A startup that makes 'real' milk and ice-cream without cows will soon launch its own cream cheese

The startup is already seeking regulatory approval in Canada, India, and Europe.Shutterstock

What if there was an alternative to plant-based milk products and cow's milk, which was practically the same as the latter — but without having to exploit animals to produce it? 

That's what California-based company Perfect Day has been working on, using mushrooms to produce milk protein that's "molecularly identical" to that found in cow's milk. 

That means it can be used to make dairy products like cheese and yogurt. 

"We were interested in the question of what is in milk ... that gives it incredible versatility and nutrition that is somehow missing from the plant-based milks," co-founder of Perfect Day Ryan Pandya told CNN.

The company isolated the gene for whey protein in cow's milk and introduced it to a fungus. 

When the mushroom is grown in fermentation tanks, it produces whey protein, which is then filtered and dried into a powder that is used in products like cheese and ice cream.

"[It's for] people who still love dairy, but want to feel better about it for themselves, for the planet, and for the animal," Pandya explained.

The only catch with this new product is that, though the Perfect Day protein doesn't contain lactose, hormones, or cholesterol, it's not suitable for those with dairy allergies. 

That said, the product is also better for the environment where greenhouse gases are concerned — by removing cows from the equation, milk production is "much more efficient" according to Pandya. 

The production of Perfect Day's milk results in a 97% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions when compared with conventional dairy products.

Food technology as an engine for positive change

Perfect Day isn't the only food tech startup making alternative dairy products is the future.

Grounded Foods has been making vegan cheese from hemp and cauliflower that goes unsold in supermarkets for an irregular appearance or for not being quite as fresh, which also helps combat food waste.

Biomedical and chemical engineer Ryan Pandya (left) and biomedical engineer Perumal Gandhi (right) founded Perfect Day in 2014.Perfect Day

According to figures from non-profit organization the Good Food Institute, $590 million were invested in fermented alternative proteins in 2020.

Perfect Day is already reaching an international market, with its protein used in Hong Kong Ice Age ice creams.

The company is currently working on developing cream cheese, estimated to be launched in late 2021 according to Pandya.

The startup is already seeking regulatory approval in Canada, India, and Europe.

"We're developing the kinder, greener way to make your favorite foods starting in the dairy aisle, and we can't do that alone," he said.

Providing a flexible energy solution to the UK dairy industry

When an international dairy manufacturer was looking to reduce operational costs, curb carbon emissions and secure energy supply for one of its UK production facilities, installing a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) system seemed to be the logical energy solution.

However, with the future of some site project lines subject to review, an energy solution that was flexible to change was required. As such, Aggreko’s specialist services were called upon to provide an innovative Hired Energy as a Service (HEaaS) model to meet the company’s needs.

According to statistics from Kantar, cow’s milk remains a staple food product – still purchased by a staggering 98% of British households as of January 2021. Cheese and butter consumption grew by 48% and 69% respectively during lockdown – a clear indication that the nation’s appetite for dairy products remains as voracious as ever.

However, the process of converting unpasteurised milk into supermarket-ready products can be energy-intensive and involves some highly technical procedures. As dairy consumption continues to rise, a lack of energy provision is becoming a concern for some manufacturers.

With commitments to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050, many operators are looking to re-double their efforts to go green by optimising energy usage in their production facilities.

Combined heat and power systems

When a leading dairy manufacturer wanted to increase the operational efficiency of their UK production plant, a Combined Heat and Power system was proposed as an energy solution.

A fully integrated CHP system could prove a significant development in the manufacturer’s aim of sustainable practice. On average, CHP systems can achieve around 75% efficiency. This is a stark improvement over the national average of 50% when heat and power are provided separately and could be key to meeting burgeoning demand for dairy products.

Challenges

All signs pointed towards installing a CHP system, though there remained one major caveat. The manufacturer’s parent company was divided on the future of some of the site’s product lines, meaning major capital expenditure had been temporarily frozen – rendering the outright purchase of a CHP system impossible.

As one of the company’s primary production facilities in the UK, the site’s needs were significant, with consistent demands of 5MWe of power and 10MWt of steam at 10 bar.

With the facility required to be in 24-hour operation, prospective solutions would also have to be robust enough to function continually. Given the financial circumstances and energy demand of the site, a HEaaS model could prove a suitable solution.

A lack of space was also an issue. Limited room between the site’s gas supply and the area stipulated for any potential solution meant the eventual recommended system would have to be compact. Further exacerbating these already limiting factors, connection points to the HV switch room were few and far between, meaning that establishing a link to the CHP system could prove a difficulty.

Hired energy as a service – The solution

With the installation of a CHP system developing into more of a challenge than first thought, Aggreko were called upon to identify a solution that could be both comprehensive and flexible.

Keith continued: “It was quickly established that a two-year rental in an HEaaS model would be the best way forward, allowing a CHP system to be installed and meet energy needs despite the freeze on capex.

“A short-term lease also afforded the operators the choice of whether to renew the contract or not in line with the final decision on the future of the project lines. This kind of flexibility provides an unrivalled sense of security when looking to deal with both short and long-term challenges.”

Aggreko delivered two J420C gas fired generators, two 415/11kV transformers and an exhaust gas steam boiler to provide 2.8MWe and around 20% of the site’s steam requirement. Two HV switches were also installed, allowing the CHP system to connect to the mains power supply and operate under G99 and G100 regulations.

