Precision fermentation scale-up: Inside a pilot plant for next-gen food ingredients

At first glance, the Integrated Bioprocessing Research Laboratory (IBRL) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign could be mistaken for the production floor of a trendy microbrewery. In reality, it is a high-tech test kitchen for some of the biggest innovations in food ingredient formulation.

The large stainless steel fermentation tanks and array of lab equipment so closely resemble a microbrewery production facility that Beth Conerty, regional innovation officer for iFAB (Illinois Fermentation and Agriculture Biomanufacturing) Tech Hub, often begins tours by making the comparison.

“Humanity has been brewing beer for a very long time – it’s a very robust process. We know how to do it without screwing it up,” she said during a recent tour.

Precision fermentation, on the other hand, is not as simple, Conerty said. That’s because creating new ingredients in small amounts in a lab does not necessarily mean they are possible to produce at an industrial scale.

The gap between discovery and scalability is where IBRL and iFAB live, providing a mid-size lab space to help CPG companies take their innovations to the next level.

Bioprocessing test kitchen

IBRL launched in 2018 with just a few pieces of equipment, according to Conerty, who explained that the facility is now “bursting at the seams.”

Since its inception, the lab has partnered with 160 companies, ranging from small startups with a few employees to the world’s largest food and beverage manufacturers, according to Conerty.

The lab operates as a test kitchen for CPG companies, renting out lab space and equipment for roughly $3,500 to $5,000 a day.

The multi-million-dollar lab operates nine pilot-scale fermentation tanks with capacities between 20 and 1,500 liters.

They typically have four or five of the fermentation tanks running on any given day, Conerty said. Those fees enable the lab to operate independently without the need for funding from the state.

“We have to run four to five simultaneously to break even,” Conerty said.

The lab offers a wide range of services for companies, from small one-off jobs to relationships that have spanned several years, Conerty said.

“The shortest example is if they need some centrifuge data, they will come in for a day,” she said.

One of their longest partnerships is with a company that is currently on its 29th fermentation project.

“You don’t want to get to full-blown manufacturing and then realize it doesn’t work, so our pilot plants can help a company bridge that gap,” she said. “It is much less expensive to find that out at the pilot scale than the full manufacturing scale.”

Cutting-edge at a cost

The cutting-edge equipment cost millions, and full-scale manufacturing facilities can run in the hundreds of millions, making it unfeasible for companies to conduct the research with their own equipment, Conerty explained.

IBRL’s largest fermentation tank cost $1 million fully installed, Conerty said: “In addition to that, all of the utilities you can see, all the pipes, the process requires steam, electricity, water, and so building out that infrastructure is also hard just to support the fermenter itself.”

The maintenance of the lab also comes with a hefty price tag, because the tanks and control mechanisms must be sterilized to prevent contamination from outside organisms, she said.

“It’s all of those bells and whistles and levers that make it cost so much,” she said.

IBRL expanding

The program has been so successful that it will soon nearly double its footprint on the University of Illinois campus. That expansion is driven by the growing need for precision fermentation technologies, Conerty said.

Since opening in 2018, the 40,000-square-foot lab has grown internally by adding equipment capabilities, but the expansion, known as IBRL 2.0, will bring the size to 75,000 square feet.

The expansion is funded in part by a $51 million grant from the US Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration and a $30 million grant from the state of Illinois.

The last 12 months have been the busiest in the lab’s history, with IBRL hosting roughly 50 companies since July of 2025, Conerty said.

“We’re still a pilot scale. We’re not a manufacturing partner, but we will be able to help more companies simultaneously,” she said, noting that at full capacity, the expanded lab will be able to accommodate eight to 10 projects at a time.

iFAB’s big partners

Conerty was not at liberty to reveal the names of most CPG companies that have used the facility, but she did note that the lab has worked on scale-up research for Motif Foodworks, which developed plant-based burgers, and Geltor, maker of PrimaColl, an animal-free collagen ingredient that was green-lit by the FDA in October.

While it’s difficult to assess the success rates for precision fermentation research projects, it’s fair to say that companies face significant challenges when developing new products.

Companies that are capable of proving scalability at IBRL then move on to manufacturing-scale fermentation through iFAB partners ADM and Primient, which operate 80,000-liter and 13,000-liter fermentation tanks, respectively.

It’s a winning proposition for the commodities giants, which process 850,000 bushels of corn daily and are always in search of new revenue streams.

Most of the input for fermentation now is agricultural commodities such as corn dextrose, soy glycerol, corn stover and others.

After grinding and separating the corn, it has historically been used in animal feed, ethanol fuel, ethanol and sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup, Conerty said.

Both companies face new challenges, though, as consumer demand for high-fructose corn syrup has declined, and ethanol markets face an uncertain future with the rise of electric vehicles.

“It’s creating new markets for agricultural commodities, and no one is more invested in building new markets for agricultural commodities than those companies that buy the agricultural commodities,” Conerty said.