MicroHarvest has launched its pilot plant in Lisbon—enabling the company to produce single-cell protein samples. The official launch of the pilot is a milestone in MicroHarvest's mission to reshape the landscape of sustainable food production, the company says.

With the ability to operate beyond labscale in-house, the pilot plant is expected to accelerate MicroHarvest's journey toward commercialization and market availability. The plant will produce protein samples for customers, allowing the company to further hone its technology and test production runs before bringing them to commercial scale.

The pilot plant is located at the company’s Factory Lisbon site. In a span of six months, MicroHarvest says it transformed a portion of its office space into a laboratory and pilot plant. 

Luísa Cruz, CTO of MicroHarvest, says, "This pilot plant serves as tangible evidence of the scalability of our process. With a lower investment when compared to alternative technologies, and within a mere 200 square meters, we can achieve a daily production of 25kg." 

Simultaneously, after transferring the technology and scaling up production to reach daily outputs in tons, the team engaged a commercial production partner. 

Katelijne Bekers, CEO of MicroHarvest, comments, "Within just six months of opening our Lisbon office, our team has doubled in size, and we've achieved an impressive feat by constructing the pilot plant in record time—a truly remarkable journey. Within the next three months, we are on track to introduce our first product to the market. These milestones underscore our commitment to driving real impact by bringing commercially competitive, consistent, and sustainable ingredients to market fast."

MicroHarvest says its technology enables the sustainable production of protein ingredients containing more than 60% raw protein within 24 hours. The approach reportedly reduces resource consumption compared to conventional methods. The company intends to offer scalable and consistent protein solutions applicable across diverse sectors, including feed, pet food and human food.