Five food tech start-ups working on dairy-free alternatives

Half (51%) of European consumers are actively looking to reduce their dairy consumption, according to one pan-European study funded by the EU Smart Protein project in 2023, a major dietary shift fuelled by concerns around health, the environment and animal welfare.

But with questions raised​ about the extent to which some existing plant-based alternatives provide a solution, the race is on within food tech to develop a more viable option for consumers.

Here are five start-ups that believe their technology has the answer.

Faerm​

Danish biotech start-up Faerm says it’s now in a position to start to scale up production of its fermented vegan cheese, having secured a cash injection of €1.3m from research foundation The BioInnovation Institute in May.

The company combines food science and traditional dairy cheesemaking methods to produce what it says will be the next generation of plant-based cheeses.

Faerm does use soy milk in production but – unlike other plant-based cheese manufacturers using the ingredient – says it has found a way to use fermentation and maturation to coagulate it into cheese curds that mimic far more closely the texture of dairy cheese.

The company has already developed fresh mozzarella, brie, and cream cheese using soy, but plans to incorporate other legumes in the future for more nutritionally dense and soy-free cheeses. It is also licensing its patented technology to other companies.

ImaginDairy​

Israeli-based ImaginDairy hit a landmark moment in the commercialisation of its animal-free milk proteins earlier this year.

The start-up uses a combination of precision fermentation and a proprietary AI platform to create animal-free milk proteins that it says will allow manufacturers to offer cow-free, sustainable milk and dairy products with all the same nutritional values as dairy milk.

In January it confirmed that it had secured FDA approval​ for its whey milk protein in the form of a ‘No Questions Letter’. The tacit green light means the ingredient can be used at levels ranging from 5-35% in the US in products spanning milk, yoghurts, cheese, creams and spreads. The same month, the company said it had acquired its own industrial scale precision fermentation lines too, allowing it to sell its proteins at cost parity with dairy milk.

Co-founder and CEO Dr Eyal Afergan told FoodNavigator Europe in 2021​ that he believes the dual properties of precision fermentation, delivering on both functionality and nutrition, will see it become an important unlock for dairy-free sector. “It’s hard for people to make big changes, especially when it comes to the foods they enjoy, but when there’s an alternative with the same flavour and experience that is more aligned to their values, it becomes easy.

NewMoo​

After three years in stealth mode, Israeli start-up NewMoo​ officially came out of the shadows in May.  

The start-up uses molecular farming – a technology used by the pharmaceutical sector since the 1980s – to express animal proteins in plants like soy and create a liquid casein base that the company claims can mimic the functionality of milk in cheese production.

Caseins comprise about 80% of the protein in dairy milk, and so they’re considered the holy grail of milk structure by the dairy industry. NewMoo believes its animal-free caseins can be used to make any dairy product – including cheese.

“Our animal-free liquid caseins mimics all the functional traits of real milk protein for crafting cheese the traditional way,” said co-founder and CEO Daphna Miller “This means it can seamlessly replace dairy milk in any dairy cheese manufacturing facility without the need for any special equipment or reconfiguration of existing equipment.”

Senara​

German-based start-up Senara believes​ it is the first start-up to be working on cultivated dairy in Europe, having emerged from stealth mode at the end of December. Founded in 2022, the company has already secured a number of VC and angel investors, including PurpleOrange Ventures, Partners in Clime and Black Forest Business Angels.

Unlike other companies working on cultivated dairy, Senara doesn’t take cells directly from cows or other dairy-producing animals. Instead, it selects the cells it needs from the milk produced. This selection process, it says, enables the company to choose the most efficient cells and minimise intervention with the animals.

Using cell secretion as the final product “makes it more cost efficient in production compared to cultivated meat,” CEO Svenja Dannewitz told FoodNavigator Europe in December. “Which means with our technology we can really tackle the mass market for animal milk.”

Standing Ovation​

Founding in 2020, Paris-based start-up Standing Ovation have also developed a patented process to create non-animal caseins, this time using precision fermentation.

The company generates protein-producing microbes and feeds them with plant-based sugars in brewery-like fermentation chambers, before recovering and purifying the proteins. These are then combined with plant-based or mineral ingredients (lactose-free sugars and lipids) to create a product that’s suitable for traditional cheesemaking.

Standing Ovation say their purification step is one of the elements that makes their technology unique as it maximises the use of upstream production tools, and thus reduces the downtime of equipment and teams – accelerating production and reducing the overall cost.

In January, the company secured €2m in funding from the French government as part of its call for agri-food projects designed to improve resilience in the French food industry, part of its France 2030 Investment Plan.