The future is fermented: How Europe can succeed in the next industrial race

Summary — “The future is fermented: How Europe can succeed in the next industrial race” (ECFR, Janka Oertel & Nina Schmelzer, 3 July 2026)

Biomanufacturing — using engineered microbes and fermentation to produce food, fuels, chemicals and materials without fossil inputs — is emerging as a foundational industrial technology, accelerated by AI and cheap renewables. China has made it a strategic priority, backing it with billions in R&D, already controlling over 70% of global fermentation capacity, and setting a 2035 global-leadership target. Europe still holds real strengths — leading patents, a €60bn biosolutions sector, top research clusters (Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, France), and nearly half of global protein/enzyme fermentation capacity — but suffers from slow regulatory approvals, underinvestment, and growing reliance on Chinese manufacturing and infrastructure. The report warns Europe risks repeating the pattern seen in solar, batteries and EVs: inventing the technology but losing the industrial and geopolitical payoff. It calls for treating biomanufacturing as a strategic priority on par with semiconductors, mobilizing capital (via the EU Competitiveness Fund, Biotech Act II), building coalitions with the UK, Japan and India, and linking the sector to defense and food-security agendas.

The next industrial revolution will be built with microbes as much as machines. China understands this. Europe still has the science to compete but must act quickly before industrial leadership slips away again

Source: ECFR · July 3, 2026
Read the original →