{"id":131378,"date":"2023-09-06T07:10:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-06T05:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/?p=131378"},"modified":"2023-09-04T10:58:40","modified_gmt":"2023-09-04T08:58:40","slug":"agfundernews-round-table-do-the-economics-of-precision-fermentation-stack-up-for-animal-free-dairy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/agfundernews-round-table-do-the-economics-of-precision-fermentation-stack-up-for-animal-free-dairy\/","title":{"rendered":"AgFunderNews round table: Do the economics of precision fermentation stack up for animal-free dairy?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\">\n<figure class=\"alignright\" id=\"attachment_35772\"><a href=\"https:\/\/agfundernews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/bored-cow-animal-free-milk-e1687909320116.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/agfundernews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/bored-cow-animal-free-milk-e1687909320116-300x226.jpg\" alt=\"Bored Cow animal free dairy milk\" class=\"wp-image-35772\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><strong>\u00a9<\/strong> Tomorrow Farms<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>But is there a market for \u2018animal-free\u2019 dairy? Is making whey and casein via&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/agfundernews.com\/precision-fermentation-when-does-it-make-commercial-sense\">precision fermentation\u2014<\/a>the most advanced of the three methods outlined above\u2014commercially viable? And&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/agfundernews.com\/animal-free-dairy-term-needs-a-rethink-says-perfect-day\">how do you talk to consumers about dairy\u2026 without cows?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To discuss some of the challenges and opportunities in the nascent space,&nbsp;<em>AgFunderNews<\/em>&nbsp;caught up with five startups in the field:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Roni Zidon-Eyal<\/strong>, VP business development,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/agfundernews.com\/danone-invests-in-animal-free-dairy-startup-imagindairy\">Imagindairy<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>David Bucca,&nbsp;<\/strong>founder and CEO,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.changefoods.com\/\">Change Foods<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Christian Poppe,&nbsp;<\/strong>director global public affairs<strong>,&nbsp;<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/formo.bio\/\">Formo<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Jason Rosenberg,&nbsp;<\/strong>head of business development<strong>,&nbsp;<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/agfundernews.com\/animal-free-dairy-startup-remilk-hits-pause-on-worlds-largest-precision-fermentation-facility-plan-in-denmark\">Remilk&nbsp;<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Ben Berman,&nbsp;<\/strong>founder and CEO,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/agfundernews.com\/dairy-farmers-urge-fda-to-crack-down-on-animal-free-dairy-milk-labels\">Tomorrow Farms<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=bvXPeKd-9uw\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In our 45-minute round table event, recorded above, we discussed:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Manufacturing and scale up<\/strong>: How are firms addressing capacity challenges?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Financing<\/strong>: How tough is it to raise money in the current climate?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Economics<\/strong>: Do the economics of precision fermentation stack up for \u2018commodity\u2019 dairy proteins?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Competitive technologies:&nbsp;<\/strong>Do other approaches such as molecular farming make more sense?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Market drivers<\/strong>: Is animal-free dairy going to be driven by cool startups or by big CPG companies under pressure to reduce their carbon footprint?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Messaging<\/strong>: What messaging and language resonates with consumers? Do shoppers understand \u2018animal-free\u2019 dairy?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Sustainability<\/strong>: How sustainable is dairy from fermentation?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>B2b or b2c?<\/strong>&nbsp;What&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/agfundernews.com\/exclusive-perfect-day-to-sell-consumer-brands-so-it-can-focus-on-b2b-operations\">business models<\/a>&nbsp;make the most sense for startups in the field?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Regulations<\/strong>. How challenging is it to get animal-free dairy products onto the market?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Raising money<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bucca, Change Foods:&nbsp;<\/strong>\u201cThere\u2019s no denying that this is the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/agfundernews.com\/gfi-alt-protein-investor-survey-suggests-mood-of-cautious-optimism\">most difficult period right now<\/a>. When you\u2019re talking about venture capital, risk capital, and early-stage finance, that\u2019s where some of the reins have been pulled back. I think the LPs for many of the funds have just been more conservative and have failed to deploy this year, and then a lot of them are punting it to the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAnd then of course, we had the SVB [Silicon Valley Bank]&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.uw.edu\/news-events\/news\/2023\/svb-collapse\">crash<\/a>&nbsp;at the start of the year that caused a lot of concern. But it\u2019s cyclic, so in the next 12 to 18 months, I think there\u2019ll be some type of rebound in the markets, which will then change the sentiment, but it\u2019s about survival right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a case of cutting back, extending your runway, and finding investors that are deploying, or finding sources of funding that are driven by different incentives. And then there is government support as well. So for example we\u2019re part of the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.moec.gov.ae\/en\/nextgenfdi\">NextGen FDI initiative\u200b<\/a>\u200b [an initiative launched by the United Arab Emirates\u2019 Ministry of Economy designed to help high-tech businesses launch and scale from the UAE].\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Roni Zidon-Eyal, Imagindairy:&nbsp;<\/strong>\u201cIf you have to bet on an industry that will prevail, I would say it\u2019s the food tech industry, because this is a necessity. The past years and the pandemic really highlighted the fact that the future is not going to be a walk in the park in terms of supply chain, climate, and we have to do everything to make sure that we have supply of food around the globe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s why I think we\u2019ll see more funding going into this, [albeit] with more caution, which is actually good, because if companies are built on healthy foundations and deep technology, I hope they will withstand these difficult times. But CPGs definitely have a role to play. You have to put your money where your mouth is if you want to change the world and fix broken food systems. And in terms of government funding, governments subsidize dairy, so why not subsidize green technologies as well?