A new food ingredient can work in a laboratory yet struggle to reach a supermarket. Invest-NL, the Netherlands' publicly financed investment and development institution, has published an analysis of what stops agricultural and food biotechnology companies from growing. Drawing on more than 150 interviews and investment data, it identifies long approval processes and the cost of building a first factory as major obstacles.
The report considers technologies such as proteins made through fermentation, a process that uses microorganisms to produce ingredients. It estimates a scenario in which faster commercialization could bring Dutch companies €17 billion in additional annual sales by 2040; that is a conditional projection, not an achieved result. Better science alone will not pay for industrial production, especially when funding programs exclude businesses that operate at a loss for years.
Source · invest-nl.nl ↗
