MOLECULAR growing pioneer PoLoPo has announced final plans for a pilot-scale production plant to process its transgenic high-protein potatoes and manufacture its protein powders following a five-ton successful harvest of protein-rich potatoes.
PoLoPo is the first company in the world to grow such a crop at scale. As a B2B company, its works with regional potato growers and processors in different countries, utilises traditional processing facilities, and collaborates with consumer packaged goods (CPG) manufacturers to create and produce food products with its protein.
The facility, which will be based in the US, is estimated to cost less than $1 million to fully equip and will include machinery for potato cleaning and crushing, as well as functional protein purification and spray-drying machines. Because these proteins can be extracted and dried on standard food processing equipment in use worldwide, PoLoPo is able to keep facility costs low.
The same plans can be used as-is or slightly adapted for future plants in other regions.
The project was designed with the help of NIRAS, a global engineering consultancy specialising in infrastructure, green energy, and sustainable development including protein and agriculture industries. NIRAS, headquartered in Allerød, Denmark, is a signatory to the UN Global Compact, a program upholding universal sustainability principles and supporting UN goals.
NIRAS Project Manager Tom Britton said: “PoLoPo’s pilot facility design strikes the right balance between cost efficiency and functionality, ensuring a scalable and capital-conscious approach. Additionally, the facility’s design and process take into account industrial machinery requirements, allowing for future growth and seamless scale-up.”
PoLoPo CEO Maya Sapir-Mir said now the company has the design plans for its first facility, construction can begin on the production plant, with plans being ahead of schedule.
PoLoPo uses proprietary metabolic engineering techniques to turn potato plants into micro-biofactories. Potato plants manufacture and store the target proteins in the tuber. Tubers are harvested when they reach sufficient size, then their proteins are extracted and dried into a functional protein powder that can integrate seamlessly into current food processing lines and formulations.
PoLoPo is a molecular farming pioneer producing proteins directly in common crops, beginning with egg protein (ovalbumin) grown in potatoes. The biotechnology startup was founded in 2022 by scientists with a deep understanding of plant genetics and protein expression. PoLoPo has won multiple innovation awards and has raised $2.3 million from leading food-tech investors including FoodLabs, Milk & Honey Ventures, CPT Capital, Siddhi Capital, Plug and Play, and Hack Capital.
