The three brothers who founded Brevel, a five-year old Israeli company that's developed a new way to grow microalgae, believe that their goop could be the future of food.
The nutrient-dense, protein-rich algae that Brevel's system grows use less water and less land than the peas and soybeans that provide the nutrients for most meat alternatives on the market, according to company co-founder Yonatan Golan.
"With a single system of ours we can produce more protein than 14,000 square meters of soy," Golan 'said. "We are already at industrial scales. We’re now just in the process of building the first commercial factory here in Israel."
The protein industry is huge. Companies like Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods, and most of the other plant-based meat alternative manufacturers depend on a mix of beans, peas and soy to make their tasty tasty meat-free food. The problem is that climate change is making farming more difficult and constrained resources mean that we need to find alternative ways to grow the nutrients we need.
Enter Brevel. The company has found a way to combine the efficiency of outdoor growing with the productivity of indoor fermentation methods to create microalgae that can provide more than just protein.
"The challenge with doing what we do with fermentation and light is that if you want to add sugar to that process, you need to work in a completely sterile environment," said Golan. "Having a high concentration of light inside the reactor means that you have a very high risk of contamination. No one has been able to do it beyond lab scales… my brother had to develop specific elements that enable cleaning and sterilizing the reactor… without human intervention... This is where we have our patents… specific valves and elements that enable efficient cleaning and sterilization."
And the additional products -- high value emulsifiers and pigments -- that Brevel can harvest from its microalgae mean that it can sell proteins at a similar cost to the company's competitors, according to Golan.
"The technology enables us to sell protein at cost levels and make all of the profits from these complimentary fractions," Golan said. "This is how adding light -- which should increase the cost -- enables us to produce more from the same microalgae."
Since the company's working at cost parity already, the question is how quickly it can build up its operations.
To help, investors like FoodHack, Good Startup VC, Tet Ventures and Nevateam Ventures, have poured $8.4 million into the company so it can grow.
The company's first commercial factory can make about 120 tons of protein per year, and that's used in everything from cheese, yogurt, milk, and egg alternatives, Golan said.
"We believe that we can expand and provide additional functionalities that can provide functional properties for fish proteins and seafood proteins," Golan said. "At the moment we’re solving the protein content for ingredients that need a mild protein input. Several years from now this is when micro-algae will be able protein produced for a land area and for greenhouse gas emissions."
For Golan and his brothers, Matan and Ido, the mission is a personal one. Matan, a doctor, was worried about human health and the ability to make proteins at scale to the feed the world. Ido, an engineer, spent years working in the micro-algae space designing growing facilities for some of Israel's largest producers.
"I’ve been vegan for the past 11 years… and both from a moral standpoint and the fact that have three small children who are also vegan and i’m very concerned about what the world will look like for them when they grow up and what they’ll be able to eat," Golan said. "I’m also a physicist i came from a pragmatic perspective… When I was most worried about these concerns my brother came up with the idea with a leapfrog in technology development."
The innovation has implications for life beyond this planet's boundaries as well, according to Golan.
When we cololonize mars, we will not grow potatoes ro rice or corn," Golan said. "This is the most efficient food source… NASA has been experimenting with micro-algae since the 60s. [And] if it’s the most resource efficient for Mars it will be the most efficient on Earth as well."
