Researchers and chefs in joint kitchen experiments

He offers the journalist and the photographer a sample, while group leader and former Noma chef Joshua David Evans takes the floor.

“What we have done is fermenting the beer grain with a fungus that breaks down the proteins and creates umami. We’re still early at the early development stage, but the example shows how some textured grain residue can be turned into a creamy, soft, meaty product,” he explains.

The chefs now have to turn up the flavour and manipulate the texture so it gets a toughness reminiscent of meat. Next, the product must be able to be chopped and fried to make it a recognizable alternative to minced beef, which has the potential to end up in consumers’ refrigerators.

“It’s easier to convince people to adopt new eating habits if the first step is gentle. We do not believe in lecturing people, nor are we saying that you cannot eat meat at all. The trick is to offer attractive alternatives, so people want to incorporate new eating habits that can supplement the old ones,” says Kim Wejendorp.

Diverse microorganisms

Many of the specific processes and methods developed in FoodLab are kept secret from the outside world. But overall, DTU Biosustain works with microorganisms in three main categories.

In the first, bacteria or yeast cells are used to start a fermentation process, where a vegetable ferments in its own lactic acid bacteria. In the second main category, the microorganisms are used to produce a food ingredient that can be used in other foods—this is called precision fermentation. Finally, you can develop foods that consist exclusively of microorganisms. This is called microbial biomass and could, for example, be a fungus that grows in a bioreactor. A bioreactor is a large steel tank like the ones used for beer brewing.

The common denominator for the three categories is that researchers are constantly looking for new ways to produce food in a more sustainable way.

“One of the reasons why it is more sustainable to produce microbial foods than animal foods is that microorganisms are better than animals at converting nutrients into biomass. As a rule of thumb, an animal must eat 10 kilos of food to make one kilo of meat. For the microorganisms, it is much, much less,” explains Morten Sommer, Scientific Director at DTU Biosustain.

CO2 reduction of up to 80 per cent

Morten Sommer refers to studies that show that the CO2 footprint from food production could be reduced by up to 80 per cent if all animal production is completely converted to microbial production. Part of the explanation is that conventional agriculture will no longer be a necessity for producing food. Instead, new unexplored production opportunities may arise.

“The interesting thing in relation to production with microorganisms is that they can live on almost anything. If you go for a walk in the woods, you often come across some mushrooms that grow on a fallen tree that is rotting. In principle, this process can be used to grow microbial biomass. It’s not something we have tried yet, but the opportunities are there,” says Morten Sommer.

Nevertheless, there are also a number of challenges that prevent the development. Especially the complexity of having to change consumers’ ingrained eating habits.

“It’s extremely important that we translate our discoveries in the laboratory into something that is delicious and inviting to eat. Otherwise, we don’t stand a chance. Food should be inviting when it comes to both appearance, taste, texture, and smell. So there is a direct interaction between the things we discover in the lab and the things that are created in the FoodLab by Joshua and Kim. They use their culinary craft to translate the research into real proposals for the products of the future,” says Morten Sommer.

The road to the supermarket

A fizzing soda sound sets the stage in FoodLab for the last taste of the day.

Prior to this, they have sampled the kebab-like protein bites, noodles made from leftover fish, and a soy-like liquid made from excess bran from wheat grains. Champagne glasses are now filled with a bubbly tonic water made from fermented endive root.

“This tonic was created through many experiments with different fermentations. We ended up with this super citrusy, aromatic scent, and we thought: Wow, this smells exactly like tonic. So we made a lot of tonic water from it and we do believe it’s very tasty. At the same time, we gain new value from the approximately 800,000 tonnes of Christmas lettuce that end up as compost in Europe every year,” says Kim Wejendorp.

While he speaks, the glasses are emptied, leaving the impression of a high innovation level and several food offers that seem ready to be marketed. Some of the prototypes have already been presented to potential buyers in the industry, who are now in the process of investigating the production possibilities.

Unknown time frame

However, the time frame for when the products can be purchased in the supermarket is unknown.

“Honestly, we don’t know how long it will take. Maybe years. It depends on how good the companies’ existing logistics systems are at accommodating the requirements of the new product. If the production requires a new setup with a new logistics system and perhaps some new machines, it will most likely take a long time,” says Joshua David Evans.

So when the group come up with a new, creative idea, they always ask themselves the same question:

“Is it scalable? If the answer is no, the idea will not move forward, even though it could be fun. At the end of the day, the point of this is to feed as many people as possible,” says Joshua David Evans.