
Finland’s Solar Foods has developed a protein shake to help you pump your macros. The kicker? The ready-to-mix powder ditches dairy for CO2.
As it prepares to enter the US market, Finnish food tech firm Solar Foods is targeting a food format precious to Americans today: protein shakes.
The maker of Solein – a protein derived from microbes and gases – has developed a ready-to-mix powder to help you hit your daily protein goals.
It’s the first readily available protein powder made from thin air, and is aimed at a consumer base obsessed with protein. Americans are eating more of the macronutrient than ever before, with six in 10 Americans increasing their intake last year, and 85% want to continue to do so in 2025.
87% of them believe you need animal products to get enough protein, despite vast evidence to the contrary – and that’s before you account for the climate impact of livestock farming, which is making it increasingly difficult to meet America’s growing demand for food.
As it begins its next phase under new CEO Rami Jokela, Solar Foods aims to challenge that with its gas protein, which it has described as “the most sustainable protein in the world”.

Solar Foods targets US performance nutrition market
The Solein Protein Shake has been unveiled in a Salty Caramel flavour, and contains no sugar. It’s designed as a daily protein supplement to support active lifestyles and conditions-based nutritional needs.
Solar Foods says Solein’s unique properties eschew the need for any other protein sources. Each 16g serving of the powder boasts 10g of protein, with the ingredient containing all essential amino acids (including branched-chain), as well as iron and vitamin B12.
“Solein is especially well-suited to be used in different kinds of ready-to-mix protein powders, as it blends well with liquid, bringing richness and indulgent, creamy consistency without dairy,” says chief commercial officer Juan Manuel Benitez-Garcia.
“Solein Shake is one example of such a protein powder, ready for consumers as it is, or to be adjusted to different consumer needs from healthy snacking to fulfilling even demanding protein needs. By increasing the amount of Solein, the shake is also ideal for boosting performance as well as muscle growth and maintenance,” he adds.
The company is positioning the product towards athletes and gymgoers looking to enhance their performance and recovery. That aligns with its commercialisation strategy for the US, which focuses on the health and performance nutrition market. Consumers in this segment consume 500,000 tonnes of protein powder worth $10B annually, according to Solar Foods.
“Ready-to-mix protein powders are usually made with dairy-based whey protein, as it has been the top choice in taste, bringing fresh flavour to products without the off notes typical to plant-based proteins,” says Benitez-Garcia, before pointing out that the demand for whey is outgrowing supply.
“When you’re a health and performance nutrition brand with a big part of your business based on whey but struggling to see where future supply will come from, you’re actively looking for better options,” he explains. “Thanks to Solein’s mild taste, it matches the freshness of whey, also bringing the upsides of sustainability as well as price and quality stability.”
Solein’s protein powder is the latest in a growing list of animal-free protein powders looking to serve the ever-growing appetite for functional protein ingredients without the environmental cost.
Perfect Day, one of the first companies in the world to create an animal-free whey protein powder, lent its ingredient to CPG protein powder brand Strive Nutrition, as well as online sports nutrition giant Myprotein. And last year, Nestlé released a Better Whey product under its Orgain line last year, featuring the same ingredient.
France’s Bon Vivant has also introduced a three-strong range of functional animal-free dairy protein powders. Dutch microbial protein maker Farmless is also working on a ‘brewed’ protein powder. And this week, Balletic Foods entered the space with three fermentation-derived protein powders, one of which is focused on recovery.
How Solein is produced

Solar Foods produces Solein at its demo plant in Finland, dubbed Factory 01, which can churn out 160 tonnes of the protein per year (rising to 230 tonnes next year). In addition, the company is building a much larger Factory 02, which would be able to manufacture 12,800 tonnes of product annually.
It produces the protein by feeding microbes on carbon dioxide, hydrogen and oxygen instead of sugar. Doing so eschews the need for farmland to grow sugarcane, alongside any irrigation, fertilisers and pesticides. The ingredient is not dependent on water or weather either, allowing it to be produced in climates like the desert, the Arctic and even outer space.
The microbes are grown in a liquid form, and later dried into an orange-yellow powder that is flavourless and has 78% protein by dry weight, 6% fat, and 10% dietary fibre. Its macronutrient profile is said to be akin to dried soy or algae – but it outperforms both plant and animal proteins on sustainability.
Since the main raw materials required for its production are carbon dioxide and renewable energy, Solein results in emissions equal to just 1% of those generated by conventional meat, and 20% of plant proteins.
The ingredient received novel food approval in Singapore in 2022, debuting as part of a vegan chocolate gelato at Italian eatery Fico. In addition, it was the base of a Taste the Future chocolate snack bar released by Fazer (a majority shareholder of Solar Foods) in the city-state, and a line of mooncakes and ice cream sandwiches rolled out by Japanese food giant Ajinomoto.
Moreover, the company achieved self-determined Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) status in the US last year, and registered Factory 01 with the Food and Drug Administration to import Solein protein stateside. At the Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, California last month, it announced Solein Protein Bites – Nut Mix Edition as a concept product to showcase Solein’s capabilities.
Solar Foods, which has raised over €43M ($47M) in equity funding and €30M ($32M) in debt financing, has applied for novel food approval with the European Food Safety Authority, expecting the green light in 2026. In February, it gave the region a taste of Solein through a partnership with Italy’s KelpEat, which showcased a high-protein snack with the ingredient at the Pitti Taste food fair in Florence.
The post Solar Foods: Your Future Protein Powder Will Be Made From Air appeared first on Green Queen.
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