The facility employs a patented dry fermentation technology where mycelium, the root structure of fungi, consumes oats within a bioreactor. This process enables rapid growth into a meat substitute suitable for replacing ground beef and kebab meat.

Millow intends to produce 500 kg of its mycoprotein daily once the factory is fully operational later in the year. The company aims to refine the choice meat market with its product,also named Millow.

“Critics say plant meat failed on taste and transparency; this factory shows we can solve both at an industrial scale,” said Dr Staffan Hillberg, the chair of Millow.

Investment in alternative protein startups reached $6.9 billion in 2021 but declined to $1.1 billion last year, according to the Good Food Institute. Fermentation was a notable exception, with venture capital investment increasing by 43% in 2024.

European Fermentation Leaders

“Critics say plant meat failed on taste and transparency; this factory shows we can solve both at an industrial scale.”

Othre European fermentation startups include Hamburg’s Infinite Roots,which secured $58 million in January to expand its alternative protein production using beer industry byproducts. Berlin-based Formo Foods obtained $61 million last year to produce cheese from fungi.

Millow has raised $3.4 million through EU grants. The company asserts its product is the purest alternative meat available.

The Magic of Mycelium

Millow is produced using only oats and mycelium, without added binders or flavorings, unlike many mycoprotein products like Quorn. The dry-state fermentation process, developed over decades by co-founder Professor Mohammad Taherzadeh, reduces water use by 95%, energy use by 67%, and operational costs by two-thirds compared to conventional methods.

Unlike liquid fermentation, which yields thin protein strands requiring additional ingredients, Millow’s dry fermentation creates a complete product in 24 hours.

“The result is a single ingredient, minimally processed sliceable block that behaves like muscle, not a reconstituted mash,” Hillberg said. The protein can then be shaped into burgers or meatballs.

millow estimates its product can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 97% compared to beef, offering significant environmental benefits.

Millow’s factory indicates that fermentation could revitalize the alternative meat sector amid struggles faced by plant-based and cultivated meat alternatives.