Growing numbers of people will be able to sample new types of butter, chocolate and ice cream made without input from animals, plants or soil in 2025.
A cluster of start-ups are working on producing food directly from energy and raw materials like carbon and hydrogen. They argue that bypassing photosynthesis and traditional agriculture will ease pressure on wild land and the climate.
These firms are now approaching a critical juncture in their journey to commercialisation, with the first rollout of products in the US next year.
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One of them is Savor, a California-based company working to make synthetic vegan fat without livestock or crops. Instead, its process turns carbon from fossil fuels into triglycerides, a form of fat. Savor then churns this fat into butter using water and an emulsifier, before adding colour and flavour.
The resulting product can be served up in place of real butter or used for baking and chocolate making. The company is currently working to gain regulatory approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), with a test launch of its product expected in selected US restaurants next year.
Meanwhile, Finnish company Solar Foods is planning a commercial launch of its protein-rich powder product, Solein, in the US next year. It uses electricity to split water into oxygen and hydrogen, then feeds the hydrogen to bacteria to produce Solein, which is a yellow powder. This can then be used as a replacement for egg and dairy products.
Solein is already on sale in Singapore, as an ingredient in various snacks such as ice cream sandwiches and protein bars. US customers will get their first taste of the product in 2025, says Solar Foods CEO Pasi Vainikka, after the company received clearance from the FDA in 2024. 鈥淲e can now supply some limited edition launches in the US,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t opens the world鈥檚 largest market for us.鈥�
Initially, the focus will be on restaurants and food service, but the ultimate target is food retail, says Vainikka. The firm is in talks with food manufacturers to include Solein as an ingredient in a range of sweet and savoury products, he says. The powder will be shipped to the US from its factory in Finland, which started operations in 2024.
Vainikka says this new approach to food production will bring environmental benefits, freeing up land currently used for livestock production for conservation efforts.
鈥淧lant-based agriculture is not going anywhere,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he crops, carbohydrate delivery crops [such as] rice, corn, wheat and similar, they are not going anywhere. [Neither are] fruits, vegetables and so on. What we need to reconsider is the animal part of the story.鈥�
Savor鈥檚 CEO Kathleen Alexander argues that producing synthetic fats in factories would lessen demand for land to produce the likes of palm oil, which is a driver of deforestation in tropical countries.
at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in Australia says production of these new foodstuffs in industrial vats could also be more resilient than growing traditional crops in a world grappling with the impacts of warming. 鈥淎s they are delivered in stainless steel, they have the potential to be less impacted by climatic factors,鈥� she says.
But the challenge for the start-ups is producing at the scale necessary to make a dent in the global food system. Vainikka says Solar Foods currently only has manufacturing capacity for a 鈥渓imited edition鈥� US rollout, while the regulatory process in Europe is taking longer than expected. 鈥淩ight now we are trying to do everything to get to a really large manufacturing scale,鈥� he says.
Consumer sentiment will be another hurdle. Enthusiasm for plant-based versions of meat grew rapidly in the US , but sales have slumped in recent years. Convincing shoppers to not only try a new product, but to keep buying it, will be a huge challenge for new food companies.
Vainikka admits Solein is a 鈥渃ompletely new, strange tech powder鈥�, so he says the company鈥檚 focus is on making a delicious product, over and above its sustainability credentials. 鈥淚t is taste and texture,鈥� he says. 鈥淣othing else.鈥�
