Food and drink companies apply biotechnology, analytical science and research to improve food production, safety, quality and sustainability. The sector supports innovation across agriculture, ingredients, nutrition and manufacturing.
This category includes companies working on:
Browse 54 UK food and drink life science companies below.
Fermentation-derived food ingredients from agricultural waste streams
Fermtech is a biotechnology company that applies solid-state fungal fermentation to upcycle agricultural and brewing waste streams into food ingredients. Its lead product is produced from cocoa shells using Aspergillus oryzae fermentation and functions as a lower-cost, lower-carbon cocoa-enhancing ingredient for…
Precision fermentation and bio-based ingredients for food and feed
Mycofeast is an Oxford-headquartered industrial biotechnology company developing fermentation-derived ingredients for human and animal nutrition. It combines precision and biomass fermentation with microbial strain development and bioprocess scale-up to develop functional beverage ingredients, dairy proteins,…
Cultivated animal fat ingredient for meat alternatives
Hoxton Farms is a cellular agriculture company producing cultivated pork fat as an ingredient for meat alternatives and processed food products. Using animal stem cells grown in proprietary bioreactors, the company produces real fat tissue without slaughter, guided by computational biology to optimise cell growth…
Precision fermentation platform for novel protein-based flavour ingredients
ReNewFood is an industrial biotech developing protein-based flavouring ingredients for the alternative food market using precision fermentation. Engineered microbial hosts serve as cell factories to produce flavour-active proteins, including molecules conferring meatiness, sweetness, and saltiness, identified through…
Fermentation-derived mycoprotein ingredient for sustainable food production
ENOUGH is a Glasgow-based industrial biotechnology company producing a complete protein ingredient made by fermenting fungi with grain-derived sugars. The zero-waste continuous fermentation process is integrated within existing biorefinery infrastructure, enabling large-scale production at competitive economics. Its…
Immunoaffinity test kits for food, feed, and clinical diagnostics
R-Biopharm Rhône is a Glasgow-based manufacturer and distributor of immunoaffinity columns and analytical test kits for food safety, feed analysis, and clinical diagnostics. The company manufactures immunoaffinity products for mycotoxin, vitamin, and antibiotic analysis under several brands, and distributes R-Biopharm…
Microalgal fermentation for sustainable EPA omega-3 and protein
AlgiSys develops fermentation-based biotechnology for producing eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) omega-3 oils and protein-rich biomass from microalgae. Its proprietary heterotrophic algal strains grow in industrial fermentation systems without light, offering an alternative to extracting omega-3 ingredients from fish or…
End-to-end production systems for cultivated meat
Cellcraft is a biotechnology company developing integrated systems for cultivated meat production. The company supplies the hardware, software, and biological inputs required to grow animal cells outside the body at commercial scale, targeting food producers and manufacturers seeking slaughter-free protein production.…
Cellular agriculture and biomanufacturing platforms for sustainable food production
Newform Foods is an industrial biotechnology company developing cell-based production platforms for sustainable food and functional ingredients. The company provides animal and plant cell-line development, culture-media optimisation, bioprocess engineering and scalable cultivation technologies. Its platform supports…
Selective breeding of Black Soldier Fly for insect farming
Beta Bugs is an insect genetics company that develops and supplies genetically selected Black Soldier Fly breeds to insect farmers. Using multi-trait selective breeding and genomic selection tools developed in collaboration with the Roslin Institute, the company produces improved strains designed to increase larval…
Food and gut health bioscience research on Norwich Research Park
Quadram Institute Bioscience is a BBSRC-funded independent research organisation focused on the interactions between food, gut microbiota, and human health. Operating within the Quadram Institute, a partnership with the University of East Anglia, Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals, and BBSRC, it conducts…
Hollow fibre bioreactor technology for cultivated food and cell culture
Cellular Agriculture is a UK biotech developing modular hollow fibre bioreactor systems to enable scalable cell culture for cultivated food production and broader biomanufacturing applications. The company supplies bioreactor technology to food producers and biopharma partners rather than producing cultivated products…
Photosynthesis-based microalgae cultivation for sustainable food ingredients
Arborea is a UK industrial biotechnology company developing a cultivation system for photosynthetic microorganisms including microalgae, diatoms and phytoplankton. The system uses sunlight and CO₂ as feedstocks to grow microscopic plants at scale, from which proteins, natural pigments and bioactive nutrients are…
Specialty enzyme manufacturer serving food, diagnostics and pharmaceutical industries
Amano Enzyme Europe is the UK subsidiary of Japanese specialty enzyme manufacturer Amano Enzyme Inc, serving as its EMEA hub. The company supplies microbial enzymes for food and beverage processing, dietary supplements, pharmaceutical manufacturing and clinical diagnostics. Its UK laboratories support enzyme…
Pluripotent stem cell lines for cultivated meat production
Roslin Technologies is a biotech company developing and commercialising animal pluripotent stem cell lines for the cultivated meat industry. Its iPSC and ESC lines, covering beef, pork, lamb and seafood, are designed for scalable, indefinitely self-renewing production and can differentiate into muscle and fat tissue.…
Cell culture CDMO for cultivated meat and sustainable food biotech
Extracellular is a Bristol-based contract development and manufacturing organisation supporting companies developing cell-cultured food, cosmetic, and materials products. The company provides process development, scale-up, and biomanufacturing services for cultivated meat and other animal and plant cell culture…
Probiotic contract manufacturer and Lab4 platform developer
Cultech is a Welsh contract developer and manufacturer of probiotic and nutritional supplement products, operating one of the world's most advanced probiotic manufacturing facilities at its Port Talbot site. The company owns the proprietary Lab4 probiotic consortium, backed by over 35 clinical trials and ten PhD…
Precision fermentation platform producing sweet proteins for sugar reduction
MadeSweetly is a food biotechnology company producing nature-identical sweet proteins through precision fermentation. Using non-model yeast engineered with plant-derived DNA sequences, the platform synthesises proteins that enhance sweetness and mask bitterness with zero calories and no glycaemic impact. Agri-food…
Industrial fermentation and yeast technology solutions
AB Biotek is an industrial biotechnology company developing yeast strains and fermentation technologies for the global food, beverage, bioethanol and animal nutrition sectors. The company provides microbial ingredients and process optimisation solutions that support the production of wine, beer, spirits, fuel ethanol…
Microalgae-based omega-3 producer using whisky co-products
MiAlgae is a company that grows omega-3-rich microalgae by upcycling nutrient-rich co-products from whisky distillation, offering a fish-free alternative to fishmeal for aquaculture, pet food, and animal feed markets. Operating 30,000-litre bioreactors at its demonstrator site in Balfron, Stirlingshire, the company is…