Thijs Bosch is the CEO of The Protein Brewery, a Dutch food ingredients innovator pioneering sustainable nutrition through biomass fermentation. He has 20+ years of experience in the food ingredients and protein markets, previously in executive positions at Fonterra and Cosun. He brings unique expertise in the sports and active nutrition market to help their hero ingredient, Fermotein®, take a share of the $38 billion USD global opportunity.
From R&D to Commercial Scale
Joining The Protein Brewery was a unique opportunity to work with food technology that meaningfully improves human nutrition and environmental impact. When I was the managing director at Cosun Protein, I saw the potential of plant-based proteins in linking health directly to sustainability and wanted to bring this further with Fermotein®, our mycoprotein powder, which has nutritional and efficiency properties only found in the fungi kingdom.
We have achieved a lot in the past six months. We pivoted the company from an R&D-driven organisation into a specialty food ingredients company. That shift required more commercial discipline and product development anchored in science-backed nutrition. We repositioned Fermotein® for active nutrition and longevity by letting the ingredient’s desirability speak for itself.
Commercially, we secured a number of U.S. customers who will take our entire 2026 supply. On the regulatory front, we achieved a significant milestone with a positive EFSA safety opinion, and we expect a no-questions letter from the FDA in Q1 2026. We also secured a €500,000 EIT grant to advance scientific studies on the health effects of Fermotein®. It is a nutritious mycoprotein powder produced through natural fermentation and minimally processed. Compositionally, it’s 50% protein (PDCAAS of 1), 30% prebiotic fiber and a rich source of essential micronutrients—plus unique bioactives.
The Protein Brewery was founded in 2020 in response to two converging challenges. The first is an aging population: by 2050, nearly 10 billion people will live on the planet, and 20% will be over 60. As people age, their need for nutrient-dense, high-quality protein increases, yet many rely on animal protein as their primary source. Mycoprotein provides an alternative with high nutrient density, with the health benefits of a plant-based diet.
By growing mycoproteins, we can deliver high-quality nutrition with less strain on agriculture, while supporting longevity, performance and sustainability more practically.
The second is sustainability, especially as it relates to food security and resource utilization. Our biomass fermentation process is designed for efficiency: high yields per square meter of land, low water use, and integrated heat and energy recovery. Our screening LCA shows that Fermotein® has, at scale, a substantially lower CO₂ footprint than dairy proteins. As we scale, efficiency and footprint further improve. By growing mycoproteins, we are able to decouple high-quality nutrition from the intensity of traditional agriculture.
Response Driven by Bioactives and Taste
The response is positive, especially from customers building next-gen nutrition products. They’re excited about our bioactives and natural, whole-food profile. One that is getting attention is spermidine, which occurs naturally in our fungal strain at concentrations that could make Fermotein® one of the richest natural food sources of spermidine. This bioactive is studied in longevity science as an activator of autophagy. Spermidine is linked to the body’s cellular clean-up process that supports long-term healthy function in the brain, muscle, gut, and other tissues.
Consumers trying Fermotein® like its neutral, smooth taste with the idea of all-in-one nutrition in a minimally processed ingredient and the potential to support healthy aging.
Fermotein® is versatile. We have co-developed strong applications in active nutrition, dairy alternatives and betterfor-you foods. But our immediate focus is active nutrition, particularly ready-to-mix powders and supplements. The product development cycles are shorter here, and their consumers are looking for all-in-one ingredients that support longevity, gut health, weight management, and performance. Fermotein® is naturally aligned with these consumer needs.
An industry shift is that consumers are moving away from plant-based “meat swaps” towards nutrient-dense whole foods backed by science. That’s why fungi are gaining traction; they open an entirely new category within active nutrition.
Longevity is also a significant trend, driven by nutrition and medicine that deliver solutions at the cellular level. Protein remains essential, especially as we increasingly view muscle as “the organ of longevity.” Gut health continues to grow on the back of the #FiberMaxxing movement, and fiber remains the macro most people under-consume. And weight-management demand is accelerating with GLP-1 adoption and government support. All these trends link directly to what Fermotein® provides.
Scaling a novel food technology takes longer than people expect. Efficiently operating a commercial plant, regulatory approvals and capacity expansion require patient capital and partners who understand that timing is part of the journey. We were fortunate to bring in InvestNL and BOM during our Series B, both of whom invest with a long-term regional impact mindset. Internally, our challenge is to optimise our operations and supply chain, reach our 600- MT nameplate capacity by 2027, and expand to 2,500 MT beyond that. These milestones are essential for cost competitiveness and broader market access.
