MicroHarvest selects Leuna for first large-scale production plant

MicroHarvest, the German biotechnology company producing protein ingredients through biomass fermentation using regional agri-food side streams, today announced that it has selected Industriepark Leuna (Saxony-Anhalt) as the location for its future production plant. The planned facility is designed for an annual capacity of 15,000 tonnes, with a planned mid-range double-digit million euro investment in the region and the creation of around 25 jobs at MicroHarvest.

MicroHarvest has secured an EEW grant award of up to €5.46 million from Germany’s Federal Funding Programme for Energy and Resource Efficiency in Industry. The funding will support accelerating the scale-up of energy- and resource-efficient industrial biomanufacturing, the company says.

The announcement was marked on site today, 12 February, together with local site partners and political representation, including Gitta Connemann, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (Member of the German Bundestag), and Sven Schulze, Minister-President of Saxony-Anhalt.

The Leuna decision represents a major milestone for MicroHarvest as it moves into industrial-scale manufacturing, bringing innovation, jobs and protein supply resilience to Germany and Europe in a time of climate change and geopolitical uncertainty. The company’s indicative timeline targets a start of production in approximately two years. In a context of rising global protein demand and fragile supply chains, MicroHarvest is scaling fermentation-based production to support a more resilient European protein supply.

‘Selecting Leuna is a decisive step as we move from building the technology to building industrial capacity,’ said Katelijne Bekers, Co-Founder and CEO of MicroHarvest. „This project is about strengthening European supply resilience by adding a new, scalable protein ingredient pathway that is independent of seasons and climate volatility. Leuna gives us the industrial backbone and the regional ecosystem to execute.’

MicroHarvest selected Leuna after reviewing around 40 potential sites across Europe. The site offers strong regional feedstock proximity, high-quality industrial infrastructure and utilities at Industriepark Leuna, and a well-established industrial cluster with a growing biotechnology ecosystem, according to the press release. The project is also intended to support the future-facing transformation of the Leuna industrial region, advancing biotech-enabled, resource-efficient production pathways alongside established industry.

‘Our goal was to find a site where we can focus on our core biotechnology operations rather than rebuilding industrial basics from scratch,’ explained Jonathan Roberz, Co-Founder and COO of MicroHarvest. ‘Leuna stood out clearly. The infrastructure quality, the utilities, and the surrounding agri-processing network create the conditions for rapid execution – exactly what you need when you’re scaling a fermentation-based production system.’

At Leuna, MicroHarvest plans to use agri-food side streams as feedstock, primarily molasses. The company secured regional availability to support a short, local supply chain and to reinforce supply security in uncertain geopolitical conditions.

MicroHarvest will work with Industriepark Leuna as the industrial park operator and utilities provider, alongside regional agri-processing players as feedstock suppliers. The project is also expected to be supported by local and federal public stakeholders through permitting processes and investment incentives.

MicroHarvest has strong demand visibility for its planned capacity and is actively progressing discussions with a mix of multinational customers and mid-sized white-label manufacturers. The targeted annual capacity of 15 kilotonnes is aligned with demand the company already sees and is working towards.

This site decision builds on MicroHarvest’s recent commercial progress, including product launches with partners such as Vegdog and The Pack.