Fi Europe names 2026 Innovation Award finalists including alternative protein prize

Fi Europe announces 25 finalists across eight categories for its 2026 Innovation Awards, including the first-ever Alternative Protein Innovation Award. Winners will be announced in November at the trade show in Frankfurt, highlighting industry innovation in alternative proteins.

Fi Europe has shortlisted 25 entries across eight categories for its 2026 Innovation Awards, including the first finalists for a new Alternative Protein Innovation Award. Winners will be announced on 17 November in the Harmonie Hall at Messe Frankfurt, on the opening day of the trade show. A panel of 11 industry experts led by Professor Colin Dennis, Chair of the Board of Trustees at IFIS Ltd, selected the finalists from 133 submissions. Organiser Informa Markets said the new category was added because plants, fungi, algae, microbes and insects are becoming more important as protein sources. Bunge is shortlisted in the new category for PurePro, a soy protein concentrate. dsm-firmenich is shortlisted for Vertis TVPs with ModulaSENSE, which Fi Europe describes as texturised pea proteins with taste modulation built in during extrusion. Lallemand Bio-Ingredients completes the category with Engevita HiPRO Beyond, a baker’s yeast protein that the company entered in last year’s Dairy Alternative category. Australian company Nourish Ingredients is a Dairy Alternative finalist for Creamilux, a precision-fermented dairy lipid it recently produced in a 10-tonne run with SD Guthrie International. KWS SAAT’s Proteomex platform is the other finalist in that category. The Pet Food & Nutrition shortlist includes Czech company BeneMeat for Coolty Meat, a wet dog food developed with Italian brand FORZA10 that contains 26% cultivated meat. ADM, with its PRIOME Oral Care postbiotic, and BENEO, with BeneoFeed FB P60, complete the category. In Future Foodtech, Spanish company MOA Foodtech was selected for converting byproducts into functional ingredients through fermentation, shortly after closing a €3.3M round. It competes against Arborea, whose BioSolar Leaf system grows microalgae from sunlight and carbon dioxide, Ferm Labs with its AI-supported bioprocessing, and dsm-firmenich’s Maxiren EVO. Plant-based, health and sustainability shortlists The Plant-based Innovation Award has four finalists: GNT Group for a process that stabilises spirulina to produce natural blue colours for beverages Roquette for a product that has not yet launched Roquette is also a Sustainability finalist for a project to cut transport emissions across the food value chain. The other Sustainability finalists are: Tereos for Cultivate Net Zero, its range of low-carbon and regenerative agriculture ingredients LÍPIDOS SANTIGA for a responsible coconut oil sourcing project Beyond Oil for a food-grade technology that manages frying oil in foodservice kitchens Health Innovation Award finalists are Botanic Healthcare (CornFit), FrieslandCampina Ingredients and Wecare Probiotics, the last for its Weizmannia coagulans BC99 strain. In Food Manufacturing, GOPACK’s Flexivent block bottom bag faces Spectral Blue’s antimicrobial blue light technology. Last year’s Dairy Alternative award went to Time-Travelling Milkman for its sunflower-based Oleocream. Yannick Verry, Fi Events Brand Director at Informa Markets, stated, “Innovation today is driven by collaboration, so being able to bring the food ingredients community together is essential to moving our industry forward. The awards shine a light on the people and companies developing solutions that are helping to solve problems and unlock new opportunities, while giving us an opportunity celebrate the hard work, creativity, and passion of the teams behind them.” Thank you! Please confirm your newsletter subscription in the email we just sent you.

Read source: Cultivated X