A new protein powder, containing Solar Foods’ Solein ‘air protein’ ingredient, is launching in the US under Ambrosia Collective’s brand Planta.

The ready-to-mix powder, launching in a Salted Caramel Cold Brew flavour, contains 20g of protein per serving with zero sugar. It is initially launching online and via Amazon, with a nationwide roll-out later this summer following its test launch.

Solein, developed by Finnish food-tech start-up Solar Foods, is a versatile and novel ‘air protein’ ingredient developed through a unique fermentation process. A microbe found in Finnish nature is grown in a fermenter using carbon dioxide and electricity, resulting in a unique and nutritionally rich protein for use across ‘virtually any’ food application.

The ingredient can be used as a fortifier to complement the nutritional profile of a wide range of foods and beverages, bringing a source of protein as well as iron, fibre and B vitamins. Additionally, it can bring technical functionalities to F&B products.

Ambrosia’s ready-to-mix protein powder is the first product made with Solein that is available to US consumers and is the first Solein-powered protein powder available anywhere worldwide.

Ambrosia, a sports nutrition and health supplement company, produces performance-focused and vegan-friendly products for active lifestyles. The company’s co-founder, Sean Torbati, commented on the launch: “We are very proud to be working with Solar Foods to incorporate Solein into our Planta formula and to bring this innovation to consumers through Planta”.

“It is going to be the biggest innovation in the protein space in the last decade, and we look so forward to continuing this process of developing new flavours with Solein.”

Godert Zijlstra, chief commercial and product officer at Solar Foods, said: “Solein offers a completely new harvest for humankind: it’s an ingredient unlike anything seen before, and we are delighted that consumers in the United States will now be able to experience it”.

“We are also very excited about how Ambrosia Collective has incorporated Solein into its Planta product line and brought it to market at remarkable speed, demonstrating a rapid and effective integration of Solein into a finished consumer product. While product development timelines vary across companies, we continue to work closely with our customers to support their product development efforts to bring more Solein-powered products to consumers.”

Solar Foods is commercialising Solein in the US, focusing initially on the health and performance nutrition market. Products made with Solein have already launched successfully in Singapore.

“Solein excels as an ingredient in the health and performance nutrition category. The size of the market in the United States alone is approximately $10 billion, and ready-to-mix protein powders are a major sub-category in the protein space, with ever growing consumer demand driven, among other things, by the health trend,” Zijlstra said.