Alt-Protein & Precision Fermentation

Maple Leaf Foods Inc. will consolidate its U.S. plant protein production into a single Centre of Excellence in Indianapolis, winding down its Seattle and Turners Falls plants in phases through the fourth quarter of 2027. The move is part of the company's Fuel for Growth initiative, which aims to simplify its manufacturing footprint, enhance efficiency and support its plant protein brands more competitively. The consolidation update sits alongside Maple Leaf's recent first-quarter 2026 results, which showed CA$962.85 million in sales and CA$46.07 million in net income. Maple Leaf's narrative projects CA$5.6 billion in revenue and CA$467.3 million in earnings by 2028, requiring 4.2% yearly revenue growth and an earnings increase of about CA$372.7 million from CA$94.6 million today. Two fair value estimates from the Simply Wall St Community span CA$35.90 to CA$83.26, against a CA$35.90 fair value estimate that implies 45% upside to the current price.

Angel Yeast announced on September 24 that it has adjusted the Phase II project of the Baiyang Biotech Park implemented by its Yichang High-tech Zone subsidiary, raising the total investment from the original 797 million yuan to 1.061 billion yuan. The main purpose is to boost production capacity for annual yeast protein and co-products. The adjusted annual plan is for 12,000 tonnes of high-purity yeast protein and 32,000 tonnes of yeast protein and co-products. The project is expected to start construction within 2026, with an estimated return on investment of 10.74%. In the first half of 2026, Angel Yeast achieved revenue of 9.187 billion yuan and net profit attributable to the parent of 881 million yuan.

Angel Yeast announced on the evening of September 24 that it plans to issue convertible bonds to unspecified investors, raising total proceeds of no more than 3.5 billion yuan, with a par value of 100 yuan per bond and a term of six years. After deducting issuance expenses, the net proceeds will mainly go toward yeast protein capacity construction and technical research projects. Of this, 955 million yuan will go to Phase II of the Baiyang Biotechnology Park project in the Yichang High-tech Zone, 890 million yuan to the Yichang company's core yeast protein technology research project, 775 million yuan to a green manufacturing project with annual output of 20,000 tonnes of yeast products, 200 million yuan to a flexible intelligent manufacturing and supporting project with annual output of 60,000 tonnes of food ingredients, and 680 million yuan to supplement working capital. The company also released an expansion plan for Phase II of the Baiyang Biotechnology Park project, with total investment adjusted from 797 million yuan to 1.061 billion yuan. The planned green manufacturing project for 20,000 tonnes of yeast protein and co-products per year has been raised to 32,000 tonnes per year. The company currently has yeast protein capacity of about 16,000 tonnes, operating at full production and full sales. The 12,000-tonne annual capacity in Phase II of Baiyang Biotechnology Park is expected to be completed in 2027, and the 32,000-tonne annual capacity will be completed in 2028.

The Trade Policy and Strategy Office of the Ministry of Commerce disclosed that Japan has announced a draft long-term public and private investment plan through 2040, elevating the novel food industry to one of the country's strategic industries. This national plan aims to attract a total of more than 370 trillion yen, covering 17 strategic fields and 62 key products and technologies, ranging from artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum technology, biotechnology and clean energy to Food Tech, which is one of those 17 strategic fields. For the novel food industry specifically, Japan plans to allocate about 1 trillion yen in investment to push the market value to 3 trillion yen by 2040, from the current market value of 300 billion yen for alternative protein and 15 billion yen for functional foods. The government plans to establish a new budget category called Strong and Prosperous Japan with no spending ceiling and the ability to plan long-term budgets. Japan has chosen to build on its strengths in fermentation technology, functional foods and food formulation innovation rather than investing in cultivated meat, and has set a strategy to expand into the United States and Europe before entering Asian markets. Meanwhile, in 2025 Japan was Thailand's third-largest export market for agricultural and agro-industrial products, with export value of 5.08194 billion US dollars, or about 166.781 billion baht, although this was down 2.1% from the previous year. The director of the Trade Policy and Strategy Office stated that Japan's accelerated investment in the novel food industry is a golden opportunity for Thai operators to upgrade to become technology developers and producers of high-value food ingredients.

Jiangxi Fushine Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. announced that the company and its subsidiary Jiangxi Fushine Biotechnology Co., Ltd. have obtained an invention patent certificate issued by the Japan Patent Office. The invention is titled "Application of Fusarium oxysporum in the Production of Mycelial Protein," with Japanese patent number 7881733, a grant date of June 19, 2026, and a patent term of 20 years. The company stated that it has become the first enterprise in China to achieve thousand-ton-scale industrialization of filamentous fungal protein, and that the technology related to its proprietary strain Fusarium oxysporum has reached an internationally advanced level overall. The technology had previously been granted invention patents in China, South Korea, and the United States. This Japanese patent represents important progress in the company's international strategic layout for its microbial protein business and will provide a technical barrier for the entry of its Weiran brand protein products into the Japanese market. The patent has already been applied to existing production lines and is not expected to have a significant impact on near-term performance, but it holds positive strategic significance for long-term business development.

BSF Enterprise shares soared 56.5% to 1.33 pence after the tissue engineering company agreed outline terms for a joint venture to sell its lab-grown leather into the American luxury market. The London-listed group signed non-binding heads of terms with US brand operator IMPOSTER to form a 50/50 venture, with BSF contributing technology licensing and material supply while IMPOSTER provides operational funding of between 500,000 and 1 million dollars drawn from a planned 3.5 million dollar growth capital raise. Full commercial exclusivity for the venture only activates once that funding is received. The venture will focus on small luxury items such as bag charms, keyrings, desk accessories, equestrian goods, and a limited run of bespoke handbags and wallets, while BSF retains all intellectual property and commercial rights in higher-volume categories including mainline footwear, apparel, automotive interiors, and mass-market handbags. BSF is targeting three revenue streams: a gross margin of 25 to 35 percent on raw material transfers, a royalty of 3 to 7 percent on net sales, and half of any venture profits.

AMSilk and Ajinomoto Foods Europe have entered into a long-term manufacturing and supply agreement to enable dedicated, large-scale production of silk proteins. Under the deal, AFE will establish a dedicated production line at its Nesle, France biomanufacturing site, based on 160 m³ fermentation reactor capacity and customized downstream processing. The setup involves a multi-million joint investment in equipment and facility upgrades, and at full performance is expected to reach commercial production volumes of industrial-grade silk protein. The agreement also provides a framework for future expansion of precision fermentation capacity, supporting AMSilk’s ability to meet growing demand across textiles, automotive, and consumer care applications.