A version of this article was originally published in Protein Production Technology International
As I’ve written before the most vulnerable animal agriculture industry to new technologies is the dairy industry. The Dairy industry is a complex web of products from whole milk to cheese to infant formula, whey protein, and high value products like Lactoferrin.
It already operates on a knife edge of profitability, with cheese being the saviour of the industry given its huge rise in consumption and that it takes 10 litres of milk to make 1 kilo of cheese. For instance, fluid milk consumption in the US declined by nearly a third from 2000 to 2022, a disaster without the concurrent 45 % increase in cheese consumption.
But in the background over the last 5 years there’s been an explosion in companies developing and/or offering alternatives to many animal grown dairy products. This rapid growth in companies and technologies does not bode well for the dairy industry as they often target high value milk components, further demonetising the cow.
At one time whey, a byproduct of cheesemaking, was a problem waste product costing money to dispose of, not the saleable product it is today. This product now has competition from numerous other technologies and companies. This raises the question of what happens if whey protein again becomes a cost, not a profit centre?
One of the technologies competing with animal produced whey is precision fermentation. This is where the gene for whey or another protein is inserted into a microorganism and that microbe expresses the protein.
Some companies in the whey protein space include:
- Perfect Day in the US was one of the first to enter the market using precision fermentation and has raised over USD840 million. It has a development agreement and funding from ingredients giant ADM. In 2020 they received a “no questions/objections” letter from the FDA in response to its self affirmed Generally recognised as Safe (GRAS) determination.
- Vivici in the Netherlands was founded by ingredients giant DSM-Firmenich and dairy giant Fonterra. An example of a traditional dairy company entering the space.
- Remilk in Israel is another company who has received a “Letter of no Objection” from the FDA for its precision fermentation whey protein as well as approval in Singapore and Israel. It’s raised over USD120 million so far.
- Imagindairy is another Israeli company with self-affirmed GRAS status in the US and it recently teamed up with Ginkgo Bioworks to further develop its precision fermentation microbial strains.
And these are just the tip of the iceberg with other companies such as Australia’s Eden Brew and Cauldron, New Zealand’s Daisy Labs, France’s Bon Vivant and many more, all entering the fray.
As I mentioned above, cheese has been the saviour of the dairy industry and alternative cheeses have been, to be kind, a little lacking in performance. But no longer! Enter companies making casein, the protein which makes cheese stretchy and delicious, again using precision fermentation.
Some companies in the casein protein space include:
- Fooditive in the Netherlands has scaled its precision fermentation product to supply its European customers with casein.
- New Culture in the US has received GRAS status to commercialise its precision fermentation animal free mozzarella. It recently partnered with South Korean Biotech giant CJ CheilJedang to reduce its casein production costs and achieve a competitive price for pizza manufacturers.
- Germany’s Formo and Those Vegan Cowboys have joined forces to accelerate their precision fermentation casein production.
Again these are just the tip of the iceberg with companies like Austrian Fermify raising 6 million Euros last year and again Daisy Labs and Bon Vivant and another French company Standing Ovation in the race.
While the above are all precision fermentation companies there’re many differences in their technologies and business models. This variety is a positive for the industry as it gives many opportunities for success rather than having all the microbes in one basket as it were.
And as if this isn’t enough there are several other technologies competing with animal grown dairy products. But you’ll have to wait until next issue to see what they are and the end ramifications for the Dairy industry. One thing’s for certain, precision fermentation and other technologies won’t stand still in the next 3 months, so watch this space.