Abu Dhabi Focuses on Scaling Alternative Protein and Novel Food Manufacturing
Abu Dhabi is shifting from talking about the future of food to actually building it. The emirate is lining up factories, partners and rulebooks at the same time, with the goal of becoming a major production base for alternative proteins and novel foods.
The Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) has partnered with The EVERY Company and Vivici, two pioneers in sustainable protein, to explore a 4-million-litre fermentation plant at industrial scale. Backers say the facility would boost regional food resilience while giving the emirate a bigger role in global protein supply chains.
ADIO is also working with New Agrarian on a large, multi-tenant protein fermentation centre, a shared space where several companies could produce under one roof. Animal-free dairy and egg substitutes are among the products such infrastructure is meant to support.
Meat alternatives are part of the plan too. Through AGWA, the emirate’s food and water cluster, Swiss specialist NUOS will set up an innovation centre and manufacturing facilities in Abu Dhabi. It is positioned as an independent contract development and manufacturing organisation, built to deliver scale, quality and price parity with conventional meat. ADIO Director-General Badr Al-Olama has described a “giga factory” as the foundation for meeting global demand at competitive prices.
Rules are being redesigned to keep pace. The Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority (ADAFSA) and the Abu Dhabi Quality and Conformity Council are developing a unified approval system for novel foods, intended to simplify authorisation, align safety standards and speed products to shelves. A proposal unveiled in late October 2025 aims for a registration period of six to nine months.
The push carries weight beyond the Gulf. The food industry is responsible for roughly 34 percent of human-made greenhouse gas emissions, and alternative protein innovation has been held back by fragmentation and limited scale, according to the NUOS announcement. Abu Dhabi’s answer is to concentrate capacity, expertise and regulation in one place.
Supporters see regional protein independence as the prize: locally produced ingredients, steadier supplies and a new export industry. If the projects reach commercial operation as planned, Abu Dhabi could become a reference point for how governments combine investment, infrastructure and policy to bring novel foods to market at scale.