The Saudi Industrial Investment Group (SIIG), a prominent investor-operator in the chemical industry in Saudi Arabia, and Unibio A/S (Unibio), a leading Danish bio-fermentation company, have announced that they will build the world’s largest single-cell protein facility in Saudi Arabia in an 80:20 (SIIG:Unibio) joint venture to feed the world's growing population and improve food security.
Unibio has developed a proprietary vertical loop bio-fermentation technology to convert carbon-rich gases into high-quality microbial protein, which the company says is “on par with other high-quality proteins” such as fishmeal and soy protein.
The company’s flagship product, “Uniprotein”, has been approved as feed for terrestrial and aquatic animals in the EU, with registrations globally in progress, and has an amino acid profile very close to that of fishmeal.
With significant investments in the petrochemical sector, SIIG is a prominent Saudi publicly traded company that is expanding its portfolio into new sectors, investing in non-petrochemical industries that support sustainable growth and align with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, a transformative framework designed to reduce reliance on oil, diversify the economy, and strengthen public service sectors including health, education, infrastructure, recreation, and tourism.
As part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, Unibio’s transformational technology and SIIG’s strategic aspirations mark a significant milestone by bringing the most sophisticated industrial fermentation to the Kingdom.
SIIG invested US$70 million in Unibio in 2023. Since then, the partners have made significant progress preparing to build the world’s largest single-cell protein plant in Saudi Arabia based on Unibio’s patented vertical loop bioreactor technology.
The world needs innovators who collectively want to find a solution to providing food stability for future generations. We believe that our fermentation technology, which incorporates the most efficient reactor of its kind in gas fermentation, is ideal for Saudi Arabia. We are delighted to join with SIIG as a JV partner to bring industrial-scale fermentation to the Kingdom and look forward to working together to address an authentic problem – how to feed a growing population with minimal impact on the planet, said David Henstrom, CEO of Unibio.
Turning methane into feed
Unibio’s proprietary vertical loop bioreactor technology is a continuous-flow fermentation process that replicates nature, converting methane into Uniprotein, a high-quality, sustainable single-cell protein for animal feed.
Uniprotein has been tested successfully in various animal species. Non-GMO, free from pesticides, and fully traceable, it is approved for aquaculture in Saudi Arabia, for feed in the EU, and has additional registrations globally.
With its abundance of fossil gas, Saudi Arabia is seen as an ideal location to use Unibio’s unique fermentation technology to produce Uniprotein – using fossil methane as feedstock.
The plant, which will be located in Al Jubail, will have an initial annual production capacity of 50,000 tonnes of Uniprotein.
This facility will be the world’s largest single-cell protein facility. A gas allocation for the plant has been received from the Saudi Ministry of Energy, and the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu has nominated a site.
Plans are to increase to over 300,000 tonnes in the coming years, and the Uniprotein is expected to be sold both domestically and internationally. The plant aims to reduce Saudi Arabia’s dependency on imported animal feed.
The front-end engineering design (FEED) was completed in 2025, and construction of the plant is anticipated to commence in the second half of 2026, with commercialisation expected to start in 2028.
The project has also received strong support from several relevant Saudi Government entities.
We are excited to work on developing this project alongside our partner Unibio, and look forward to bringing sustainable protein production to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, our region, and the rest of the world. We see this as a strategic investment for our company and the long-term growth in shareholder value. Using Unibio’s technology, we aim to make Saudi Arabia the leader in single-cell protein production and improve food security for both Saudi Arabia and the world’s growing population, said Abdulrahman Alismail, Saudi Industrial Investment Group.
