Biosafe at The Future of Protein Production 2026 in Chicago

Janne Ylärinne, Sales Director, will be representing Biosafe at The Future of Protein Production 2026 in Chicago, taking place on February 24-25, 2026.

Future proteins are moving fast: fermentation-derived ingredients, novel biomasses, and new supplement concepts are reaching scale, and regulatory strategy and execution are increasingly the difference between “promising” and “approved.” That’s why we’re especially looking forward to one key session from our team.

Biosafe on stage: driving novel foods forward

Regulatory Horizons: What’s Next for Alternative Protein Approvals in the EU and US

Tuesday, 24 February 2026 | 12:10–12:30 (US/Central) | 20 min
Track: Novel Ingredients and Longevity
Speaker: Michele Champagne, Scientific & Regulatory Expert/Advisor, Biosafe

This talk will focus on how to advance novel foods, supplements, and animal feed ingredients to market as quickly and efficiently as possible, with a practical emphasis on:

Regulatory strategy (choosing the right pathway early)
Execution (building a data package and dossier that reduces rework and delays)
Efficiency (planning studies, timelines, and documentation to avoid preventable “clock-stops”)

If you’re developing fermentation-derived ingredients, microbial biomasses, or other next-gen inputs, this is exactly where time-to-market is won or lost.

What our top picks are at FPP Chicago 2026

This year’s agenda is heavy on the practical bottlenecks: policy momentum, time-to-market regulation, fermentation scale-up, fungi/mycelium infrastructure, and the consumer “reality check” around health and processing. Here are Biosafe’s eight must-attend sessions—formatted for quick scanning and calendar adds.

Feb 24, 9:15 AM

Lessons From COP30

A sharp macro reset: what climate commitments mean in practice for the food system, and which levers are actually moving. Useful context for anyone positioning novel proteins within sustainability and public policy debates.
Speaker:
Bruce Friedrich – Good Food Institute

Feb 24, 9:40 AM

The New Protein Act: Advancing U.S. Leadership in Sustainable Protein Innovation

A policy lens on scaling: federal investment priorities (R&D, domestic biomanufacturing, workforce) that could shape the competitive landscape for fermentation-derived and cultivated ingredients, plus the compliance implications that follow.
Speaker:
Caitlin Balagula – US Senate

Feb 24, 2:20 PM

Food From Thin Air: Scaling Solein for a New Protein Era

A real-world case on scaling a new ingredient category, useful for understanding the evidence packages, market sequencing, and regulatory readiness needed when you’re not “just another protein.”
Speaker:
Karl Smithback – Solar Foods

Feb 24, 2:40 PM

Why Mushroom Could Become The New Meat

Fungi as a category-level argument: texture, functionality, and market pull, plus the regulatory and infrastructure questions that follow when mycelium moves from niche to mainstream.
Speaker:
Paul Shapiro – BetterMeat Co

Feb 24, 3:00 PM

Building the Mycelium Economy: Infrastructure, Regulation & Investment

A rare intersection of mycelium, commercial infrastructure, and regulation, exactly the combination that determines whether fungal ingredients scale beyond pilots and into real supply chains.
Speakers:
Eric Sirvinskas – Plant Futures
Sean Lacoursiere – Maia Farms Inc.
Elnaz Shabani – Lux Research

Feb 25, 9:15 AM

Winning the Middle: What Mainstream Consumers Want & Believe in 2025

The consumer reality check: cost, convenience/consistency, and clarity (ingredients/health). Critical if your go-to-market claims strategy needs to survive “ultra-processed” scrutiny and mainstream shelf logic.
Speakers:
Paul Shapiro – BetterMeat Co
Gregory Jaffe – Jaffe Policy Consulting LLC
Mark Engel – Fifth Taste Foods, LLC
Tim Dale – Food Systems Innovations
Tim Polkowski – Pro Veg International

Feb 25, 10:00 AM

Digging into the Details: The Barriers to Introducing Novel Foods Into the Market

An explicit look at why novel foods stall in real life, beyond the science. Valuable for founders and regulatory leads building an approval roadmap, timelines, and stakeholder strategy.
Speaker:
Kimberly Ong – Vireo Advisors

Meet us on 24–25 February in Chicago!

If you’re planning an EU novel food dossier, mapping a US GRAS strategy, or building a safety data package for microbial or fermentation-derived ingredients, let’s talk.