As flexibility was a key consideration, all of the equipment would be housed within standard 20-foot containers, allowing it to be easily transported and then installed or uninstalled at short notice.

The UK dairy industry is benefiting from the use of innovative energy solutions such as combined heat and power – image courtesy of APS 208100252

This also allowed the equipment to be installed in the ideal location, despite the limited space afforded. Vitally, by adopting a modular approach, scope was also provided for an expansion of the CHP system should the project lines be renewed.

Keith concluded: “By opting for a HEaaS installation in the interim, we were able to meet energy demands and achieve an instant reduction in carbon emissions though some of the site was under review.

Crucially, by employing hired, modular solutions, we’ve also ensured that there is capacity for the system to be easily expanded, adapted or uninstalled in line with the project’s future requirements.”

Lab-grown dairy is the future of milk, researchers say

Startups are joining the race to create first imitation cow’s milk by artificially reproducing proteins in curds and whey

For decades, people on plant-based diets were restricted to soya-based options to recreate dairy, until veganism went mainstream and a clutch of palate-pleasing almond, coconut and oat-based alternatives emerged. Last week, Swedish scientists launched a potato milk, equally lauded for its sustainability credentials and criticised for deriving from a humdrum carbohydrate. The holy grail now – according to researchers – is genuine dairy milk, made in a lab.

A growing number of startups from Silicon Valley to Singapore are rapidly joining the race to create the first imitation cow’s milk, based on artificially reproducing the proteins in curds (casein) and whey, that is suitable for mass market consumption.

Scientists say it will recreate dairy’s authentic mouthfeel and temperature resistance, and constitute the perfect texture for vegan cheese, capable of melting just like the real thing.

The quest is big business, with the dairy alternatives market among the fastest growing of all packaged foods, and worth £2.5bn in western Europe in 2020-21, according to new figures from Euromonitor. In the UK, the market has grown by 69% over the past five years, with non-soya-based milks increasing by 129%.

The barrier, according to Marite Cardenas, a researcher at Malmö University working on casein protein, is that mimicking the proteins found in cow’s milk to create lab-grown dairy is a “biotechnological challenge”.

It’s usually done by giving microorganisms a genetic code that enables them to produce real milk proteins through a precision fermentation process – but this is difficult to do on the large scale required for manufacturing.

Cardenas thinks recreating animal products will enable the food traditions many countries are proud of, such as cheese-making, to endure the societal shift to a more plant-based diet.

Mainstream consumers are also more likely to adopt plant-based products if they are as tasty as the real thing, said Mike Leonard, chief technology officer at Motif FoodWorks, which is working with several universities to develop better plant-based foods. “Most of our current options just don’t cut it in terms of an eating experience,” he said.

The only company to have brought protein fermentation-based products to market so far is Perfect Day, a Silicon Valley-based startup. It developed the first whey protein from cow’s milk, and now sells its products across 5,000 stores in the US.

Chief executive and co-founder Ryan Pandya said his company was born out of a desire to figure out “what makes milk, milk”.

He and his co-founders discovered that milk proteins, whey and casein, were the secret: “These complex molecules are perfectly structured to deliver dairy’s unique taste and texture. It’s ideal for providing a rich, creamy, smooth, and indulgent eating experience and excels in product applications requiring solubility, gelation, water-binding, foaming, heat stability, and emulsification.”

The problem is that the price remains prohibitively high for many consumers, at about £8 for a 550ml tub of Perfect Day ice-cream.

This is a focus for another startup, New Culture, which is currently developing mozzarella cheese that melts perfectly for pizza using fermented protein-based milk. Chief scientist Inja Radman said the company has progressed enormously over the past two years in technological terms, but scaling this up to commercial manufacturing levels remains a challenge due to the slow process of running trials.

“Despite precision fermentation being around for well over 30 years now, it was typically used to make proteins that are not used in large amounts in their final applications – think enzymes for detergents or insulin. Only in the last five to 10 years has work been done to further extend this technology to food protein production,” she said.

But she predicted that in the future, as the technology develops and governments shift subsidies away from industrial farming, companies like hers will be a cheaper option.

This is likely to be sped up by the entry of big consumer companies, such as Nestlé and Danone, which are buying lab-grown dairy startups, as well as investment banks “pouring money” into the industry, said Euromonitor’s Maria Mascaraque.

Mascaraque said in the next couple of years the focus is likely to remain on newer ingredients such as potatoes, which are cheap and sustainable, and peas, which are high in protein, and different ways to blend these to make them tastier, but she predicted that in the next 10 years, when it has become more affordable, lab-grown dairy would become the most popular choice.

However, Thomas Sanders, emeritus professor of nutrition at King’s College London, cautioned that any future dairy alternatives must avoid replicating the “ultra processed junk food” currently available on the market and seek to recreate the nutritional value of cow’s milk by adding in B12, riboflavin, calcium. “It doesn’t really matter what adults put in their coffee but I would have concerns about giving [some plant-based] milks to young children,” he said.

This article was corrected on 31 July 2021. Inja Radman is the chief scientist, not chief executive, of New Culture, and is a woman, not a man as previous pronouns suggested.