Europe’s alternative protein sector continues to expand, propelled by growing consumer adoption, public investment and a flourishing research ecosystem despite the many hurdles it faces.
Alternative proteins have the potential to contribute €111bn to the EU annually by 2040, while creating 414,000 jobs, according to Good Food Institute Europe.
With diverse cultures and communities, Europe serves as a lucrative region for the sector, where companies are “balancing innovation with culinary tradition,” Carlotte Lucas, head of industry and special projects at Good Food Institute Europe said.
Plant-based finds its footing
While plant-based, fermentation and cultivated meat sectors each face their own challenges to growth in the region, plant-based products receive the most public funding – almost half (44%) of all alternative protein funding between 2020 and 2025 – largely due to their longer market presence, Lucas said.
“Our recent analysis of Circana retail sales data found that sales volumes of plant-based foods increased in four of Europe’s leading markets last year – France, Spain, Germany and Italy – while the Netherlands saw a slight decline and the UK recorded a contraction," she explained.
Recent plant-based product launches include Spain’s Novameat, Germany’s Project Eaden and Slovenia’s Juicy Marbles, she noted.
Plant-based milk maintains a strong presence in certain countries. The category accounts for between 7% and 10% of all milk sold in Germany, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands, with nearly half of households in Spain and 38% in Germany buying plant-based milk last year, according to GFI Europe data.
“The success of barista-style plant-based milk, which makes up around one-fifth of the range of plant-based milk products in Germany, more than a fifth of the category’s sales volume in the UK and more than 30% in the Netherlands, demonstrates the potential of innovative, tasty products that replicate the functionality of animal-based foods,” Lucas added.
However, following the EU’s decision to restrict the use of the term “meat” and 31 other meat-related terms for plant-based products, brands face relabeling costs in addition to ongoing efforts to improve taste, nutrition and affordability to drive adoption, Lucas said.
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Fermentation and cultivated meat face scale-up hurdles
Europe and North America share similar challenges in fermentation, including a lack of infrastructure needed to scale production and improve process efficiencies. Yet growth continues in Europe, with Switzerland’s Planted and Austria’s Revo Foods introducing new fermentation-derived foods, Lucas said.
The region also faces challenges in cultivated meat, including lowering the cost of cell culture media and increasing the availability of cell lines and scaffolding technologies.
“Addressing all of these challenges requires significant public funding in open-access research and facilities. Just as they have done with renewable energy, European governments must invest in developing and scaling these foods to deliver on their enormous potential to help reduce the environmental impact of the food system and meet growing global demand for meat and dairy," Lucas said.
She pointed to research institutions, industry groups and policymakers in the UK and Sweden as examples of progress, citing innovation hubs that support startup participation. Meanwhile, the German government elevated biotechnology as a strategic priority and included alternative proteins in the country’s national innovation strategy, the High-Tech Agenda, she added.
“In the current funding environment, corporate funding partnerships are more important than ever, and startups can benefit from forming resilient and mutually beneficial partnerships with larger companies," Lucas added.
Regulatory bottlenecks slow innovation
The EU’s Novel Food Regulation governs the union’s food safety framework. However, lengthy approval timelines have prompted some startups to look to other markets first, raising concerns that Europe could fall behind in the commercialization of new products, Lucas noted.
For example, French cultivated chicken startup Parima received regulatory approval from the Singapore Food Agency in 2025. The authorization marked a first for a European cultivated meat company, Lucas added.
The EU is making progress in bringing new alternative proteins to market, albeit slowly. Dutch company Protein Brewery recently received authorization to sell its mycelium ingredient Fermotein after a six-year review process, making it the EU’s first novel mycoprotein ingredient to gain approval.
“While it’s great to see this demonstration that the EU’s regulatory system can enable new products to come to market in a way that meets the bloc’s robust safety standards, the fact that this authorization took six years from application to final approval shows the need to ensure the regulatory framework keeps pace with European food innovation,” Lucas said.
Lucas continued: “Regulators can help prevent unnecessary delays by ensuring the process is transparent, engaging in dialogue with companies and clarifying requirements through bespoke guidance documents for the sector.”
Funding shifts toward public-private models
While the private funding environment has tightened since 2019, startups are increasingly looking to public-private partnerships and government bodies for support.
Notably, European fermentation startups raised $179 million (€157 million) last year, surpassing North America for the first time, Lucas noted.
For Finnish fermentation company Solar Foods, public funding from Business Finland was instrumental in helping build its new factory. Other sources of support include the European Investment Bank and joint infrastructure projects such as the Netherlands’ Biotechnology Fermentation Factory, Lucas explained.
“Companies, along with governments and funding bodies, should explore innovative funding options to support Europe’s growing ecosystem,” she added.
Europe’s innovation hot spots
Since 2020, the number of research papers on alternative proteins published by European academics has nearly tripled to 1,094, according to GFI Europe.
The growth in research has “revealed pockets of innovation across the region, with Germany leading in terms of publications, followed by the Netherlands and the UK,” Lucas explained.
Lucas highlighted regional areas of expertise, noting that “Spain is emerging as the leading hub in Southern Europe for alternative proteins, with a growing ecosystem of researchers and companies, while the Nordic region is bringing together long-standing expertise in everything from fermentation and aquaculture to plant-based product development.”
