Is the world’s biggest pork consumer ready for substitutes, as African swine fever burns a path through China’s hog herds?
- The Chicago-based biotech start-up says its alternative protein product can help fill the supply gap caused by deadly porcine virus outbreak in China
- Start-up has won backing from tech fund started by Bill Gates, and attracted former Kraft Foods chief executive Tony Vernon to its board
Chicago-based Sustainable Bioproducts could provide a substitute protein to help China cope with pork shortages as a virus threatens to halve the nation’s hog industry this year, according to two board members at the start-up.
Tony Vernon, former chief executive of Kraft Foods who joined the company’s board this week, said the recent African swine fever epidemic has highlighted the role that alternative protein technology could play in resolving the unfolding food crisis.
“While the need for alternative protein technology is not confined to a single market, in a country like China, which already is facing a shortage of arable land and now must tackle both issues of the African swine fever epidemic and climate change, alternative protein has definitely a role to play there,” said Vernon.
Different from plant-based proteins, the company’s edible protein is derived from a fermentation technology based on extremophile organisms found in the Yellowstone National Park’s volcanic springs.
Vernon, who serves on the boards of several biotech start-ups, said Sustainable Bioproducts is open to launching their own brands or establishing partnerships with other food groups in the mainland.