Announced at the 2018 ABLC Global conference, Impossible Foods’ heme-producing “meat without the cow” was voted the Hottest Technology in the Advanced Bioeconomy by Biofuels Digest subscribers. (Photo Credit: Impossible Foods)

Last month, Biobased Maine joined a team of Maine stakeholders in San Francisco, California, for the ABLC Global 2018 Conference. The team included representatives from the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development, FOR/Maine, and the Maine Technology Institute.

At ABLC, the Maine team met with technology companies from around the world, including companies whose technology could work in Maine. We marketed Maine’s assets for investment, and connected with many industry leaders in the advanced bioeconomy. Biobased Maine returned from the conference with promising leads and a fresh perspective on the market for advanced fuels, materials and chemicals.

Big-name biotechnology companies represented at the conference included Avantium, Origin Materials, LanzaTech, Arbiom, Reverdia, Licella, Ensyn, Clariant, DSM, and many more.

Notably, it was announced live at the conference that Impossible Foods’ plants-to-meat technology took the number one spot in Biofuels Digests’ 2018 Top 40 Hottest Technologies in the Advanced Bioeconomy. This win for Impossible Foods is a step up from their second-place ranking last year.

The key ingredient in Impossible Foods’ Impossible Burger is heme. Heme is the same molecule that carries oxygen in your blood and makes it red. Instead of heme from animals, the Impossible Foods heme is made from fermentation of plants, and gives the burger its meaty flavor. Biobased Maine has been following advancements in the plants-to-protein arena, particularly companies like Arbiom who have technology to convert woody biomass to protein for use in the aquaculture and other industries.

Biobased Maine’s conference plan for 2019 is in full swing – be sure to join Biobased Maine today or renew your membership now to be sure that we can represent you as we attend conferences around the globe.

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