ENOUGH announces the completion of its Flagship facility to add game-changing additional capacity to the protein market. Exactly one year after breaking ground, food tech company ENOUGH (formerly 3F BIO) celebrates the completion of the construction phase of one of the world’s largest protein facilities in Sas van Gent.
Livestock farming represents 15% of all GHG emissions and with protein consumption forecast to double in the next 30 years, a protein transition is crucial to meet the protein gap sustainably. Producing vast quantities of delicious, nutritious and SUSTAINABLE protein is one of the most urgent global priorities, and relative to other companies in this sector ENOUGH’s focus is on adding capacity to support the pace and scale of the required protein transition. With initial capacity to produce 10,000 tonnes (22 million pounds) per annum from Q4 2022, the 15,000 square metre (160,000 square feet) facility is co-located alongside the Cargill facility in Sas van Gent in the Netherlands. The location and collaboration with Cargill ensures the most efficient feed source and supports the zero-waste advantages of ENOUGH’s product.
ENOUGH’s plans target 60,000 tonnes of capacity by 2027, equivalent to growing one cow’s worth of protein every two minutes. This is wholly aligned with the development of the Circular Economy and the new facility has been supported by the circular Bio Based Europe Joint Undertaking CBE JU with receipt of €16.9 million of EU funding as part of project Plenitude which involves partners from the full value chain.
Jim Laird, CEO of ENOUGH said “ENOUGH’s aim is to grow capacity for sustainable non-animal protein sources in line with needs of the market. There are multiple forecasts about the pace of potential market growth and at this time the constraint on growth is a supply chain challenge of providing high quality protein sources at scale that can make delicious foods.”
ENOUGH grow ABUNDA® mycoprotein by fermenting fungi using renewable feedstocks to make the most sustainable source of food protein. The role of fermentation as an advantaged means of growing protein to meet the needs of a growing global population has been increasingly highlighted. The World Economic Forum quotes: “Fermentation presents an opportunity to fundamentally change the way the world eats and improve global human and environmental health and the economy.”
ENOUGH’s process is readily scalable to use any locally grown feedstock and the company’s medium term goal is to grow over 1 million tonnes cumulatively by 2032. To do so will require over 300k tonnes of annual capacity and ENOUGH anticipate that this will be in a minimum of 3 locations, close to both feedstocks and consumers.
The impact from switching 1M tonnes from animal sources to ABUNDA is the equivalent of replacing 5 million cows, or over 1.2 billion chickens, and reducing more than 6 million tonnes of CO2 emissions or the equivalent of planting >30 million trees.
Andrew Beasley, Commercial Director of ENOUGH said “As a B2B supplier of a nutritious whole food ingredient, rich in protein and fibre, we support food companies to produce not only delicious and sustainable foods, but healthy and nutritious too. This is fundamental to the continued growth of the sector, permitting the switch to non-animal proteins. The use of minimal processes and short ingredient lists will give confidence to businesses, retailers and consumers alike and is important to the further growth of the sector.”
Nicoló Giacomuzzi-Moore, CBE JU Executive Director attended the ribbon-cutting event to commemorate this key chapter of ENOUGH and Plenitude: “Today’s inauguration of Plenitude’s plant demonstrates Europe’s leading role in supporting bio-based innovations in the world. The ABUNDA mycoprotein produced in PLENITUDE’s first-of-its-kind facility uses a zero-waste process to offer consumers a sustainable and affordable meat alternative, while taking pressure off ecosystems and natural resources. The CBE JU support to this project has helped to reduce capital costs and boost technological efficiency of the plant. I would like to congratulate ENOUGH and the project partners with this important milestone and thank them for their contribution to the local economy and EU’s climate targets. We look forward to continuing supporting the consortium in this key endeavour”.
ENOUGH’s vision is fully aligned with consumers desires to shift towards a more sustainable diet. The plant built in the Netherlands also supports the Dutch Government’s National Protein Strategy and its efforts to cultivate alternative protein sources, including microbial proteins and cultured meat.
ENOUGH also contributes to green job creation in the region as it currently employs 30 people directly and many more in the supply chain, with significant expansion plans.
Franck Monmont, Managing Director for Cargill’s Starches, Sweeteners and Texturizers business in Europe added: “As global demand for protein continues to rise, this collaboration with ENOUGH serves as another avenue to help realize our mission of nourishing the world in a safe, responsible and sustainable way. At Cargill, we are committed to bringing alternative and traditional protein source options to the table. We see ENOUGH’s mycoprotein as a valuable and sustainable alternative source of protein and are looking forward to our collaboration in the years to come.”
Sustainable Leadership and Partnerships
As a sustainable food ingredient company, ENOUGH believes that to address the urgent need for large scale volumes of healthy and sustainable protein via collaboration.
- As part of this we look forward to participating at COP27 in November of this year, where ENOUGH will be one of 4 food companies supporting the first ever food pavilion at a COP.
- We will also be participating at SIAL Paris in October, Plant Based World London in November and Food Ingredients Europe in December.
Building on the announcement today, ENOUGH will be in a position to commence first sales from December of this year and thank all our current and potential commercial partners for their support.