Our Mission
Build on the success of the Alt: Meat Lab, we bridge plant science, ingredient technology, and entrepreneurship. We connect students, researchers, startups, and industry partners to explore, test, and commercialize innovations – from novel plant-based and fermented extracts to functional bioactives and sustainable processing methods.
Problems We’re Solving
Ultra-processed Dependency
Many everyday foods still rely on synthetic or problematic additives. We develop plant-based emulsifiers and ingredients that deliver the same functionality—but with cleaner profiles and fewer harmful side effects.
Sustainable Ingredient Sourcing
“Natural” is not enough. We evaluate the full lifecycle of an ingredient—its water footprint, carbon impact, and resilience to climate change—to ensure that our solutions are both environmentally responsible and scalable.
Path to market
Teams often lack the facilities, data, and partnerships needed to validate new ingredients. We help founders navigate formulation, manufacturing, regulatory considerations, and go-to-market strategy.
What We Do
Plant-based & fermented
We identify, extract, and refine high‑value compounds from plants that can be grown or produced sustainably: colors, flavors, and functional molecules that make food healthier, tastier, and more appealing.
Hands-On Prototyping
We emphasize making real things. Students and founders build physical prototypes early—ingredients you can see, taste, touch, or test—grounding ideas in true material performance and preparing them for eventual scaling.
Scalability and Entrepreneurship
We mentor founders through the early stages of product translation: validating functionality, understanding COGS, exploring manufacturability, and shaping IP and partnerships. Our goal is to help teams with a credible path toward scale and commercialization.
Our Explorations
We explore emerging ingredient challenges together with students through hands-on classes that blend scientific domain knowledge, market research, agricultural insights, and collaborative conversation. Each semester, we choose focus areas shaped by industry trends and consumer needs, then dive into them through active discovery, prototyping, and uncertainty-driven learning.
Featured Courses
ENG183C
ENG198 001
2025–2026 Explorations
Natural Colors
Understanding the technical, environmental, and market limits of plant-based pigments.
Sugar Replacements
Exploring new sweetening strategies in response to GLP-1 medications and shifting dietary needs.
Egg Replacements
Identifying functional alternatives for baking, beverages, and other applications.
Healthier Living & Nutraceuticals
Investigating compounds that support wellness, functionality, and clean-label nutrition
Featured Project
The Saponin Initiative
- Team: Led by Ricardo San Martin, Siwen Deng, and Jessica Schwabach
- Goal: To establish a sustainable domestic supply chain for saponins in the U.S. within 2-3 years, addressing the environmental damage and unstable supply of traditional production methods in Chile.
- Product: Saponin is a multifunctional molecule approved by the FDA as a vaccine adjuvant. It is also widely used in soft drinks, food, and personal care products, representing a multi-million dollar and growing market.
Innovation and Advantages
Sustainability
The project protects trees by extracting saponin from leaves using a "tea method" instead of traditional bark harvesting.
Domestic Supply Chain
Quillaja trees are grown in California, utilizing their low water consumption and partnerships with a major nursery
Technical Superiority
A patented purification process allows the team to produce high-quality, industry-standard saponin.
Market Position
As the sole U.S. producer, the project enjoys a strong first-mover advantage and leadership in sustainability.
Our Team
Core
Program Director
Course Instructor
Research Program Manager
Entrepreneur in Residence
Entrepreneur in Residence
Olivia Selden
Program Coordinator
Course Instructor
Student Interns
Process Engineering Assistant (Student Role)
Field Research Assistant
Field Research Assistant
Madison Brianas
Field Research Assistant
Field Research Assistant
Alexander Cooley
Field Research Assistant
Leah Feldman
Field Research Assistant
Abigail Lin
Field Research Assistant
Field Research Assistant
Sponsors & Partners
Partner with BFIL
BFIL offers a complete bridge from discovery to deployment: discovery sprints to map promising plant compounds; green extraction and formulation expertise; application testing with partner briefs; and commercialization support including IP guidance, pilot planning, and industry introductions.
Researchers & Institutions
- Hands-on extraction & formulation training
- Project-based courses with partner briefs
- Mentorship, IP & entrepreneurship guidance
Startups & Founders
- Translational research & application testing
- Pilot process design, QA & regulatory readiness
- Intros to supply partners and funders
Industry & Sponsors
- Collaborative R&D on colors/flavors/functionality
- Workforce pipelines & capstone teams
- Co-authored case studies & demos