Factory 01, Solar Foods’ first commercial-scale production facility of Solein®, starts production in Vantaa, Finland. It marks the beginning of the commercialisation of the novel protein and showcases what the future of food production could look like.
Solein® is the revolutionary protein grown out of a tiny but mighty micro-organism with CO2 and electricity by the Finnish foodtech company Solar Foods. This nutritious yellow powder, highly functional and compatible with a wide range of traditional ingredients, has long been contained to small quantities: only the Solar Foods pilot laboratory in Espoo, neighbouring the Finnish capital Helsinki, has produced Solein.
This is now changing as Solar Foods officially kickstarts the operation of Factory 01, its first commercial-scale Solein facility.
Solein received its first novel food regulatory approval in Singapore in 2022. Solar Foods has provided the novel ingredient for limited-edition food products and test marketing in Singapore, such as a Solein-powered snack bar and a Solein chocolate gelato. Solar Foods estimates Factory 01 will ramp up Solein’s annual production up to a maximum of 160 tons, enabling future co-operations to push beyond these limitations.
“We will be able to deliver quantities that allow food producers for the first time to create large batches of Solein-powered products. While we have been able to offer consumers a small taste, finding a Solein-based food in your local supermarket has not been possible. Soon it will be”, Solar Foods’ CEO and co-founder Pasi Vainikka explains.
A quantum leap in farming
Beyond the major step the facility represents for the company’s business, it is also a historic first of its kind for cellular agriculture. Factory 01’s bioreactor grows the same amount of Solein protein per day as a 300-cow dairy farm would produce milk protein – and does this all while being entirely decoupled from the demands and environmental stresses of traditional agriculture. Vainikka likens its significance to food production to the impact quantum computing will have on information processing.
“Just like with quantum computers, it’s no longer a question of will cellular agriculture become a thing: it’s evident that it will. The question is more about who leads the charge”, he says. ”We are exploring the possibilities of this scientific platform on a new scale. Factory 01 demonstrates it is possible to grow protein from start to finish under one roof, year-round even in the harsh Northern conditions of Finland – and to do it all sustainably and in a commercially viable manner.”
Factory 01 is also a part of the European hydrogen economy. The factory is the European Commission’s first hydrogen IPCEI project (Important Project of Common European Interest) to be completed. Solar Foods’ €600 million investment programme was in September 2022 notified as a hydrogen IPCEI project with a maximum state aid of €110 million; the company received the first grant of €34 million in December of the same year.
Next steps: scaling further and new markets
Factory 01 is a high-tech and highly automated facility. Much like in other modern food production, the factory’s “farmers” will do most of their work in the facility’s control room rather than on the factory floor. Factory 01 will also serve as Solar Foods’ hub for R&D and future product development. Running the facility will provide valuable data and on the path to the next milestone: Factory 02.
“Factory 01 is already a bona fide factory, the kind you could see in an industrial park. But to realise Solein’s full potential, we think bigger. That’s why Factory 02 will eventually scale up the bioprocess as well as the production process: it would not be located in an industrial park, it would more likely fill an industrial park”, Vainikka explains the company’s vision for growth. “Our long-term aim is to be a billion euro company. The global protein market is a two trillion euro business and we have shown that Solein has a place within that market.”
In May 2023, Solar Foods agreed on a strategic alliance to develop and test market Solein-based products in Singapore with the Japanese food giant Ajinomoto Group. The two companies are also looking to expand their cooperation to countries and regions beyond Singapore.
Solar Foods is seeking novel food regulatory approvals for Solein on several key markets, such as the EU, the UK, and the United States. The company’s aim is to enter the United States market in late 2024.
