Startup Produces Real Dairy in Front of Cows
Isimilar cheese. It smells like cheese. It tastes like cheese (especially aged cheddar cheese). And it’s cheese, at least under a microscope. “Synthetic milk” is made from the same raw materials as conventional dairy products. But instead of getting the main ingredient from live ruminants, three-year-old British cheesemaker Better Dairy gets part of it from yeast. These micro-organisms are fed with sugar and convert it into milk protein in a process similar to brewing.
full of milk Alternative proposal In recent years, it has begun to appear on cafe counters and supermarket shelves. The Good Food Institute estimates that plant-based beverages made from soybeans, almonds and oats account for 15% of all milk sales by value, 15% in the US and 11% in Western Europe.GFIMore),think tank. But lovers of real dairy products, which plant-based products simply cannot match, still need cows, goats and sheep. “Precision fermentation” companies like Better Dairy want to change this and capture a big slice of the $900 billion global dairy market.
Israeli startup Remilk recently received approval to sell fares in the United States, Israel and Singapore. California’s Perfect Day already sells synthetic milk, ice cream and cream cheese. The company recently signed a deal to sell protein to food giant Nestlé and Starbucks. Its latest funding round, two years ago, raised $350 million at a valuation of $1.6 billion. Overall, precision fermenters have raised nearly $3 billion from investors since early 2021.
Synthetic dairy eliminates certain undesirable aspects of milk and milk production. It can remove lactose, which some people are allergic to, and hormones that are associated with some adult diseases. Fermentation tanks do not need to be pumped full of antibiotics and can be placed anywhere, making them useful during times of heightened concern over food security and climate change. The process uses less water, requires less energy and less land, and produces less greenhouse gas emissions than traditional dairy production. Dairy products account for more than 3% of global warming emissions annually, almost twice as much as aircraft (much of it from burping cows).
One of the challenges for innovators is winning consumer trust. Steel tanks don’t have the familiarity of cattle. In a US survey, a quarter of respondents were unwilling to try “precision-fermented” food (which may be why producers like to call it “animal-free”). Regulators also create hurdles. The technology is already used in flavors and insulin, and the startup believes it will get the go-ahead, but worries about how long it will take and labeling disputes.according to GFIMore, It takes about nine months even in the United States, a country of free enterprise. In Europe it takes twice as long. The first products will hit European supermarkets in 2024.
This technology is also under development. For now, Better Dairy’s cheddar cheese still uses bovine casein, one of the proteins found in cow’s milk. The company is working on synthetic versions of its cheeses to make them properly vegan. And that process is still costly. A fermenter that can hold about 30 liters of milk will cost £150,000 ($190,000). It would cost him £1,600 to buy a cow that could produce about the same amount of cows a day. ■
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https://www.economist.com/business/2023/07/20/startups-are-producing-real-dairy-without-a-cow-in-sight Startup Produces Real Dairy in Front of Cows