Rising consumer demand for plant-based protein alternatives has cracked open a potentially lucrative market for potatoes — and an entrepreneurial research team from Israel is here for it.
Dr. Maya Sapar-Mir wasn’t surprised to read recent studies that potatoes could be on the precipice of protein powder stardom — she and her business partner Dr. Raya Liberman-Aloni, both experts in the field of metabolic plant engineering, started their Israel-based company Polopo four years ago with one goal in mind: to find cost-effective, environmentally sustainable, plant-based protein sources.
Their initial research led them to the humble spud — a relatively inexpensive and accessible crop with natural proteins that mirror those of egg-whites.
“It can whip, it can glue, it’s easy to extract — it’s even a great emulsifier for drinks,” Sapar-Mir says. “It’s an amazing protein. But the only problem is that traditional potatoes have very low quantities of patatin — the protein inside the tuber, the edible part.”
Their solution seems simple enough on paper: using a cutting-edge molecular farming platform, a DNA sequence is inserted into the potato plant, “teaching” it to produce egg protein, without touching a single chicken or egg.
The result is a potato with an exponentially increased quantity of plant-based protein that can now be extracted using the same technology that mines egg white protein from eggs. The final product — which contains no DNA — is a functional alternative suitable for various commercial applications.
“While I can’t publicly share the exact percentage of increased protein in the plants, I can say we are achieving our first commercial goals,” Sapar-Mir says, noting that they hope to launch their product to the North American market in 2027, following numerous stringent food safety checks and approvals. That work is well underway — and the timing couldn’t be better.
The market opportunity for potato protein is substantial. Emerging markets in Asia Pacific and Latin America present untapped potential, driven by urbanization and changing consumer habits. Expanding applications of potato protein in sports nutrition, functional foods, and specialized diets demonstrate its relevance in the food industry. In fact, the global plant-based protein market is projected to reach $40 billion by end of 2025. Polopo is looking for a slice of that pie — their primary competition are egg proteins, currently a 4.3-billion-dollar industry.
But consumers aren’t just looking for protein — there is a growing demand for proteins that satisfy not only nutritional requirements but also concerns around sustainability and a wide variety of health-inspired choices.
As Sapar-Mir notes, plant-based proteins aren’t new, but they can be cost prohibitive. This underscores Polopo’s rational for finding ways to boost the already significant nutritional make-up of potatoes, a low-cost crop that thrives in various climates.
“This versatility is crucial for our business model,” she says. “We can grow potatoes in open fields, minimizing the need for expensive infrastructure. It’s very important to us to keep the pricing as low as possible for food production, because we’re aiming high — we want the whole world to eat it.”
Sapar-Mir is excited to share more about her company and their work at Potato Expo 2025, Jan. 9-10 in Florida.
