FeedKind (Chongqing plant) by Calysta: status and timeline

Milestones

Next · Fund upgrades and restart production

FDA GRAS: up to 18% of salmonid feedFeb 2023Complete.
Chongqing plant switched on (20,000 t/yr)Oct 2022Complete.
China grants full approval for fish and shrimp feedJan 2024Complete.
First dog food with FeedKind Pet launched (Europe)27 Feb 2025Complete.
Chongqing production suspended for technical upgrades2025Complete.
Fund upgrades and restart productionNowCurrent milestone.

Most important updates

Adisseo ends financial support for Calysseo as the FeedKind plant in Chongqing stays suspended4 Jul 2026
Calysta names Berend Jan Kingma CEO as it seeks funding to restart FeedKind production1 Jul 2026
Marsapet launches MicroBell, the first dog food made with FeedKind Pet protein27 Feb 2025
China fully approves Calysta's methane-based FeedKind protein for fish and shrimp feed31 Jan 2024
Calysseo switches on the first industrial-scale FeedKind plant in Chongqing, China21 Oct 2022

Current obstacles

Plant stopped, funding gapCalysseo lacks working capital to finish upgrades; the Chongqing plant has been idle and Adisseo will not lend more.
Downstream processingCalysta says its first priority is debottlenecking the step that separates and dries the cells.

Physics limits

Methane and oxygen barely dissolve in waterBacteria can only eat gas that has dissolved, and both gases are poorly soluble. Pumping and mixing hard enough costs energy and caps how fast a reactor of a given size can grow protein.
Growth makes heatTurning methane into cells releases a lot of heat, which must be removed continuously; cooling becomes a large part of plant cost as reactors get bigger.

How it works

4 parts

Feed

Methane, oxygen and minerals

A naturally occurring bacterium is given methane gas as its carbon source, plus oxygen and nutrients, in a closed fermenter.

Grow

Gas pumped round a U-loop

The broth circulates through a U-shaped loop reactor so the gases dissolve quickly and the bacteria keep multiplying year-round.

Dry

Cells become protein meal

Cells are separated from the broth and dried into a meal; this downstream step is the plant's current bottleneck.

Use

Fish, shrimp and pet food

FeedKind replaces fishmeal or soy in aquafeed; it has been validated in shrimp, seabass and salmon trials.

Spec sheet

Spec	FeedKind (Chongqing plant)
Chongqing design capacity	20,000 t a year^R (reported)
Feedstock	Methane (natural gas)^R (reported)
Reactor	Patented U-loop fermenter^R (reported)
Allowed in salmon feed (FDA)	Up to 18% of the diet^R (reported)
Calysseo revenue 2025	US$0.71M (net loss US$15.5M)^R (reported)
JV total investment	US$80M^R (reported)

^R reported by the company

Update log

5 updates

About Calysta

The team behind FeedKind (Chongqing plant)

Calysta

FeedKind protein from methane-eating bacteria

San Mateo company that grows bacteria on methane gas and dries them into FeedKind, a protein for fish, shrimp and pet food. Its joint-venture plant in Chongqing, China, is halted for upgrades.

Calysseo, a 50:50 JV with Adisseo, built a 20,000 t/yr FeedKind plant in Chongqing (2022).
Plant halted for upgrades; Adisseo stopped funding the JV in July 2026.
New CEO Berend Jan Kingma from July 2026; co-founder Alan Shaw is chairman.

calysta.com (opens calysta.com)Company profile →

Headquarters: United States
Status: Private
Valuation: private
Works in: AgricultureFermented proteins
Coverage: 1 program · 5 updateslatest 4 Jul 2026checked 11 Oct
Customers: Marsapet
Partners: Adisseo
Investors: BP
People: Berend Jan KingmaCEO (from July 2026)Alan ShawCo-founder, non-executive chairman

FeedKind (Chongqing plant)

Milestones

Most important updates

Current obstacles

Physics limits

How it works

Methane, oxygen and minerals

Gas pumped round a U-loop

Cells become protein meal

Fish, shrimp and pet food

Spec sheet

Update log

Sat 4 Jul

Wed 1 Jul

Thu 27 Feb 2025

Wed 31 Jan 2024

Fri 21 Oct 2022

About Calysta

Current obstacles

Physics limits

How it works

Methane, oxygen and minerals

Gas pumped round a U-loop

Cells become protein meal

Fish, shrimp and pet food

Spec sheet

Update log

Sat 4 Jul

Wed 1 Jul

Thu 27 Feb 2025

Wed 31 Jan 2024

Fri 21 Oct 2022

About Calysta