This is where the magic happens

There’s nothing like the smell of fresh-baked bread in the morning. Here at Solar Foods we have been smelling – and tasting – our first bread, packed with protein made out of thin air. We’re fond of saying that science is like magic – only real. When that loaf of bread comes out of the oven, we feel like we are living that magic.

This magic moment comes courtesy of our food laboratory and test kitchen, which are presently being built. Our kitchen operations are not fully ready to go yet, but as the range of food test products demonstrate, we are certainly getting there.

At the same time, building up our food lab and test kitchen offers stern proof that our faith in possibilism has not been in vain: we are continuing to make something out of nothing, pushing the envelope in any way we can.

Disconnecting protein production from agriculture is one big task, but we do not feel daunted by it. Instead, we feel deeply empowered by it.

For a startup company founded in 2017, a whole lot of things have happened during the last couple of years – and fast. Freeing society from the shackles of conventional food production has been a much-needed message in the world today, and we have been struggling to meet the staggering amount of interview requests from international media.

As a result, Solar Foods has enjoyed simply amazing global exposure during the last 12 months. According to our media monitoring service, our message has reached as many as 2,5 billion people around the world.

In addition, we’ve been fortunate enough to secure the monetary means to continue our work: Last autumn, we raised € 3.5 million from four investors – Fazer Group, Holdix Oy Ab, Turret Oy Ab, and Lifeline Ventures – and feel confident that we’re in a great position to keep exploring, working diligently towards the commercial application.

Our team has also succeeded in making some top-notch recruiting. We’ve added experts with backgrounds in e.g. Food Chemistry, Bio Process Engineering and Brand Development. We all share the fervent belief that with innovation and technology, there are no barriers we can’t break.

However, while conquering the world, you have to learn to pace yourself. Before the actual go-to-market factory investment, we’re looking to set up a demonstration factory. Come autumn, we will be able to tell you more about this demonstrator.

A standard magician’s trick is pulling a rabbit out of a hat. For us, however, pulling that bread out of the oven was a bit more meaningful.

PS. As I’m writing this, COVID-19 has turned the world upside down – and the fight continues. I’m confident that science will play a big part in overcoming this huge challenge, too.