US food tech startup Plantible Foods has opened a large-scale factory to produce duckweed protein in Texas, and is now looking for additional investment to triple its capacity.
Aiming to take duckweed protein to the masses, Plantible Foods’s commercial-scale facility in Texas is now fully operational.
The new 100-acre factory, called The Ranchito and located in Eldorado, will allow the US startup to manufacture thousands of tonnes of biomass annually. This translates to hundreds of tonnes of its Rubi Protein.
The ingredient is Plantible’s version of Rubisco, a protein found in duckweed and believed to be the most abundant protein on Earth. The new plant will enable the firm to reduce 8,000 tonnes of CO2e from the food system every year by replacing animal proteins and synthetic ingredients.
“This marks a defining moment for Plantible, our partners, and the community of Eldorado,” said CEO Tony Martens, who co-founded Plantible with Maurits van de Ven in 2016. “We’re scaling a food system rooted in science, sustainability, and shared prosperity – proving that it’s possible to build resilient food solutions while creating real economic opportunity in rural America.”
Plantible’s new Rubisco factory significantly cuts costs
Duckweeds, also called lemna or water lentils, are free-floating, naturally occurring freshwater aquatic plants, which combine to form a green carpet on the surface of water. They’ve been consumed in Southeast Asia for centuries, but have witnessed a rise in popularity in the last decade, thanks to their immense environmental and nutritional benefits.
Being aquatic, duckweed doesn’t occupy any farmland or contribute to deforestation, contains more micronutrients than many vegetables, has a protein digestibility score of 1.0 (the highest possible), and, with a doubling rate of two to three days, is the fastest-growing plant in the world.
Plantible grows its lemna on controlled aquafarms that allow freshwater to be constantly recycled and refreshed, leaving a water footprint 10 times lower than soybeans. Once the plants are harvested, they are milled, filtered and dried so that the pure protein can be extracted from the plant’s leaves.
The final product is an off-white and odourless protein that can grow anywhere in the world and contains all nine essential amino acids. Rubi Protein is free from 20 allergens and comprises 85% protein, and offers functional benefits like emulsifying, gelling, and fat-binding, helping reduce the reliance on saturated fats, egg whites, and methylcellulose.
The company has developed two ingredient blends featuring Rubi Protein. Rubi Whisk provides structural integrity, moisture and oil retention properties for egg- and gluten-free baked goods like lemon tarts, macarons, and cookies, and Rubi Prime offers the emulsification and binding benefits of methylcellulose to make cleaner-label plant-based meat products that can be served hot or cold.
Its Eldorado facility has a growing network of greenhouses, upgraded protein filtration systems, and a new, higher-yield duckweed strain. The state-of-the-art filtration equipment has significantly reduced production costs while increasing throughput. This has advanced its ability to achieve cashflow positivity at the plant and produce its Rubisco protein at scale.
Plantible pursuing investment to increase capacity by threefold
Plantible is currently working with a range of customers to incorporate Rubi Protein into consumer products. One of these partners is functional ingredients provider ICL Food Specialties, with which it has previously created a Rovitiras Binding Solution for meat and seafood alternatives.
“Plant-based protein formulators have been searching for years for a clean-label, highly functional replacement for chemically derived binders, such as methylcellulose,” said Paul Peterson, global head of alternative proteins at ICL Group.
“In partnership with Plantible Foods, we have been able to leverage our deep knowledge of proteins to create a market-leading binding solution that allows plant-based food manufacturers to meet the needs of even the most demanding consumers.”
Plantible has introduced a proprietary lemna strain that increases the yield of Rubi Protein per acre, and is now conducting trials on additional strains that could further enhance the ingredient’s unit economics, scalability, and affordability.
“With at least 35 species in the duckweed family and more than 1000 strains, Plantible has excelled in identifying strains that are best adapted for growth in the local climate,” said Chris Phillips, VP of research at the startup. “We then tailor our growth conditions to further maximise protein production and product quality.”
The firm closed a $30M Series B round last year, taking its total raised to $57M. It is now working to secure more funding to triple its capacity and meet its clients’ demands. At the same time, it will continue to invest in the Eldorado plant, hiring locally and expanding its footprint.
Several other startups are working with duckweed protein too, including Sustainable Planet (UK), GreenOnyx (Israel), MicroTerra (Mexico), DryGro (Kenya), Ful Foods (Pakistan), Rubisco Foods, Rinus & Hans (both Dutch), and Fyto (US).
The post Plantible Foods Opens Duckweed Protein Factory in US, Eyes Funding to Triple Capacity appeared first on Green Queen.
This post was originally published on Green Queen.