FAFFuture-Proof Microalgae-Based Foods

About the project

What FAF is trying to find out

Microalgae are often called the future of protein. FAF treats that as a claim to test, not to repeat. The project takes one strain approved for human consumption, Tetraselmis chuii, and follows it from photobioreactor to plate across seven food categories, recording what performs, what costs too much, and what needs reformulating before anyone will eat it twice.

Goals

  • Reproducible, cheaper biomass

    Cultivate T. chuii on food-grade side streams (dairy, brewery, seafood) to cut nutrient and water costs, with quality criteria other groups can repeat.

  • Functional ingredients

    Fractionate protein and omega-3 lipid streams through a low-solvent, low-energy biorefinery into characterised food ingredients.

  • Seven prototypes

    Fish analogues, algae caviar, functional beverages, freeze-dried snacks, cakes, chocolate and functional powders, developed to a defined technology readiness level.

  • Honest assessment

    Report nutrition, digestibility, safety, sensory acceptance, environmental footprint (LCA, S-LCA, LCC) and cost (TEA) against conventional baselines.

Structure

Six work packages, from strain to market.

  • WP1

    Sustainability, regulatory and techno-economic aspects

    Life-cycle and techno-economic analysis; regulatory guidance for microalgae as food.

  • WP2

    Bioactivity and cultivation optimisation

    Strain selection, media formulation on food-grade side streams, bioactivity and chemical profiling.

  • WP3

    Ingredient scale-up and biorefinery

    Green extraction, cascading fractionation into protein and lipid streams, pilot-scale demonstration.

  • WP4

    Food prototyping and consumer behaviour

    Seven prototypes formulated and iterated; nutritional, functional and consumer-acceptance testing.

  • WP5

    Communication, dissemination and exploitation

    Publications, stakeholder engagement, business cases, market entry.

  • WP6

    Project, ethics and data management

    Coordination, reporting, FAIR data management, ethics compliance.

Timeline

April 2026 to March 2029 (36 months)

  • Months 1 to 18

    Strain selection, cultivation on side streams, first biomass batches, green extraction routes.

  • Months 6 to 24

    Biorefinery fractionation; first food prototypes.

  • Months 12 to 30

    Prototype iteration with nutritional and sensory testing.

  • Months 12 to 36

    Life-cycle (LCA, S-LCA, LCC) and techno-economic assessment.

  • Months 18 to 36

    Business cases, publications, policy dialogue, exploitation.

Expected impact

FAF aims to deliver evidence a food producer can act on: process parameters, compositional data, sensory results and comparative sustainability figures for seven concrete product categories. Where microalgae are competitive, the project documents how. Where they are not, it documents that too: a negative result on a prototype is a saved investment for everyone downstream.