Motif FoodWorks and Vectron Biosolutions partner on protein development

Motif FoodWorks, the Boston-based food technology company making plant-based food better tasting and more nutritious, has revealed a partnership with Vectron Biosolutions, a microbial strain development and protein production company. Building upon their existing partnership, the two companies will work together to develop the next generation of animal-free proteins through precision fermentation.

Motif will use Vectron’s deep expertise in strain development and their proprietary gene expression technologies to create food technologies that improve the taste and texture of dairy alternatives, as well as to improve the nutrition levels of plant-based foods. These projects are the result of the companies’ ongoing work over the past two years.

“Precision fermentation has the capability to create better tasting, more sustainable food-tech that can radically change plant-based foods for the better,” said Dr Philippe Prochasson, Vice President of Biosciences & Analytics at Motif FoodWorks. “We’ve been impressed with Vectron’s cutting-edge capabilities, including their unique expression systems, and look forward to exploring new ways to create breakthrough animal-free proteins together.”

Vectron’s precision fermentation system, which includes bioinformatics tools for protein discovery and engineering as well as an evolutionary approach to strain development, adds another impactful method for Motif’s range of food-tech products. Motif is 'platform agnostic' when it comes to the creation of its products. This means that some of its food-tech, like HEMAMI, is produced through precision fermentation. Although other products, such as its alternative meat texture enhancer APPETEX, are created through innovations in platform areas like materials science that are non-precision fermentation based.

“Collaborating with Motif as they create the next wave of alternative proteins has opened doors for Vectron,” added Trond Erik Vee Aune, CEO of Vectron Biosolutions. “Our company has historically been focused on the pharmaceutical space, so breaking into the food sector with Motif has been a welcome – and tasty – change.”