SylPlant partners gathered all together for a kick-off meeting on June 14th, 2023.
The SylPlant project, which brings together 17 key European actors of the bioeconomy, was successfully launched in June 2023 in Paris. The kick-off meeting was the opportunity for the partners to meet in person and discuss the main tasks that will be managed over the next 3 years.
The project aims to build and operate Arbiom’s first of its kind factory to produce the new generation of sustainable protein-rich ingredients for food and feed applications. This flagship plant will reach an annual production of 10,000 tons of Yusto© (for food) and SylPro© (for feed), to meet the growing demand for natural, high-quality ingredients in the market.
The partners are spanning the entire food and feed value chain, ranging from feedstocks manufacturers to retailers. Applications will target various markets such as meat and dairy analogs for food, petfood and aquafeed for animal nutrition.
Duration: 36 months (2023 – 2026)
Total budget: € 23M
The project will last three years, from June 2023 to May 2026, and has a total budget cost of 23 million euros. SylPlant is funded with 14 million euros grant from the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU) under grant agreement No 101112555. CBE JU is a public-private partnership between the European Union and the Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC), an organization that connects large and small/medium enterprises, research institutions, universities and public and private bodies at European level involved in the development of the circular bioeconomy.
The primary objective of the SylPlant project is to establish a pioneering production plant near Lyon (France), to create proteins ingredients from different kinds of feedstocks. This entails the conversion of sustainable sugars, agricultural side streams, and wood by-products into sustainable, high-quality, and tasty protein-rich ingredients. The consortium aims to achieve the building of the plant to reach an annual production of 10,000 tons of ingredients.
Towards a sustainable protein production
This innovative approach to build the future of protein-rich ingredients production addresses several socio-environmental challenges:
- The growing demand for non-animal sourced protein in food products
- The current European Union protein importation: 3/4 of the animal feed protein resources needed are imported, which intensifies pressure on natural resources, and leads to significant greenhouse gas emissions.
The SylPlant project represents a significant step toward the shift from traditional protein to locally produced sustainable alternative proteins. This transition aims to reduce the EU’s reliance on imports. Ultimately, the SylPlant project has the objective to produce protein ingredients and derivatives with minimal environmental impact, thereby contributing to the local and European economy and enhancing competitiveness. It also seeks to promote public awareness and acceptance of bio-based solutions.
An ambitious flagship
SylPlant follows the successful Sylfeed project, a four-year project funded by the Bio-based Industry Joint Undertaking (BBI JU), in which Arbiom effectively scaled up its technology and demonstrated the value of its protein-rich ingredients.
With well-established products, this project coupled with the financial support from CBE JU, is a distinctive opportunity to shift from development and lay the foundation for large-scale industrial production under high-quality standards. This transition enables the ingredients to finally meet market demands. It therefore makes SylPlant a pivotal milestone in the process of bringing SylPro© and Yusto© to the market.
Interested by the project? Follow the SylPlant’s project LinkedIn page to stay tuned to its progress and receive updates on the latest developments.
