The Protein Community
- Type
- Network / Association / Cooperative
- Location
- Wageningen, Netherlands
- Industries
- Alternative proteins, Food ingredients & products, Food reformulation
- Domains
- Plant based primary products, Ingredients, Proteins
- Technologies
- Platform technology, Platform & Service technologies
About The Protein Community
The Protein Community is Foodvalley’s network platform for accelerating the protein transition. It brings together companies, researchers, consultants, investors, and other stakeholders working on plant-based and hybrid foods, with the aim of turning innovation into market-ready impact.
The community positions itself as a practical collaboration hub rather than a single-product supplier. Through initiatives, events, matchmaking, and shared knowledge, it helps partners address technical and commercial bottlenecks in scaling alternative proteins and creating more sustainable food systems.
Core Values
- Collaboration: The community is built around bringing different actors together to share practical solutions and create business opportunities across the value chain.
- Sustainability: Its work is centered on helping shift the food system toward more sustainable protein sources and lower-impact products.
- Innovation: The Protein Community emphasizes accelerating new products, ingredients, and technologies from development to adoption and scale.
- Market impact: The platform focuses on turning ideas into commercial outcomes, helping partners move from innovation to real-world uptake.
Unique Aspects
- Large dedicated protein-transition network: Foodvalley describes The Protein Community as the first and largest community dedicated to scaling protein innovation, with 150+ partners and 400+ global innovators.
- Proven scaling track record: Since 2017, the network has contributed to the development, adoption, and scaling of more than 200 products, ingredients, and technologies.
- Ecosystem-wide scope: It connects the full protein ecosystem, from ingredient suppliers and manufacturers to researchers, consultants, and investors, which helps bridge technical and commercial gaps.
- Linked initiatives and tools: The community is associated with initiatives such as the Protein Transition Map NL and Plant Protein Forward, which support ecosystem visibility and local protein value-chain development.