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Who is the consumer for animal-free dairy milk?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Ben Berman, Tomorrow Farms:<\/strong>&nbsp;\u201cNumber one is folks that have already made the switch to plant-based and we believe for those customers, this is a very easy switch. With<a href=\"https:\/\/tryboredcow.com\/\">&nbsp;Bored Cow animal-free dairy milk<\/a>, we\u2019re already price competitive and for taste, nutrition and functionality, it\u2019s a very easy switch for those customers. Our data shows that once we get people to try it from that group, they\u2019re coming back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe second is the customer base that I fall into, which is folks who have not made the switch to plant-based but are searching for better alternatives to the foods they love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe final one is the core dairy milk drinker. And transparently\u2026 they are not going to switch over to animal free dairy right out of the gate\u2026. but long term we have the promise of being able to replace dairy by continuing to improve these products, getting to price parity, and offering people a more nutritious product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cPeople are choosing Bored Cow [now in 1,200 stores in the US] for three main reasons. Number one it tastes a lot better than any milk alternative on the market today. Number two is functionality. It froths and foams and cooks and bakes like real dairy milk. And finally, nutrition [Bored Cow milk has 8g protein, 3g sugar vs 12g in dairy milk, no lactose, plus vitamin A, D2, B12 and B2].\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Market drivers<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jason Rosenberg, Remilk:<\/strong>&nbsp;\u201cSustainability is not necessarily the driving factor for the consumer, but we do see that businesses care very much about it. And much of that stems from the fact that they have already made so many commitments either publicly or internally [to reduce carbon emissions] and the ingredients piece is often the hardest piece of the puzzle for many CPGs to fix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAnother piece of the puzzle is that dairy is an extremely volatile commodity and when we look down the road, there is a huge benefit in [being able to offer] stability over time, without fluctuations based on season, a pandemic, or supply chain problems.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Regulations<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Roni Zidon-Eyal, Imagindairy:&nbsp;<\/strong>\u201cIn Europe there is a clash between great awareness of sustainability\u2026 and on the other hand, this aversion from everything that uses genetic engineering, even if it\u2019s GMO-free.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Christian Poppe, Formo:<\/strong>&nbsp;\u201cIf there are residual amounts [of the genetically modified host microorganisms in the final product] at a level that would be relevant, then you would have a [regulatory] problem [in the EU]. Thankfully [companies making animal-free dairy via precision fermentation] will end up in the novel food drawer. There is also the GMO drawer [<a href=\"https:\/\/leap.unep.org\/countries\/eu\/national-legislation\/regulation-ec-no-18292003-european-parliament-and-council#:~:text=(EC)%20No.-,1829%2F2003%20of%20the%20European%20Parliament%20and%20of%20the%20Council,genetically%20modified%20food%20and%20feed.&amp;text=This%20Regulation%20aims%20at%20ensuring,genetically%20modified%20food%20and%20feed.\">regulation 1829\/2003<\/a>] that&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/open.efsa.europa.eu\/questions\/EFSA-Q-2019-00651\">Impossible Foods have found themselves in<\/a>&nbsp;[with heme proteins made by genetically engineered yeast], so at least to that extent, we will have an easier time [making purified dairy proteins].<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhile the EU novel food process should take around 18 months, we\u2019re probably talking about, let\u2019s say three years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Resource efficiency<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jason Rosenberg, Remilk:<\/strong>&nbsp;\u201c[With dairy cows], is&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.statista.com\/statistics\/1092652\/volume-of-water-to-produce-a-liter-of-milk-by-type\/#:~:text=A%20study%20based%20on%20the,used%20to%20produce%20soy%20milk.\">600 or 650 liters of water being converted to one liter of milk<\/a>&nbsp;an efficient conversion process? I think most of us don\u2019t really know how to assess that. But if you consider that milk is about 90% water, so 90% of that water is going into making 0.9 liters of milk, that\u2019s clearly inefficient, right? Just due to the efficiency of our microorganisms producing very specific molecules, we are extremely resource efficient [by comparison with cows].\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Animal-free messaging<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Ben Berman, Tomorrow Foods:&nbsp;<\/strong>\u201cWe use \u2018animal-free dairy milk\u2019 as the product identity statement on our package and we do it because we actually think it is the clearest way to describe what\u2019s inside. With [animal-free milk brand] Bored Cow, you\u2019re getting a dairy identical milk protein [beta lactoglobulin, a whey protein], it\u2019s real dairy, and we want people to know that, so we believe that describing it as animal free dairy milk is the best way to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cFrom a creative standpoint we\u2019re also telling a story that says cows have been working for us for tens of thousands of years and more recently, they\u2019ve been forced into factory farming. What if instead, we let them retire and roam free and pursue their passions, and maybe even be a little bit bored?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>But is there a market for \u2018animal-free\u2019 dairy? Is making whey and casein via&nbsp;precision fermentation\u2014the most advanced of the three methods outlined above\u2014commercially viable? And&nbsp;how do you talk to consumers about dairy\u2026 without cows? To discuss some of the challenges and opportunities in the nascent space,&nbsp;AgFunderNews&nbsp;caught up with five startups in the field: In our [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","nova_meta_subtitle":"Once upon a time, dairy proteins were made exclusively by lactating mammals. These days, you can produce them in genetically engineered plants or microbes, or even lactating mammary cells grown in a bioreactor","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572],"tags":[5838,17212,16736],"supplier":[22672,22676,22673,22675,22674],"class_list":["post-131378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bio-based","tag-bioeconomy","tag-dairy","tag-vegan","supplier-change-foods","supplier-formo","supplier-imagindairy","supplier-remilk","supplier-tomorrow-farms"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131378\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131378"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=131378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}