The Finnish food experience company Fazer announces the launch of the world's first chocolate bar powered by Solein in Singapore.

Image courtesy of Fazer

Products & Launches

Solar Foods and Fazer Unveil World’s First Air-Protein Chocolate Bar in Singapore

Finnish food producer Fazer announces the launch in Singapore of the world’s first chocolate bar powered by Solein. Solein, created by the Finish biotech Solar Foods, is a novel protein crafted through fermentation technology, utilizing microbes, carbon dioxide, and electricity without the need for agricultural resources, hence dubbed “air protein.” With this introduction, Fazer becomes the first fast-moving consumer goods company ever to offer a product made with Solein, marking as well the air protein’s retail debut in a consumer product. Solein received regulatory approval in Singapore in 2022, making it possible to introduce it to the public in various dishes, including a dairy-free chocolate gelato developed in collaboration with Fico, Solar Food’s restaurant partner. Taste the future Called “Taste the Future”, the vegan friendly …

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Solar Foods raises €8M in oversubscribed funding round

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Investments & Acquisitions

Air Protein Producer Solar Foods Raises €8M in Oversubscribed Funding Round

Finland’s Solar Foods, a company developing “food out of thin air”, has raised €8 million in an oversubscribed funding round. The round was conducted via Finnish investment organiser Springvest Oyj, and is the largest to ever take place on the platform. Registration was initially planned to be open until November 10, but the round reached capacity almost two weeks early following “overwhelming demand” from investors. Solar Foods will use the funding to ramp up production at its first commercial-scale facility, Factory 01, and commercialise Solein (the company’s protein) in food products. Operations at the facility are expected to begin in the first half of next year. Solar Foods produces protein by feeding microorganisms with carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen from the air; the hydrogen and …

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An AI generated image of microbes

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Fermentation

European Innovation Council Funds Solar Foods-Led Consortium Creating Milk Protein from CO2 and Electricity

From over 400 contesting teams, a research consortium led by Finnish company Solar Foods to produce sustainable milk protein from CO2 and electricity has been selected by the European Innovation Council’s Pathfinder Challenge 2022.  The challenge, which seeks cutting-edge research projects that could achieve breakthroughs in their respective fields, will invest €5.5 million in the consortium’s four-year HYDROCOW project. Solar Foods will work with the University of Groningen, RWTH Aachen University, and FGen AG, a subsidiary of Ginkgo Bioworks, to develop a novel biotechnology platform independent from agriculture and photosynthesis, to create sustainable food, materials, medicines, and chemical production.  A groundbreaking technology HYDROCOW aims to develop a carbon-neutral system by genetically modifying hydrogen-oxidizing microbes to produce beta-lactoglobulin using CO2 and electricity instead of traditional fermentation solutions that use agricultural feedstocks …

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Air Protein and ADM join forces to commercially laungh landless proteins to make alt foods

Image courtesy ADM

Protein

Air-Based Proteins Market to Exceed $100M: Highlighting 5 Prominent Players

The global air-based foods market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 11.7% to reach a value of US$ 100 million by the end of 2032, as consumers and producers look increasingly towards sustainable proteins. According to FACT. MR, initially, air-based foods will gain popularity in North America and Europe, markets with growing demand for sustainable and eco-friendly food products as a solution to food production challenges. This technology, first used to feed humans in space, offers a promising solution to the extensive land use in animal agriculture that is driving species to extinction, eroding soils, and polluting water and airways. We take a look at five companies using cutting-edge technology to make proteins using microbes and air, known as air proteins, to move food production …

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Solar Foods launches first -ever Gelato made with its microbial protein

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Products & Launches

Solar Foods Launches the First Ever Gelato Replacing Dairy with Protein “Out of Thin Air”

Since its approval for sale in Singapore last year, news about Solein, the protein made out of thin air, doesn’t stop. Today, the Finnish company Solar Foods and its partner restaurant Fico are launching the world’s first Solein Chocolate Gelato in Singapore.  The debut marks the first time a food made with an animal-free protein grown from microbes using hydrogen and carbon dioxide (out of thin air) is sold to the general public. “This offers a glimpse of a future where tastes and textures are familiar, but where food arrives on our plates in an entirely new way,” said Solar Foods.  One-of-a-kind ice cream The restaurant’s chef team developed the recipe for the vegan ice cream, replacing dairy with Solein powder — removing animal agriculture from the equation. The …

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Solar Foods' protein Solein used in different dishes

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Fermentation

Solar Foods and Ajinomoto Unite to Create Next-Gen Air Protein Foods

Last week, Finland’s Solar Foods debuted its microbial protein Solein, made out of thin air, at a tasting event in Singapore. After this historic moment in food history, Solar Foods has announced a strategic alliance with Japanese food and biotechnology corporation Ajinomoto to develop products using the revolutionary Solein and introduce them to global markets.  The partnership — Solar Foods’ first collaboration with a major global food brand — will make Solein a reality. In the coming years, a new range of sustainable products will launch for the first time in Singapore. In Q4 2024, the companies will conduct a market feasibility study in Singapore for product development. Solar Foods is now ready to commercialize Solein. It received regulatory approval from the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) last October, …

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Solar Foods' protein Solein used in different dishes

© Solar Foods

Fermentation

Solar Foods’ Air Protein to Be Tasted by Public Tomorrow in “Watershed Moment” for Food History

Finland’s Solar Foods announces the debut of its microbial protein Solein in the first-ever tasting event of an air protein, taking place in Singapore tomorrow, the 25th of May. Solein, described as the world’s most sustainable protein, is developed with microbes, carbon dioxide, and electricity. Its bioprocess is free from the “burdens of agriculture” and weather events, allowing its production anywhere; in deserts, Arctic regions, and even space.  Michelin-starred chefs will explore this novel protein’s culinary possibilities in different dishes served at a fine restaurant, announces Solar Foods. Why Singapore? Singapore’s reliance on importing over 90% of its food has led the government to establish food security as a high priority. Over SG$114 million has been invested in alternative proteins as part of the government’s 30 …

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