Fooditive takes asset-light fermentation model to USA as sole European Grow-NY finalist

Dutch food biotechnology company Fooditive has been selected as the only European finalist in the 2026 Grow-NY food and agriculture competition, giving the Rotterdam-based business an opportunity to build US partnerships around its licensing-led approach to precision fermentation.

• Fooditive was selected from 334 applicants across 49 countries as the only European finalist in the 2026 Grow-NY food and agriculture competition.
• The Rotterdam biotech licenses its precision fermentation and bioconversion technologies to manufacturers rather than building and operating its own production facilities.
• Fooditive will use the 10-week accelerator to pursue US manufacturing and commercial partnerships before competing for a share of US$3 million in November.

Fooditive is also the only finalist headquartered outside North America. The company will now participate in a 10-week accelerator before pitching at the Grow-NY Food and Ag Summit in Rochester, New York, on November 12-13.

The competition, backed by Empire State Development and administered by Cornell University’s Center for Regional Economic Advancement, will award US$3 million in investment to participating startups, including a US$1 million top prize.

Fooditive’s selection comes as the company looks to expand in the US without constructing its own fermentation facilities. Instead, its business model centers on licensing its technology to food and beverage manufacturers with existing production infrastructure.

The company has developed technologies for producing animal-free casein through precision fermentation and 5-KDF, a zero-calorie sweetener. Casein is the principal protein found in cow’s milk and plays an important role in properties including cheese texture and stretch.

In the USA, Fooditive said 5-KDF is already self-affirmed GRAS, while a GRAS notification is currently under review by the US Food and Drug Administration. The ingredient is also being produced in the country through manufacturing partners.

“The food-tech industry has a fatal flaw: it is obsessed with building concrete factories instead of building better food,” said Moayad Abushokhedim, Founder & CEO of Fooditive. “We are not flying to New York to build a factory. We are going there to plug into the infrastructure that already exists. Out of 334 companies, a Rotterdam startup is Europe’s only representative because we bring the one thing the market actually needs, which is scale without the wait.”

Founded in 2018, Fooditive has deliberately avoided owning and operating large-scale manufacturing plants. Its model is based on transferring and licensing its fermentation and bioconversion technologies to production partners, reducing the capital required to bring ingredients to commercial scale.

That approach will be central to its participation in Grow-NY. During the accelerator, Fooditive will work with businesses and organizations across the program’s 22-county Upstate New York region, with a particular focus on identifying manufacturing and commercial partners.

The location could be especially relevant to Fooditive’s animal-free casein program. New York is one of the largest dairy-producing states in the US, providing the company with access to an established network of dairy manufacturers, processors and associated infrastructure.

Fooditive said it already holds a multi-year offtake agreement with a global consumer goods company, although it has not disclosed the identity of the customer or further commercial terms.

Its casein technology is intended to give manufacturers access to dairy proteins without using cows while retaining the functional characteristics required for applications such as cheese. Rather than becoming an ingredient manufacturer itself, Fooditive plans to make the technology available through licensing agreements with existing producers.

The same strategy is being applied to 5-KDF, with US partners already producing the sweetener domestically. The ongoing FDA review represents another step toward wider commercialization if the agency raises no questions over the company’s GRAS notification.

Grow-NY is designed around companies that can generate economic activity within its Upstate New York region. Finalists receive mentoring, business development support and introductions to potential partners and investors ahead of the November summit.

For Fooditive, the program provides a route into an established US food manufacturing region as it seeks to turn its licensing model into further production agreements.

At the Rochester summit, the company will compete against the other finalists for a share of the US$3 million investment pool. Fooditive has indicated that while securing investment would support its expansion, its immediate priority during the program will be developing the manufacturing and commercial relationships required to scale its technologies in the USA.

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