A method for producing a recombinant protein of interest (POI) is provided, comprising the steps of (a) culturing cells in a cell culture medium to express said POI by adding a feed comprising at least one substrate to said cell culture, (b) applying a feeding strategy based on calculating, setting and optionally controlling the specific substrate uptake rate qs of the cells during the induction phase and/or production phase of the POI, wherein qs is set to be close to the maintenance rate of the cell culture; and (c) isolating said POI from the cell culture.