The Project

Our story

Food systems are responsible for a third of total GHG emissions. The current global production and consumption of animal protein account for a significant part of those emissions, causing long-term negative impacts on our health and the environment.

In line with the EU Green Deal objectives and the Farm to Fork Strategy, GIANT LEAPS aims to transform the European food system to make it more sustainable and healthier.

Our ambition is to substitute the consumption of traditional animal proteins in the European diets so that 50% of total protein dietary intake is derived from alternative protein sources - such as plants, microalgae, insects, and single-cell proteins - by 2030.

To do so, we engage with policymakers, the production sectors and European citizens to generate key innovations, methods, datasets and information that empower all players in the food system to make the necessary decisions, investments and choices to enable a large-scale dietary shift towards alternative protein-containing foods with optimal nutritional and environmental impact.

Our vision

By accelerating the dietary shift, GIANT LEAPS contributes to

Sustainable value chains and food systems

to face the current challenge of ensuring a sustainable, safe and affordable supply of food, we need to increase the availability of alternative protein-containing ingredients and foods through prototypes and technological innovations. We provide full sustainability analysis for selected proteins and derived food and create optimised future diets for different regions based on dietary guidelines, cultural differences and typical consumption habits.

Climate mitigation solutions

decreasing the consumption of animal proteins will significantly mitigate the impacts of our food system on climate change and loss of biodiversity and increase the climate resilience of the EU food sector. By linking alternative proteins to their product environmental footprint (PEF), we demonstrate how alternative proteins represent viable climate adaptation solutions and asses their circularity potential in relation to levels of waste biomass and potential utilisation of side and by-products.

Improved public health

reducing the consumption of animal proteins has the potential to improve the overall health of European citizens. To achieve real impact, we work to ensure large-scale consumption of healthy and sustainable protein sources and increase consumers' trust through reliable and clear science-based communication about the health impacts of traditional and alternative protein food and regionally adapted food choice recommendations.

Economic growth and job creation

the research and development of alternative proteins require investments and new value chains that will create demand for new jobs and skills, and foster economic opportunities both for large companies and start-ups. Our training and capacity-building activities support policymakers, professionals and researchers in the food and bioeconomy sectors to develop new skills and competencies.

35 partners

17 countries

9 alternative proteins

Partnership Methodology