Europe’s alternative protein research sector is growing rapidly, with new figures showing just how much investment and expertise is now behind the transition towards new food products.
According to a 2026 analysis from the Good Food Institute Europe (GFI Europe), European funders invested €1.3 billion in alternative protein research between 2020 and 2025, including €236 million in 2025 alone.
Plant-based proteins received the largest share of this investment, accounting for 44% of research funding across Europe.
For the Plant Power Project, these figures point to an important opportunity. Europe is building an increasingly strong research base around plant-based food. The next challenge is ensuring that this knowledge can be translated into practical innovation, particularly for the SMEs that will help bring new products to consumers.
Investment is only one part of the story.
Between 2020 and 2025, European researchers contributed to 3,783 publications related to alternative proteins, with annual publication numbers increasing from 284 in 2020 to 1,094 in 2025. Plant-based proteins accounted for around 66% of these publications.
European innovators have also been increasingly active in developing new technologies, with thousands of alternative protein patents published over the past decade.
Together, these figures show a sector generating significant amounts of new knowledge around ingredients, processing, nutrition, technology and product development.
But research alone does not put a new product on a supermarket shelf.
For food SMEs, accessing and applying new research can be difficult.
Smaller businesses may not have dedicated research teams or the resources available to large food manufacturers. Developing a successful plant-based product also requires businesses to consider much more than the underlying technology.
They need to understand areas such as:
This creates an important need for knowledge transfer between researchers, educators and businesses.
GFI Europe itself highlights the importance of continued investment and greater collaboration if Europe is to make full use of its growing alternative protein research ecosystem.
The potential market opportunity is also significant.
Separate research supported by GFI Europe estimates that, with the right investment and policy support, alternative proteins could contribute €111 billion annually to the EU economy by 2040 and support around 414,000 jobs across areas including agriculture, science, manufacturing and logistics.
The analysis also suggests that increased demand for plant-based foods could create new markets for European crops including peas, fava beans, lentils and chickpeas.
For SMEs, this means plant-based innovation is not only a sustainability issue. It represents an emerging area for new products, new skills and new business opportunities.
This is where initiatives such as Plant Power have an important role.
Plant Power supports food SMEs in developing practical skills in plant-based product innovation, sustainability and entrepreneurship, while also providing VET educators with resources they can use to bring these topics into training and education.
The project’s resources include a Good Practice Guide to Plant-Based Food Innovation, Open Educational Resources and a self-paced online course for SMEs.
By making knowledge more accessible, these resources can help bridge the gap between research and the everyday realities of developing and growing a food business.
Europe already has a strong and expanding research base. The opportunity now is to ensure that SMEs have the skills, confidence and support needed to put that knowledge into practice.
Research can drive innovation, but its real impact comes when good ideas become better products, stronger businesses and a more sustainable food system.
Explore the Plant Power resources:
https://plantpowerproject.eu/
Read the GFI Europe research:
https://gfieurope.org/resource/state-of-the-european-alternative-protein-research-ecosystem-funding-and-publications/
