World’s largest mozzarella maker Leprino Foods to commercialize animal-free casein from Dutch startup Fooditive Group

Colorado-based Leprino Foods, the world’s largest manufacturer of mozzarella cheese, has struck a global licensing deal with Dutch startup Fooditive Group giving the dairy giant exclusive rights to produce casein made via Fooditive’s precision fermentation platform.

Leprino Foods—which is also a leading supplier of micellar casein, lactose, and whey protein—will have exclusive worldwide rights to market and distribute the animal-free casein proteins for use in cheese and a nonexclusive worldwide license to market and distribute them for other food applications such as beverages, yogurts, desserts, creamers, snack bars, and sports nutrition products.

Leprino Foods: ‘Conventional agriculture alone cannot feed the world’s population’

Leprino Foods president Mike Durkin told AgFunderNews: “Our intent is to produce animal-free casein in volumes that exceed hundreds of thousands of tons over the coming years. We will begin to scale up in the tens of thousands of tons in the coming year and expand as the market demand dictates at one of our US plant locations.”

He did not say how Leprino believed products containing animal-free dairy ingredients should be pitched to consumers, but said the company views them as “complementary, not a replacement, to conventional dairy products. With that said it is our belief that conventional agriculture alone cannot feed the world’s population in the next decades to come and that cost affordable, nutritionally equivalent options are imperative.

“We believe the technologies like precision fermentation can help achieve that goal.”

Asked what attracted the company to Fooditive, Leprino “follows and tracks over three dozen start-ups in the synthetic biology space” added Durkin. “Fooditive stands out in the maturity of its genetic development and in its shared philosophy of being able to feed the world’s population in a sustainable, affordable, fashion.”

All four casein proteins

Founded in Rotterdam in 2018, Fooditive Group is one of several startups genetically engineering microbes to express dairy proteins but sets itself apart by using proprietary bacterial strains “specifically designed for superior productivity, yield, and titer,” CEO Moayad Abushokhedim told AgFunderNews.

“These advanced strains allow us to maximize casein production efficiency, ensuring we deliver high-quality proteins at a competitive cost,” added Abushokhedim, who said the company has proved it can make all four casein proteins (alpha-s1, alpha-s2, beta, kappa) via precision fermentation.

While some startups in this space have homed in on one or two casein proteins, he said, Fooditive believes that making all four “is crucial to replicate the functional and nutritional properties found in traditional dairy casein, ensuring our products deliver the same high quality and performance that consumers and manufacturers expect.”

Fooditive has strategic collaborations with CDMOs (Contract Development and Manufacturing Organizations) and third-party production facilities with a focus on research, development, and initial market testing at “small to medium scale,” said Durkin.

Looking ahead, “Leprino Foods will commence larger-scale manufacturing of our casein proteins,” said Abushokhedim, who said the firm plans to submit a GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) determination to the FDA in Q4, 2024.

“This significant expansion will enable us to introduce our innovative casein proteins into commercially available dairy products, meeting growing demand and expanding our market reach.”

“This agreement highlights our ability to innovate and adapt swiftly to emerging trends and technologies. This innovation not only can enhance our range, but also holds the promise of reducing the environmental footprint across the supply chain, all while maintaining the highest standards of product functionality, quality, taste and texture.” Mike Durkin, president, Leprino Foods Company

What is ‘animal-free’ dairy?

There is no formal definition of ‘animal-free’ dairy. But it typically refers to products made with ‘real’ dairy ingredients such as whey and casein proteins that are produced without cows, either via genetically engineered microbes or crops.

Using synthetic biology, firms in the precision fermentation space use DNA sequences like pieces of computer code to instruct plants or microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi or yeast to express animal proteins.

Making dairy products without cows, argue animal-free dairy advocates, offers the best of both worlds: more sustainable and ethical products that don’t involve industrialized animal agriculture, but still deliver the nutrition and functionality of ‘real’ dairy such as melty, stretchy cheese, which is hard to make with plant proteins.

Key players in dairy via precision fermentation include US-based Perfect Day, New Culture and Change Foods; Israel-based Imagindairy and Remilk; Germany-based Formo; Belgium-based Those Vegan Cowboys; France-based Bon Vivant and Standing Ovation; The Netherlands-based Vivici and Fooditive; Denmark and uS-based 21st.Bio; Australia-based Eden Brew; India-based Zero Cow Factory; Spain-based Real Deal Milk; UK-based Better Dairy, and South Africa-based De Novo Foodlabs.

The challenge for many of these startups has been scaling up at a time when venture funds are reluctant to fund capex projects and banks are unwilling to back projects without greater market validation.

As for market penetration, it’s still very early days, with a smattering of small brands testing the water from Strive FREEMILK and Bored Cow, although CPG giants Unilever (click here) and Nestlé (click here) have recently entered the space via larger brands (Breyers and Orgain).

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