Fungal Protein Market – Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Opportunity, and Forecast, Segmented By Type (Yeast, Fusarium Venenatum), By Nature (Organic, Conventional), By Application (Food and beverages, Animal Nutrition, Pharmaceuticals, Others) By Region and Competition, 2021-2031F

Forecast Period	2027-2031
Market Size (2025)	USD 4.11 Billion
CAGR (2026-2031)	6.12%
Fastest Growing Segment	Pharmaceuticals
Largest Market	North America
Market Size (2031)	USD 5.87 Billion

Market Overview

The Global Fungal Protein Market will grow from USD 4.11 Billion in 2025 to USD 5.87 Billion by 2031 at a 6.12% CAGR. Fungal protein is a sustainable food ingredient derived from the fermentation of fungi such as Fusarium venenatum to create fibrous meat alternatives. The market is primarily propelled by the critical need for resource efficient food systems and the rising consumer demand for ethical animal free proteins. These drivers represent fundamental structural shifts in the global food supply rather than temporary market trends. According to the Good Food Institute, in 2025, approximately 50% of French consumers demonstrated openness to products created through precision fermentation, illustrating the expanding commercial potential of this category.

Nevertheless, the sector encounters a significant challenge regarding the high capital investment required for scalability. The construction of industrial bioreactors involves substantial upfront costs that prevent manufacturers from achieving price parity with conventional meat. This financial barrier effectively restricts rapid capacity expansion and impedes the ability of producers to supply the mass market. Consequently, optimizing production economics remains a formidable obstacle to widespread industry growth.

Key Market Drivers

Surging capital investments and strategic industry partnerships are fundamentally reshaping the sector by enabling the transition from pilot facilities to commercial-scale infrastructure. These financial injections are critical for overcoming the high upfront costs associated with bioreactor construction and downstream processing capabilities. According to Infinite Roots, January 2024, in the 'Series B Financing Announcement', the biotech firm secured $58 million to scale up its mycelium fermentation technologies and expand its global operations. This influx of funding allows companies to optimize production economics and establish necessary supply chain networks. Furthermore, according to the Good Food Institute, in 2024, the broader fermentation-enabled protein sector attracted $515 million in capital funding during the preceding year, underscoring the sustained investor confidence in this category despite global economic volatility.

The expansion of meat alternative and ready-to-eat product portfolios serves as a secondary catalyst, directly increasing consumer accessibility to fungal-based foods. Manufacturers are aggressively diversifying their stock keeping units to include whole-cut analogs and convenient meal solutions that mimic the texture and nutritional profile of animal proteins. This retail proliferation is essential for moving fungal proteins from niche health food stores into mainstream distribution channels. Highlighting this rapid distribution growth, according to Meati Foods, April 2024, in the 'Retail Expansion Press Release', the company successfully increased its product availability to reach 6,000 retail locations across the United States. Such expansion strategies validate the market viability of mycelium products and encourage retailer adoption, thereby creating a feedback loop that stimulates further production capacity and innovation.

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Key Market Challenges

The high capital investment required for scaling production infrastructure stands as a significant barrier to the growth of the Global Fungal Protein Market. Manufacturers face immense upfront costs when attempting to transition from pilot-scale facilities to industrial-grade bioreactors capable of supplying mass-market volumes. This financial burden prevents companies from achieving the economies of scale necessary to reduce unit costs and reach price parity with conventional animal proteins. Consequently, the resulting high price point of fungal protein products limits their adoption to a narrow consumer segment, effectively stalling broader market penetration and commercial viability.

The scarcity of sufficient funding to support these capital-heavy projects directly decelerates the industry's expansion. According to the Good Food Institute, in 2024, the global fermentation sector attracted approximately 651 million dollars in total private funding. While this figure represents continued interest, it remains a finite pool of capital that must be divided among research, operations, and infrastructure across the entire industry. This level of investment is currently inadequate to fund the widespread construction of the commercial-scale facilities required to disrupt the global food supply chain effectively. As a result, the market's growth trajectory is flattened by the physical inability of producers to generate volumes that would trigger necessary cost reductions.

Key Market Trends

The adoption of circular economy models using upcycled agro-industrial feedstocks is transforming production methodologies within the Global Fungal Protein Market. Producers are shifting away from expensive, refined sugar substrates towards valorizing industrial sidestreams, such as food processing waste, to cultivate high-quality biomass. This strategic pivot allows manufacturers to significantly lower operational expenditures while enhancing the sustainability profile of their ingredients. The viability of this approach is driving substantial infrastructure development aimed at converting low-value byproducts into premium protein. According to Green Queen, May 2024, in the 'Enifer Bags €24M to Build Large Factory for Pekilo Mycoprotein' article, the Finnish biotech startup secured total financing of €36 million in 2024 to construct a commercial facility specifically designed to produce mycoprotein from food industry sidestreams.

