Upcycled protein and fibre is produced from existing food crops or food-grade agricultural side-streams that would otherwise be underutilised, wasted, or downgraded in value.

#1 We use food-grade brassica crops already grown for human consumption.

#2 We recover nutritional value (protein, fibre, micronutrients) from parts of the crop that are typically left in the field or diverted to low-value uses.

#3 We apply mechanical and physical processing, not genetic modification or synthetic biology.

#4 Consumer acceptance risk is significantly lower as they already understand and accept vegetables, particularly broccoli, as a nutritious fibre-rich food.

Adopting upcycled protein and fibre allows manufacturers to improve nutrition, reduce cost pressure, and cut Scope 3 emissions without changing consumer expectations or regulatory pathways.

As a result, we can deliver a deployable, scalable ingredient solution that is available now and designed for fast QA onboarding. Crucially, bringing together the 'technology stack' to integrate the supply chain gives defensibility of pricing and margins, and in an industry under huge economic pressures "commercial first, innovation second" is often the reality.

Functional unit: 1 kg ingredient

Boundary: Cradle-to-gate

Result: <0.25 kg CO₂e/kg

Assessor: UK Agri-Tech Centre (independent)

Status: Interim, to be refreshed post-BRCGS

Exclusions: methane avoidance, end-of-life

An independent LCA evidences the positive environmental impact

From a food manufacturer’s perspective, upcycled protein behaves like a conventional plant ingredient but - with a lower environmental footprint and greater resource efficiency

In upcycling, supply chain and cost risk are easier to manage as there is no dependence on bespoke fermentation capacity or sterile environments, no exposure to exotic feedstocks or inputs, and the scaling economics are more predictable.

Significantly:

1. Upcycled protein is not lab-grown or cell-cultured

2. Upcycled protein is not genetically modified

3. Upcycled protein does not require any novel organisms

4. Upcycled protein is not a synthetic or chemically engineered protein

The greater regulatory certainty of upcycled protein relative to "frontier Alt-protein" allows shorter qualification timelines, standard supplier approval processes (HACCP, BRCGS), specifications and fewer unknowns when scaling across regions.

Crucially upcycled proteins are not gated by binary regulatory outcomes which can have long and variable approval cycles. As a result, we offer a deployable, scalable ingredient solution that is available now. Upcycling is the fastest way to put sustainable protein and fibre into existing products with the lowest label risk.