Name:Dr Parag Acharya

Job title:Senior Fellow in Food Innovationand Innovation Growth Manager for the Growing Kent And Medway innovation cluster

Organisation:Natural Resources Institute (NRI), University of Greenwich

Sustainable protein specialism:Plant and algae-based food innovation, product and process technologies, flavour technology

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Be open-minded and collaborative – that’s the advice to researchers hoping to break into sustainable proteins from a scientist who has returned to academia following a prestigious career in industry.

Dr Parag Acharya is now leading a research group on food processing and innovation, as well as the development of the Medway Food Innovation Centre (MFIC), which he says will be a ‘one stop shop’ or innovation centre with state-of-the-art facilities and technical expertise, creating opportunities for those hoping to develop sustainable proteins in the UK.

The ambition is to build a Protein4NetZero research and innovation programme to help the UK accelerate its shift to a more sustainable food system.

The centre, based at theUniversity of Greenwich’s Medway Campus, will be home to a research community with industrial partners looking into areas such as eco-innovative extraction of plant and algae proteins, and developing sustainable processes to improve the function of plant, algae and fungal protein.

它将使better product innovation, deliver the science needed to tackle the taste and texture challenges facing sustainable meat and dairy products, and teach the skills a new generation of food manufacturers will need to work in the sustainable protein industry.

The million-pound centre will include a food grade facility for early prototyping, a food processing lab with equipment for novel extraction, drying and culinary transformation, a food analytics capability including flavour and sensory analysis, and an accelerator space for sustainable protein startups and other companies.

Along with theGrowing Kent and Medwaycluster, he hopes this will create a vibrant food innovation community across the south east of England.

Career in industry

Parag’s long career across Europe and North America has resulted in four patents, as well as several publications and grant-funded research projects.

After a PhD in bioorganic chemistry from Uppsala University in Sweden and postdoctoral work on protein biochemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, Parag started working for biotechnology companies in Canada.

He moved into food when he returned to Europe in 2011 to work for Unilever, staying there for nearly a decade and delivering sustainable product and process technologies for brands such as Knorr and Hellmann’s. He also carried out research through industry-academia partnerships on how raw material processing affects product qualities like flavour and texture.

Problems holding the UK back

But he returned to academia when he received the offer to join the University of Greenwich’s Natural Resources Institute, seeing an opportunity to set up the food innovation centre and work with Growing Kent and Medway to alleviate some of the challenges he believes are holding back the UK’s sustainable protein field.

Parag said: “There’s research on sustainable protein going on in the UK, but it’s very disjointed and there’s very little collaboration.

“There’s also minimal government spending in this area – there should be far more. The National Food Strategy said there needs to be a 30% reduction in meat consumption over the next decade and suggested that £1 billion was needed in areas such as sustainable proteins.

“And although food is one of the largest manufacturing sectors, accounting for 20% of total UK manufacturing, the innovation growth in sustainable protein is still lagging behind if you compare it with The Netherlands or the United States. There’s still no proper national protein strategy for the UK. And in order to progress knowledge and innovation, there’s a clear need for open access research.”

Growing Kent and Medway recently organised a workshop jointly withUK Research And Innovation (UKRI)结合专家在这个领域工作understand the drivers and barriers to developing a globally competitive sustainable protein sector.

The UK, he adds, currently has a fast-growing market of around £1 billion for plant-based meat and dairy.

Collaboration is key

A sustainable protein focus group has been set up within the Growing Kent and Medway cluster, bringing together crop science experts fromNIABand fungal biotechnology experts from theUniversity of Kentwho can work with MFIC, providing the different specialisms needed to develop sustainable proteins. Parag is also in touch withCPIandCampden BRIto scope the opportunities for building a transformative sustainable protein ecosystem for the UK.

He admits it is currently challenging for researchers to get involved in sustainable proteins, and wants to see more initiatives such as theCambridge Alt Protein Society, which brings together students, academics and entrepreneurs.

He said: “If there was more money being invested, then it would be a level playing field for young researchers bringing new ideas. But at present it isn’t so easy.

“We need to see far more collaboration. One thing that’s very significant about this field is that it has multi-disciplinary challenges – there isn’t one single researcher or even research group or research area that can solve this problem on their own.

“For example, just to deal with improving taste and texture, you need to connect the domains of food microstructure, processing, flavour technology, tribology, sensory and product formulation. And then, you’re going to need scientists who know about plant protein. There are huge opportunities for a wide range of researchers to work together.”

His advice for anyone trying to get involved in the sustainable proteins field is that interdisciplinary collaboration will be critical.

“如果每个人都只考虑th工作eir piece of the pie. Cracking any big challenge should require a large team of complementary experts,” he said.

Are you interested in getting involved in the sustainable proteins field? Take a look at our resources.

If you’re a researcher:

• To find funding opportunities, check out ourresearch funding databasefor grants from across the sector, and ourresearch grants pagewhich showcases funding available from GFI.
• Explore ourAdvancing Solutionsinitiative, which highlights the main sustainable protein knowledge gaps, and subscribe to thecollaborative researcher directory, which provides details of potential collaborators or supervisors with a stated interest in the field.
• Find out about research projects that have already been funded on ourresearch grants trackeror ourgrantee web pages.
• Look out for monthly science seminars run through ourGFIdeas communityor use ourcompany databaseto identify commercial partners.

If you’re a student:

• Find educational courses around the globe through ourdatabase.
• Sign up for ourfree online courseintroducing the science of sustainable proteins, explore ourresource guideexplaining what is available to students, and check out ourBOB(中国)综合体育App下载 for the latest job opportunities in this emerging field.
• OurAlt Protein Projectis now live, and will be taking applications from any motivated students who want to turn their universities into engines for sustainable protein innovation up until 25 April.