What’s happening?

A number of companies are using carbon dioxide as one of the main ingredients to create different foods. These are being termed as “food from thin air”, but let’s not forget the microbes and other sundry elements thrown in.

Solar Foods (protein powder)

This Finnish company is making an all-purpose protein, using a bioprocess where microbes are fed with gases (carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and oxygen) and small amounts of nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium, and a few others). The CO2 is collected from a calcium chloride factory and is combined with nitrogen. An electrolyzer is used to create hydrogen from water molecules as a renewable energy source for the fermentation process.

The CO2 and hydrogen replace sugar as the source of carbon and energy, respectively. 

The final product is a yellow powder, branded Solein, which contains 65-70% protein, 5-8% fat, 10-15% dietary fibers, and 3-5% mineral nutrients. 

Solein has already received novel food regulatory approval in Singapore and has even been used in a few products, including a limited edition snack bar and a gelato.

Air Protein (protein powder for alt-meat)

California-based Air Protein also uses a microbial culture and fermentation process. Its inputs are CO2, nitrogen, and oxygen, along with naturally occurring bacteria cultures that are used to grow the proteins.

The final product is a protein flour that is said to grow in hours, with an 85% protein content and less than 5% fat content. It contains 20 amino acids, including the 9 essential ones needed by our body. 

The company has also established a point of difference, aiming to use its protein powder to develop alternative meats including chicken, scallops, and fish, as well as a range of other products like protein pasta.

Deep Branch Biotech/Aerbio (animal feed)

This Dutch company makes its protein similar to the previous two – CO2 and hydrogen are dissolved with oxygen into a water-based solution enriched with nitrogen and electrolytes. This allows the microbes to grow and create protein. 

This protein is branded Proton and the company’s primary focus currently is creating animal feed for the fish and poultry industries.

Air Company (vodka)

Based in New York, this is an engineering company that makes fuel and chemicals using CO2 for industrial and consumer use. This includes AIR Vodka, made from the company’s ethanol from CO2, and marketed as the first carbon-negative spirit.  

Savor (butter and fats)

Savor, a California-based start-up, has revealed its butter prototype created from carbon dioxide and hydrogen. This product is made by extracting CO2 from the air and hydrogen from water, and then heating and oxidizing them to produce fats. The final product is said to be similar in taste and functionality to traditional dairy butter.

The company says that their process not only emits minimal greenhouse gases, but also significantly reduces water use compared to dairy farming. This process could also bring down production costs and prices of the final product. 

Savor is also working on other types of fats from carbon using their technology. 

Like what you’re reading?

Why is this important?

Creating food using CO2 could be a major solution to one of the most pressing problems of the time – excess carbon emissions. Instead of storing the gas underground, it could be a primary input in creating new types of food, making this a sustainable source. Though it may be a while before this puts a serious dent in emissions.   

The real benefits for such foods may be from the production process not being linked to agriculture. 

• It’s traceable and potentially could be a solution towards supply chain security. 

• The production is also significantly less resource intensive compared to traditional agriculture, not needing things like fertilizers, water, land, and labor.

• The emissions would also be much lower than traditional agriculture.

• The production units could be set up anywhere and create significant quantities of food in very short periods of time.

This is still a fairly new method of making food, even though NASA is supposed to have theorized about the possibility way back in the 1970s. And with new technologies come several teething issues, like scaling up and managing the rather substantial costs at the moment. But it is a step towards a more sustainable and secure food source.

Looking to expand into new product categories?

🔊 We want to hear from you! 🔊

Tell us what you thought about today’s topic, if there’s any topic you’d like us to cover, or just drop a line to say ‘hey’!

Just hit “reply” to this email. We read and answer all messages. 💌

That’s all folks

Thanks for reading today’s newsletter.

See you next week.

About Us: GourmetPro is a global network of elite food and beverage industry talents. We provide fractional hiring solutions, allowing international managing directors to scale and transform their local resources and teams with high flexibility and expertise in more than 30 countries. Explore our services.

Made with ❤️ by GourmetPro - your network of Food & Beverage experts, on demand.

💖 And if you think someone you know might be interested in this edition of Market Shake, feel free to simply forward this email or click the button below. 💖

👉 P.S.: GourmetPro is also on LinkedIn and X!