Piloting operations to commercial feasibility for alternative proteins

Abstract: In the changing landscape of the alternative protein market oilseed processing has been required to adapt to the demand for sustainable proteins. This leads to a change in how companies need to structure their operations and leads to the development of large scale processing plants. The demand for alternatives has also driven innovation and development of new processing techniques which increases the risk to both the owner and equipment suppliers. As processes develop in the lab new potential products are found and processing techniques appear to have good feasibility. However, increasing the scale of production to meet the demands of consumers or launch a product to market often requires a better understanding of the full cost of production from energy, steam, and yield of products. Commercialization of other oilseed alternatives to soy processing will be discussed to provide insight on how piloting provides critical detail for development of commercialization.