Nosh.bio confirms capacity to produce thousands of tons of mycelium protein per year at new Dresden plant

Nosh.bio has announced it will reach a mycelium protein production capacity of thousands of tons per year at its new German plant.

The latest breakthrough is the result of a series of production tests Nosh ran at its plant near Dresden, a shut-down brewery – successfully repurposed to overcome scalability bottlenecks that plague many alternative protein companies. The results indicated that the company should soon be capable of producing thousands of tons of mycelium protein per year, with the first production run anticipated in four to five months.

Having already identified suitable designs for fermentation and downstream equipment that can be used to create muscle-like structure in its biomass without the need for extrusion or additives, Nosh.bio is in the process of validating the technology and tweaking it in order to achieve even higher process yields.

Nosh has also announced the results of a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) conducted by ClimatePoint, confirming that its solutions offer meat-free alternatives with a truly clean label and a great reduction in both carbon output and resource consumption.

In terms of CO2 emissions, the Nosh.bio product currently generates 9.19kg of CO2 per kg of protein compared to 99.11kg per kg of conventional beef (a 90.7% reduction). Each kilogram of mycelium protein avoids the production of 89.92kg of CO2. Future pivoting of Nosh.bio’s facilities to green energy will further reduce CO2 production by 80%.

As far as water usage is concerned, Nosh.bio uses 194 liters per kilo compared to 15,415 liters per kg of conventional meat (a 98.7% reduction).

And in respect of land usage, it's 1.83m2 per kg compared to 326.21 m2 with conventional beef (a 99.4% reduction).

“The results of this study demonstrate that we can successfully produce food for people that minimizes pollution and conserves vital resources," said Felipe Lino, Nosh.bio Co-founder & CTO. "As our global population expands and environmental concerns escalate, prioritising sustainability in food production is paramount.”

To further reduce the emissions of its production, Nosh.bio aims to transition to renewable energy sources and improve energy efficiency in manufacturing and logistics, measures which will reduce existing CO2 emissions by a further 80%. Additionally, the company plans to reduce its water consumption through sustainable water management.

“We take great pride in our team's dedication that has enabled us to reach this point," added Tim Fronzek, Nosh.bio CEO & Co-founder. "However, we recognize that there’s always room for improvement and as we begin batch production in coming months we look forward to incorporating the findings of the LCA into our future work. Sustainability lies at the heart of our mission, and we remain committed to continuous improvement whenever opportunities arise.”

Nosh.bio uses fermentation to produce sustainable and scalable proteins. Although the LCA examined Nosh.bio proteins in the alternative meat space, the fermentation process can be tailored to produce ingredients for a range of other applications, including seafood, confectionery, sauces and wellness. Nosh.bio operates from a former brewery in an approach which accelerates its route to market, improves its sustainability, and lowers its operating costs.