Start-up pitch: MicroHarvest is making sustainable protein from microorganisms

As the global population continues to grow and climate change places food security under threat, it’s becoming increasingly important to identify new and sustainable nutrient sources.

“To ensure food security for the predicted population of 9.6bn people by 2050, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) predicts that food production must increase by at least 60%, to meet the demand,” said John Roy Porter, professor of agriculture and climate change at the University of Greenwich, in an impact report to the United Nations. “With yields declining, and demand for both the amount and quality of food increasing (due to increased disposable income amongst developing countries) intervention is a must.”

Enter MicroHarvest…

The Portuguese start-up is “unleashing the power of microorganisms”, as a new protein source to help feed the growing global population in a sustainable way.

“We’re bringing better protein ingredients to the market. And by better, we mean sustainable, we mean nutritious, and we mean scalable,” says Katelijne Bekers, co-founder and CEO of MicroHarvest. “Microorganisms (bacteria) have been used for centuries to make food products like cheese, yogurt, kefir, and kimchi.”

The microorganisms come with a host of benefits.

“Our protein ingredients are packed with micronutrients and vitamins,” says Bekers.

Furthermore, they contain so no allergens​, a growing concern for manufacturers and consumers.

So how are these microorganisms scalable?

“Our unique technology helps us to harness the power of these tiny miracle workers to produce quality proteins," says Bekers. "We make our ingredients in tanks, 365 days a year, anywhere in the world, independent of local soil quality, seasons, and climate. Once harvested from the bioreactor, the cells are inactivated and dried to produce a stable, high protein ingredient. The result is the perfect nutritional source, over 60% crude protein with excellent amino acid profile, plus micronutrients such as vitamin B2 and iron. And it’s tasty!"