Concurrently, the emergence of hybrid fungal and plant-based protein formulations is establishing a new product category designed to bridge the gap between strict vegetarianism and flexitarian preferences. Instead of replacing meat entirely, these hybrid solutions blend mycelium with animal proteins or plant bases to improve texture, moisture retention, and nutritional density. This "meat-plus" strategy addresses the sensory shortcomings often associated with pure plant-based alternatives by utilizing the natural fibrous structure of fungi to mimic the mouthfeel of conventional muscle tissue. Highlighting this commercial trajectory, according to AgFunderNews, January 2024, in the 'The future of alt meat is hybrid' article, Mush Foods commercially launched its 50CUT mycelium blends in the United States, which are engineered to reduce the animal meat content in ground beef products by 50% while maintaining flavor integrity.

Segmental Insights

The Pharmaceuticals segment is identified as the fastest growing category within the Global Fungal Protein Market, driven by the increasing application of fungal expression systems in drug manufacturing. Pharmaceutical companies are prioritizing the use of yeast strains to produce recombinant therapeutic proteins and vaccines due to their scalability and cost-efficiency compared to mammalian cell cultures. Furthermore, regulatory bodies such as the Food and Drug Administration encourage the use of well-characterized fungal sources for biologics, which streamlines the approval process for new medicines and supports the rapid expansion of this market segment.

Regional Insights

North America maintains the leading position in the Global Fungal Protein Market due to strong consumer adoption of alternative proteins and a mature food processing infrastructure. The dominance is further supported by the United States Food and Drug Administration, which facilitates industry expansion through Generally Recognized As Safe designations for mycoprotein ingredients. This regulatory clarity reduces barriers to entry for manufacturers and encourages product development. Consequently, the combination of supportive government policies and substantial capital investment in fermentation capabilities establishes North America as the central hub for market expansion.

Recent Developments

• In October 2024, Enifer filed for Novel Food authorization with the European Food Safety Authority for its proprietary PEKILO mycoprotein ingredient. This submission marked a critical regulatory step, making the biotechnology firm the first Nordic entity to seek such approval for a fungal protein. The application was supported by comprehensive safety data and aimed to validate the ingredient for human consumption across the European Union. Following this milestone, the company planned to focus on scaling its production capabilities and establishing commercial partnerships to introduce the sustainable, fermentation-derived protein into various food applications.
• In July 2024, Quorn Foods unveiled a strategic initiative to supply its proprietary mycoprotein for blended meat products through its business-to-business ingredient division. The company entered into collaborations with major foodservice providers, including the National Health Service in the United Kingdom, to introduce burgers and sausages composed of a mix of meat and fungal protein. This approach aimed to support carbon reduction goals by encouraging flexitarian dietary habits without removing meat entirely. The development represented a significant shift in strategy, extending the application of mycoprotein beyond exclusively vegetarian products to broader foodservice menus.
• In February 2024, Cargill and ENOUGH expanded their ongoing strategic partnership to further the commercialization of sustainable fungal protein. Under this strengthened collaboration, Cargill invested in the food technology company’s Series C funding round and finalized a commercial agreement to market the ABUNDA mycoprotein ingredient. The initiative was designed to combine Cargill’s extensive portfolio of textures and global market reach with the scalable fermentation technology of its partner. This joint effort aimed to co-create innovative, tasty meat and dairy alternatives for customers, thereby accelerating the adoption of mycoprotein as a primary ingredient in the global food industry.
• In January 2024, Infinite Roots secured $58 million in a Series B funding round, representing one of the largest investments in mycelium technology within Europe to date. The financing was led by Dr. Hans Riegel Holding and the European Innovation Council Fund, demonstrating strong investor confidence in the sector. The company announced plans to utilize these funds to scale its proprietary fermentation platform and accelerate global commercial growth. This strategic capital injection was poised to move the biotechnology firm beyond the startup phase, enabling the expansion of its production capacities to meet the increasing demand for sustainable, mushroom-based food products.

Key Market Players

• Cayman Chemical Company
• CHIHONBIO CO., LTD.
• Duke Thomson's India Pvt. Ltd
• DuPont de Nemours, Inc.
• Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc
• Mayasan Gıda Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş
• Merck KGaA
• dsm-firmenich AG
• Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Inc
• Siveele B.V.

By Type	By Nature	By Application	By Region
Yeast Fusarium Venenatum	Organic Conventional	Food and beverages Animal Nutrition Pharmaceuticals Others	North America Europe Asia Pacific South America Middle East & Africa

Report Scope:

In this report, the Global Fungal Protein Market has been segmented into the following categories, in addition to the industry trends which have also been detailed below:

• Fungal Protein Market, By Type:

• Yeast
• Fusarium Venenatum

• Fungal Protein Market, By Nature:

• Organic
• Conventional

• Fungal Protein Market, By Application:

• Food and beverages
• Animal Nutrition
• Pharmaceuticals
• Others

• Fungal Protein Market, By Region:

• North America
• United States
• Canada
• Mexico
• Europe
• France
• United Kingdom
• Italy
• Germany
• Spain
• Asia Pacific
• China
• India
• Japan
• Australia
• South Korea
• South America
• Brazil
• Argentina
• Colombia
• Middle East & Africa
• South Africa
• Saudi Arabia
• UAE