MicroHarvest, a leading industrial biotechnology company dedicated to advancing sustainable protein production, has launched its cutting-edge pilot plant in Lisbon – enabling the company to produce single-cell protein samples.
The official launch of the pilot, marked by an event held on November 16 in Lisbon and attended by partners and investors, is a significant milestone in MicroHarvest's mission to reshape the landscape of sustainable food production.
With the ability to operate beyond lab scale in-house, the pilot plant will accelerate MicroHarvest's journey toward commercialization and market availability. The plant will produce protein samples for customers, allowing the company to further hone its technology and test production runs before bringing them to commercial scale.
The pilot plant is located at its Factory Lisbon site. In a span of six months, MicroHarvest transformed a portion of its office space into a fully equipped laboratory and pilot plant.
"This pilot plant serves as tangible evidence of the scalability of our process,” said Luísa Cruz, chief technology officer of MicroHarvest. “With a lower investment when compared to alternative technologies, and within a mere 200 square meters, we can achieve a daily production of 25 kg."
Simultaneously, after successfully transferring the technology and scaling up production to reach daily outputs in tons, the team engaged a commercial production partner.
"The speed at which we accomplished this demonstrates that we have the right team and the right technology to make sustainable protein readily available at scale,” said Chief Operating Officer Jonathan Roberz. “This is of crucial importance as our food systems' ecological footprint must be minimized to remain within our planetary boundaries."
MicroHarvest’s proprietary technology enables the sustainable production of high-quality protein ingredients containing more than 60% raw protein within just 24 hours. The pioneering approach significantly reduces resource consumption compared to conventional methods and has the potential to reshape the industry. It offers highly competitive, scalable and consistent protein solutions applicable across diverse sectors, including feed, pet food and human food.
MicroHarvest's pilot plant launch is a transformative moment in the journey toward addressing the global challenge of feeding a growing population while minimizing environmental impact. The company's proprietary biomass fermentation technology is at the forefront of this launch, showcasing a revolutionary approach to sustainable protein production.