Solar Foods factory opens – protein made from air could be on many people's plates in the future

Technology company Solar Foods has begun pilot production of its Solein protein at its new Vantaa factory. The aim is to prove that production is scalable to an industrial scale.

CEO Pasi Vainikka considers the completion and start-up of the production plant to be a significant event for both Finland and the entire world.

"Innovations in cellular agriculture must be brought from laboratories to people's dinner tables in a situation where the population is increasing and the need for food is growing, but at the same time, nature loss must be curbed and carbon sinks restored," Vainikka says.

Solein is a naturally occurring single-celled microbe that is grown in bioreactors using raw materials captured from the air, namely carbon dioxide, hydrogen and oxygen, as well as a small amount of nutrients.

Production runs on renewable electrical energy, i.e. solar or wind power.

The resulting mild-tasting protein powder can be used as a substitute for milk, eggs, and meat in a wide variety of foods.

Full speed ahead during spring

Solein protein production began at a pilot plant in Espoo in 2018.

The full capacity of the new factory, called Factory 01 in Vantaa, is a hundred times larger than the pilot plant, or approximately 160 tons per year.

Full production capacity is expected to be reached by early summer at the latest.

“With the factory's production volumes, we are able to support our own and our customers' product development and produce Solein for trial sales to the first customers,” Vainikka says.

Solein already has a novel food license in Singapore, where foods utilizing hydrogen fermentation have reached consumer sales.

License for sale also opening in other parts of the world

Solar Foods is currently applying for novel food permits in other parts of the world as well.

Vainikka estimates that the US will issue a permit in the second half of 2024.

It is expected from the EU, Great Britain and Japan during 2025.

“Food permits issued in the United States and the EU may facilitate the opening of the Japanese market, for example,” says the CEO.

The Finnish company has also signed an agreement with the leading international food and biotechnology group Ajinomoto Group, aimed at new Solein-based products.

Tough growth targets for a green company

In April 2024, Solar Foods became the first Finnish private company to receive the Nasdaq Green Equity Designation – Private Company designation.

The label is awarded to companies whose turnover exceeds 50 percent from activities considered green.

The green company sees its newly launched Vantaa factory as a springboard towards something even bigger.

Next up is an industrial production facility, with a capacity that will be a hundred times larger than the current one. The company's long-term goal is a turnover of one billion euros.

To accelerate its growth, Solar Foods has just launched an eight million euro share issue aimed at Finnish investors, executed by Springvest Corporation.

A similar funding round last fall was oversubscribed ahead of schedule.

Text: Päivi Ikonen/ Kemiamedia.fi

Photo: Solar Foods. The carbon footprint of producing nutritious protein in bioreactors is a hundred times smaller than that of red meat. CEO Pasi Vainikka and CTO Juha-Pekka Pitkänen at the reactor.