The new centre, hosted by the University of Leeds and co-led with the James Hutton Institute, the University of Sheffield, and Imperial College London
The UK government is investing £15 million in an innovation hub to accelerate the commercialisation of plant-based, cultivated and fermentation-made foods.
The announcement by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and Innovate UK – two of the UK’s largest government funding bodies – will see the establishment of the National Alternative Protein Innovation Centre (NAPIC), with an additional £23 million coming from public and private sector partners.
The new centre, hosted by the University of Leeds and co-led with the James Hutton Institute, the University of Sheffield, and Imperial College London, aims to develop innovative products and ingredients from innovation to commercialisation while investigating how consumers can integrate these foods into their diets.
It will also focus on using these techniques to develop more sustainable animal feed and aquaculture.
Nonprofit and think tank the Good Food Institute Europe (GFI Europe) said that this funding pushed the UK’s total government investment in alternative proteins to more than £91 million (€103 million) and demonstrated the country’s continued commitment to developing this cutting-edge area of science and food production.
Significant recent UK public investments have included the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) funding the Cellular Agriculture Manufacturing Hub (CARMA) led by the University of Bath, and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funding the Microbial Food Hub led by Imperial College London.
