water. A study by Quantis found that Beyond Meat's plant-based burger generates 90% less greenhouse gas emissions than a beef burger.  
• Conserving natural resources: Animal agriculture is one of the most resource-intensive ways of producing food. It requires large amounts of land, water, and feed. Alternative protein can drastically reduce the demand for these resources. A study by CE Delft found that cultivated meat can use up to 96% less land and 78% less water than conventional meat.  

Alternative protein is a fast-growing and innovative sector attracting entrepreneurs, investors, and consumers. There are hundreds of companies around the world developing and commercialising alternative protein products, ranging from plant-based to microbial to cultivated. Meet them here: 

• Daisy Lab: Daisy Lab produces dairy-identical proteins without the use of cows. By utilising precision fermentation technology, it uses yeast to create dairy proteins through a process similar to brewing beer. These microbial dairy proteins are identical to traditional dairy proteins but are produced more sustainably. Its yeast strains are capable of producing and secreting large amounts (at grams per litre scale) of proteins that are over 95% pure.
• Eight Day Foods: Eighth Day Foods has made a global breakthrough with a cutting-edge proprietary technology solution that the company believes will reset the plant-based protein landscape. It’s on a mission to deliver what brands and their customers have been asking for –a clean-label wholefood that is affordable, sustainable, tasty, and healthy.
• Harvest B: Harvest B develops and manufactures wholesale plant-based meat systems. It aims to be ‘protein and texture experts’ focused on commercialising fast and at scale with capabilities in manufacturing, culinary and food science.  
• The Every Company: Using precision fermentation, The Every Company, creates the proteins you know and love, as well as super-functional ingredients – without the animal. It uses two ingredients found in nearly every kitchen: yeast and sugar, and takes the DNA sequence of chicken egg protein and inserts it into yeast. The result is nature-equivalent animal protein.
• Heuros: Heuros produces high purity, GM-free growth factors for the manufacture of cultured meat. Heuros growth factors stimulate the growth of bird and mammal muscle cells.