Imagining more for our food system

Here is what ten alt protein leaders think we have to look forward to in 2026.

If 2026 has felt like it started on hard mode, you’re not imagining it. The past few years have delivered plenty of reasons—inside and outside the world of alternative proteins—to feel uneasy about what comes next. Within our sector, the challenges are real and widely shared: plant-based meat sales are flagging in some regions, cultivated meat companies face a tough investment environment, and the broader alternative protein ecosystem has had to navigate a market that suddenly feels far less forgiving than it did in the boom years.

That said, we want to take this moment to offer a reframe—one grounded in just how far we’ve come in a decade.

Ten years ago, when GFI was founded on February 1, 2016, the field looked radically different across nearly every metric that matters. In 2016, there had been only two conferences focused on cultivated meat and none for plant-based meat; by 2026, there will be dozens of scientific conferences around the world, hosted by many of the top universities, and GFI’s Alt Protein Project is now active on 77 campuses. Through the end of 2016, there were just four journal articles on cultivated meat science; in 2024 alone, there were 150.

A decade ago, government funding for plant-based and cultivated meat research was essentially nonexistent; today, every major science-funding government is investing—from the U.S. and the EU to China, India, Brazil, Japan, and beyond. The patent landscape has exploded from just 10 cultivated meat patents in all of history to more than 1,000 in the last nine years.

And perhaps most importantly, what once felt uncertain—whether cultivated meat could ever clear safety review and earn regulatory approval—has become a tangible reality: by 2026, 10 products have been approved for sale across multiple countries, with clear paths emerging in others. Even on the capital side, where the squeeze is undeniable, the arc is unmistakable: in 2016, only one cultivated meat company had raised any money at all; today, more than 100 have raised over $3 billion.

None of this erases the headwinds—but it does put them in perspective. Because we’ve seen this film before, in every breakthrough innovation from automobiles to the early internet: a wave of company failures, brutal headlines, and market skepticism, followed by the steady, compounding progress that changes everything. As we head deeper into 2026, we at GFI see the turbulence clearly—but we also see the opportunity and momentum beneath the noise. History is consistent on this point: short-term market smoke can’t stop a transformative technology.

With that context, here’s what some of us at GFI are watching—and feeling optimistic about—as 2026 unfolds.

Astha Gaur, Senior Policy Specialist at GFI India

The BioE3 (Biotechnology for Economy, Employment, and Environment) Policy in 2025 underscored the Indian government’s growing emphasis on biotechnology as a driver of manufacturing and innovation, backed by an increase in public funding. The Department of Biotechnology’s initial call for proposals prioritised transformational research on enhancing the efficiency, safety, affordability, and scalability of smart protein technologies. As the policy matures in 2026, we are looking forward to seeing more spillover benefits to the smart protein sector, including greater public investment and improved access to research and scale-up infrastructure. In addition to directly funding research and innovation, the government is also committed to building domestic infrastructure capabilities through high-performance biomanufacturing platforms.

Complementing these efforts, India’s first national animal stem cell repository is being developed at the National Institute of Animal Biotechnology (NIAB) in collaboration with HiMedia Laboratories, adding critical foundational capacity for future research and guidance. Excitingly, the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) with insights and support from GFI India, is also in the midst of a comprehensive 21-month research project to rigorously evaluate the environmental and socio-economic impacts of alternative proteins in India. The findings of this study, expected later this year, will provide India-specific data to guide policy, investment, and innovation in the sector–ensuring that it grows and scales in meaningful ways to strengthen nutrition security, farmer livelihoods, and climate goals–resonant within the Indian context.

At the same time, there is gradual but continued progress on clarifying approval pathways for cultivated meat and fermentation-derived inputs and safety assessment mechanisms to reduce regulatory ambiguity and provide greater confidence to innovators and manufacturers operating in the sector.

Curt Chaffin, Senior Fellow, Regional Bioeconomies at GFI

2026 will be a year of biotechnology and biomanufacturing. From food to materials to chemicals, countries around the world are supercharging their efforts to produce the things that we eat and use every day using biological resources like crops. Alternative proteins sit at the heart of the bioeconomy—opening up new markets for farmers, diversifying supply chains, and creating high-paying regional jobs. In the year ahead, GFI will build on peer-reviewed studies, stakeholder engagement, and legislative proposals to make the case that no bioeconomy plan is complete without food and alternative proteins.

