Alternative is dead. Long live strategic

Once a buzzword that electrified investors, the term ‘alternative protein’ has lost its shine. With capital now flooding into AI, dual-use, and defense, food tech’s ‘alternative’ framing has become a liability.

As one dual-use investor recently told me, “Investment in proteins is down” – you might say it’s high time for a complete rethink of the narrative that led us into the last hype cycle.

For too long, innovative food technologies have defined themselves and their products in opposition: ‘replacement’, ‘dairy-free’, ‘animal-free’, or ‘cruelty-free’ proteins. The unrealistic market-share predictions of a nascent industry also played their part. While the alternative framing attracted early curiosity, it also provoked significant opposition.

It’s time for a strategic rethink: one that shifts away from linguistic opposition and toward strategic alignment with industrial innovation capabilities. This is especially critical in light of a geopolitical power shift on a scale not seen since World War II.

Europe’s food and drink sector is not just big – it is the EU’s largest manufacturing industry. It employs 4.7 million people and generates €1.2 trillion in turnover. Yet because food is still viewed primarily through the lens of agriculture, shaped by the dominant voice of the farming community, this vast industrial engine remains largely overlooked in policy circles.

Around 80% of EU agricultural output is processed before it reaches consumers. From Italy’s northern SMEs to Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain – in that order – food manufacturing forms the backbone of Europe’s food system. France, despite being a major recipient of CAP subsidies, lags behind in manufacturing output, just behind Spain.

The term alternative protein may have signaled innovation and disruption just a few years ago, but it also painted emerging food tech into a corner

A recent internal policy and regulatory study, commissioned by the new trade association Food Manufacturing Technologies Europe in partnership with our team and the German Institute for Food Technologies, confirmed this point. Food manufacturing technologies remain the invisible link in the food policy and regulatory landscape. New foods – formerly known as alternative proteins – may be the most exposed segment in this part of the food value chain.

The term alternative protein may have signaled innovation and disruption just a few years ago, but it also painted emerging food tech into a corner. It triggered backlash from farmers and quietly stalled progress on critical files such as novel foods regulation.

The attacks worked. Startups trying to reinvent food found themselves defending their right to exist instead of scaling their solutions. More importantly, the framing missed a much bigger opportunity: to present food tech as the next logical evolution of Europe’s long-standing industrial food manufacturing sector.

Startups, scaleups, food-tech firms, investors, and manufacturers already form a powerful ecosystem. Yet their size and strategic importance remain poorly understood in regulatory conversations. As a result, their economic value – and their relevance to Europe’s industrial future – continues to be underestimated.

A recent global biotech and biomanufacturing report projected that by 2040, food biomanufacturing could reduce global CO₂ emissions by 3 to 4 gigatons, free up to 4 million square kilometers of agricultural land, save between 250 and 500 billion cubic meters of freshwater, and add nearly US$1 trillion in value across the global economy and food value chain.

Pricing carbon in food production, as currently under discussion in the EU, would make new food categories significantly more profitable and accelerate their growth. At the same time, the worsening global water crisis is already driving global adoption of water-saving food manufacturing technologies developed in the EU and exported worldwide.

The USA, under Trump, is proposing budget cuts of more than 40% to the NIH (National Institutes of Health) and the NSF (National Science Foundation). This creates a vacuum that China is likely to fill.

The EU, with its strong foundation in biotechnology and industrial hardware, is well positioned to seize this moment. New diplomatic and trade relationships – from a revised UK agreement to Mercosur – open fresh avenues for collaboration. Europe also offers political stability, a safe haven for scientists fleeing an increasingly unpredictable USA, and a regulatory system that provides a more predictable operating environment.

Brussels is preparing a suite of major initiatives, including an EU Startup Strategy, a Bio Act, an Innovation Act, and a privately managed EU Scale-Up Fund aimed at securing tech sovereignty in critical areas. These are not distant policy frameworks. They will directly shape public funding decisions, enable faster regulatory approvals, and influence industrial procurement in the near future.

Too many founders, investors, and SMEs still treat policy as an afterthought. That is a costly mistake. For EU startups, one thing is certain: the ability to position a business within strategic public funding programs, to understand and interpret these frameworks, and to navigate between EU and Member State levels will determine whether or not a company is able to scale.

Companies looking to move to or expand within Europe would be well advised to engage early and actively. Rewriting their narrative to align with the realities of the European food manufacturing ecosystem – and recognizing the strategic role food plays within a shifting global order – will be essential to long-term success.

Food is strategic.

Anna has founded Future Affairs Consulting as an impact-focused strategic advisory and advocacy firm. She is a well-known advocate for climate tech and has been involved in various leadership roles across Europe, particularly in sustainability strategy and innovation policy. This article is republished from the Q2 2025 edition of Protein Production Technology International, the industry's leading resource for alternative proteins. To subscribe to all future editions, please click here