Ndugu watatu walianzisha Brevel, kampuni ya Israeli ya miaka mitano ambayo imebuni njia mpya ya kukuza microalgae, wanaamini kuwa goop yao inaweza kuwa siku zijazo za chakula. "Algae yenye protini nyingi na yenye virutubisho vingi ambayo mfumo wa Brevel unakua hutumia maji kidogo na ardhi kidogo kuliko maharagwe na maharagwe ya soya ambayo hutoa virutubisho kwa mbadala nyingi za nyama kwenye soko, ""alisema mwanzilishi mwenza wa kampuni Yonatan Golan." "Kwa mfumo wetu mmoja tu tunaweza kuzalisha protini nyingi kuliko mita za mraba 14,000 za soya, ""Golan alisema." "Tumekuwa tayari katika viwango vya viwanda. Sasa tuko katika mchakato wa kujenga kiwanda cha kwanza cha kibiashara hapa Israeli". Sekta ya protini ni kubwa sana. Kampuni kama vile Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods, na wengi wa wengine wa mimea-msingi nyama mbadala wazalishaji kutegemea mchanganyiko wa maharagwe, maharagwe na soya kufanya yao ladha ladha nyama-free chakula. "Tatizo ni kwamba mabadiliko ya hali ya hewa yanafanya kilimo kuwa kigumu zaidi na rasilimali zilizopunguzwa zinamaanisha tunahitaji kutafuta njia mbadala za kukuza virutubisho tunavyohitaji. """ Kuingia Brevel. Kampuni hiyo imepata njia ya kuchanganya ufanisi wa kukuza nje na uzalishaji wa mbinu za uchemchemi wa ndani ili kuunda microalgae ambayo inaweza kutoa zaidi ya protini tu. "Uchunguzi wa ""kufanya kile tunachofanya na uchemchemi na mwanga ni kwamba ikiwa unataka kuongeza sukari kwenye mchakato huo, unahitaji kufanya kazi katika mazingira yasiyo na sumu kabisa,"" alisema Golan." "Kuwa na mkusanyiko mkubwa wa mwanga ndani ya kichocheo humaanisha kwamba una hatari kubwa sana ya uchafuzi. Hakuna mtu amekuwa na uwezo wa kufanya hivyo zaidi ya mizani ya maabara... ndugu yangu alikuwa na kuendeleza vipengele maalum ambayo kuruhusu kusafisha na sterilizing reactor... bila uingiliaji wa binadamu... Hapa ndipo tuna patenti zetu... valves maalum na vipengele ambavyo huwezesha kusafisha na kutakasa kwa ufanisi". Kwa sababu ya bidhaa za ziada - emulsifiers na rangi zenye thamani kubwa - ambazo Brevel inaweza kuvuna kutoka kwa microalgae zake, inaweza kuuza protini kwa gharama sawa na washindani wa kampuni hiyo, kulingana na Golan. "Teknolojia hiyo inatuwezesha kuuza protini kwa viwango vya gharama na kupata faida zote kutoka kwa sehemu hizi za ziada", Golan alisema. "Hii ndiyo njia ya kuongeza nuru - ambayo inapaswa kuongeza gharama - inatuwezesha kutokeza zaidi kutoka kwa microalgae ileile". Kwa kuwa kampuni hiyo inafanya kazi kwa usawa wa gharama tayari, swali ni jinsi inavyoweza kujenga shughuli zake haraka. Wekezaji kama vile Good Startup, FoodHack, Tet Ventures na Nevateam Ventures wameweka $ 8.4 milioni katika kampuni hiyo ili iweze kukua. Kiwanda cha kwanza cha kibiashara cha kampuni hiyo kinaweza kutengeneza protini 120 kwa mwaka, na hiyo hutumiwa katika kila kitu kuanzia jibini, yoghurt, maziwa na mbadala za mayai. "Tunaamini kwamba tunaweza kupanua na kutoa utendaji wa ziada ambao unaweza kutoa mali ya kazi kwa protini za samaki na protini za samaki, ""Golan alisema." "Kwa sasa sisi ni kutatua maudhui ya protini kwa viungo kwamba haja ya kiasi kidogo cha protini. "Kama ilivyoelezwa hapo juu, algae ndogo zinaweza kutengeneza protini kwa eneo la ardhi na kwa uzalishaji wa gesi ya chafu.""" Kwa Golan na ndugu zake, Matan na Ido, utume huo ni wa kibinafsi. Matan, daktari, alikuwa na wasiwasi juu ya afya ya binadamu na uwezo wa kutengeneza protini kwa kiwango cha kulisha ulimwengu. Ido, mhandisi, alitumia miaka kadhaa akifanya kazi katika uwanja wa microalgae akibuni vifaa vya kukuza kwa baadhi ya wazalishaji wakubwa wa Israeli. """Nimekuwa vegan kwa miaka 11 iliyopita, na kwa mtazamo wa maadili na ukweli kwamba nina watoto watatu wadogo ambao pia ni vegan, na nina wasiwasi sana juu ya jinsi ulimwengu utaonekana kwao watakapoendelea kukua na nini wataweza kula,"" alisema Golan." "Mimi pia ni mwanafizikia mimi alikuja kutoka mtazamo pragmatic... Wakati mimi alikuwa zaidi wasiwasi kuhusu wasiwasi huu ndugu yangu alikuja na wazo na leapfrog katika maendeleo ya teknolojia. " Uvumbuzi huo una athari kwa maisha zaidi ya mipaka ya sayari hii pia, kulingana na Golan. """Tunapolima sayari ya Mars, hatutakuwa tukizalisha viazi, mchele au mahindi,"" alisema Golan." "Kama chanzo cha chakula cha kawaida cha NASA, algae ni ""mchanganyiko wa chakula cha kawaida"" na ""mchanganyiko wa chakula cha kawaida"" na ""mchanganyiko wa chakula cha kawaida"" na ""mchanganyiko wa chakula cha kawaida"" na ""mchanganyiko wa chakula cha kawaida.""" [Na] kama ni rasilimali ufanisi zaidi kwa ajili ya Mars itakuwa ufanisi zaidi juu ya Dunia pia. "