In the United States, the bioeconomy has emerged as one of the most bipartisan policy areas in recent years. GFI is eager to work with the Congressional Biotech Caucus, a fully bipartisan caucus with 50 Members of Congress dedicated to advancing biotechnology. We will work to ensure the recently adopted EU Bioeconomy Strategy prioritizes alternative proteins. Both India and Brazil are positioning biomanufacturing as a major economic focus for the coming decades. Even international organizations like the United Nations, World Bank, and World Economic Forum are taking note of biotech and food.

In 2026, GFI will advocate for regional innovation hubs, public data repositories, and public funding for research and development—all with the goal of advancing food biomanufacturing.

David Hunt, Senior Research Community Manager at GFI Europe

Europe’s scientists are increasingly focusing their expertise on alternative proteins, with our recent analysis revealing the astonishing rate at which the field has grown during the first half of this decade. We found that the number of academic papers published by researchers based in the region, as well as public funding levels, both tripled between 2020 and 2024.

With many of the public investments having been made in the last three years – and dedicated hubs such as the UK’s National Alternative Protein Innovation Centre (NAPIC) coming on stream – we can expect to see Europe’s researchers publish an even greater volume of innovative findings over the next few years.

Our analysis was the first to map out the region’s research network, but new work we will carry out this year will dive deeper into what’s driving this rapidly expanding field – both in Europe and around the world. This will help us identify promising areas of expertise and explore opportunities to boost collaboration, pointing the way for international teams of scientists to accelerate solutions that make alternative proteins delicious, affordable, and competitive with conventional animal products.

Emma Ignaszewski, Associate Vice President of Corporate Engagement at GFI

The plant-based meat category is entering a more demanding phase of its maturation. The rapid growth of 2018–2020 is no longer the benchmark, but that doesn’t mean the category has failed. It means we’ve moved past early-adopter hype and into the real constraints and tradeoffs of the food industry.

In 2026, I expect growth to be shaped less by expansion at all costs and more by disciplined execution: sharper differentiation, tighter alignment with consumer expectations, and clearer value propositions in a more capital-constrained environment. Messaging will be refined as brands respond to consumers as they are now: more value-seeking, more health-conscious, and more focused on everyday usability than values alone. Growth will be increasingly segmented, and that’s a feature, not a flaw.

The strongest momentum will come from products that deliver on expressed consumer priorities like protein-forward nutrition, competitive pricing, and easy integration into familiar meals. The next chapter of the category will be shaped by companies willing to invest in products and marketing strategies that meet today’s rules of the game.

Gus Guadagnini, Chief Executive Officer at GFI Brazil

In 2025, our focus is to show that alternative proteins are a real climate solution and that countries like Brazil are essential to delivering it. For the Global South, climate action requires scientific sovereignty with local research, innovation, and regulatory capacity shaping the transition.

At GFI Brazil, we invest in public-interest science and partnerships to ensure that the social, environmental, and economic benefits of alternative proteins are generated at home. By grounding this transition in local realities, Brazil helps advance global climate goals while strengthening food security, jobs, and resilience.

Margaret Badding, Policy Specialist, and Sarah Backer, Policy Associate at GFI

States across the country are stepping up to accelerate alternative protein innovation as part of broader efforts to drive economic growth, strengthen food security, and advance climate action—with Illinois and California leading the way. In 2026, GFI looks forward to continuing to support these states in unlocking sector growth through key policy initiatives, including R&D investments and commercialization support.

In 2025, Illinois cemented its role as a national leader in sustainable food innovation through the Illinois Alternative Protein Innovation Task Force. Led by State Senator Mattie Hunter and State Representative Mary Beth Canty, the Task Force released a landmark final report laying out a clear, actionable path for Illinois to become a global powerhouse in agriculture and biomanufacturing. As an official Task Force appointee, GFI helped shape the policy roadmap and convened Illinois industry leaders and other stakeholders to surface key insights on the opportunities—and barriers—facing the state.

Illinois is already home to 30 companies producing alternative protein products, and it is uniquely positioned to accelerate the sector’s growth by building on its strengths in agriculture, manufacturing, and a world-class research and innovation ecosystem. In 2026, we’re excited to help turn the Task Force’s roadmap into reality—working with partners across the state to advance R&D funding, strengthen support for UIUC’s Illinois Fermentation and Agriculture Biomanufacturing (iFAB) Tech Hub, and champion additional policies that will help scale commercialization, drive economic growth, and build a more sustainable and secure food system for Illinois.

We’re also seeing exciting policy momentum in California. Already a leader in sustainable protein innovation, the state is home to more than 150 companies and a robust research ecosystem driving technological breakthroughs—including at the University of California (UC), which was awarded $5 million in funding from the state in 2022 for alternative protein R&D. In May 2025, California further underscored this leadership with the launch of the California Assembly Select Committee on Alternative Protein Innovation, chaired by Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D–San José), a longtime champion of the sector.

The Select Committee offers a timely opportunity to educate and engage its 11 members—through hearings and company, lab, and processing facility site visits—on the promise of plant-based, fermentation-derived, and cultivated protein-rich foods, and on the policies best positioned to help this industry grow. To support this effort, GFI hosted an industry convening for California companies in July to gather input and inform recommendations to the Select Committee. Looking ahead to 2026, we are eager to build on this momentum by highlighting how sustainable food biotechnology can help valorize agricultural waste in California and support the UC Agriculture and Natural Resources’ Plant Innovation Center, a planned research campus in the Sacramento Valley focused on plant-based, fermentation, and cultivated food production.

Marika Azoff, Corporate Engagement Manager at GFI

Now more than ever, the alternative protein industry needs scaling models designed not just to test ideas, but to carry them through to real market impact. I’m excited to see and contribute to more sustained scaling partnerships in 2026, especially those built around clear commercialization pathways such as multi-year AP ingredient offtake commitments, shared pilot-to-production roadmaps, and early alignment between buyers, manufacturers, and investors.

At the heart of this excitement is a growing recognition that no single organization or technology will shift our food systems alone. True industry progress depends on collaborations that persist through pilots and into commercialization, bringing together strategic buyers, financiers, infrastructure providers, and innovators to share risk and align on incentives. When partnerships are designed with long-term pathways in mind, emerging technologies are far more likely to move beyond proof-of-concept toward meaningful economic and environmental impact. This kind of coordinated momentum is what will transform alternative proteins from an emerging category into a foundational part of the global food system.

Ryan Huling, Senior Writer at GFI APAC

“Biomanufacturing”—producing food or ingredients through controlled biological processes, as compared to traditional agriculture—will emerge as a national priority in countries across APAC this year. Already in these first few weeks of 2026, new novel-food plans are coming fast and furious out of China, and all indicators suggest that biomanufacturing will be a major theme of this year’s all-important “Two Sessions” government summit in March, when a new national five-year plan will be unveiled. These signals suggest that the same R&D-to-mass-production pipeline that made China a low-cost solar powerhouse could soon transform the planet’s largest importer of soy, corn, dairy, and meat into the dominant producer of “future foods.”

South Korea has similarly prioritized protein innovation through its recent enactment of the Food Tech Industry Promotion Act, which aims to integrate the food industry with cutting-edge technologies. This initiative is designed to stimulate job creation and bolster the national economy, and the Enforcement Rule of the Act explicitly includes all three pillars of alternative protein technologies—plant-based, fermentation-derived, and cultivated—thanks to input from GFI.

We expect these forward-thinking government efforts—along with those of Australia and other innovation hubs—to be complemented by strategic public-private-philanthropic investments in scaling up regional manufacturing capacity, similar to existing programs used to ramp up clean energy development. A recent UN report showed that food and fossil fuel production are collectively causing $5 billion of environmental damage every hour, which has helped move many climate funders off the fence and shifted the public conversation from “Should we?” to “OK, but how?” Thankfully, GFI APAC experts are bringing together key stakeholders to answer that exact question.

Samantha Riches, PhD, Senior Associate Director, Research Funding at GFI

Since its launch in 2018, GFI’s Research Grant Program has provided more than $24 million to support innovative alternative protein research around the world. That investment has already catalyzed over $75 million in follow-on funding, signaling growing confidence in the field from major public and private funders alike. These grants have helped push science forward in tangible ways. Our grantees have published more than 165 scientific papers, filed at least 40 patent applications, and shared their findings widely to accelerate knowledge transfer across the alternative protein research ecosystem. My team and I are excited to see how grantees continue tackling the field’s most persistent technical bottlenecks and how those solutions translate into faster, shared progress across the sector.

That momentum will be amplified in 2026 through a growing focus on partnerships and collaboration. We are thrilled to partner with the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) to fund pre-competitive research to improve the taste of plant-based and fermentation-enabled proteins. This effort underscores how collaboration can magnify impact in building a more sustainable, secure, and healthy food system. Alongside this joint program with FFAR, we are also excited for the launch of our flagship Field Catalyst program this year. These grants have already sparked international collaborations, and we are eager to see how the global research community continues to band together in 2026 to advance alternative protein science worldwide.

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