Cheese without the dairy cow – it will soon be possible thanks to companies like Change Foods, which is using fermentation-based cellular agriculture to produce dairy products from cells.
Change Foods uses a precision fermentation technique to modify microorganisms such as yeast and fungi to produce compounds found in animal products. The compounds, such as casein which is found in milk, are almost bio-identical to those found in dairy. Production takes about a week, following which these compounds are combined with plant-based ingredients to create end products like cheese.
Australian-based Founder and CEO of Change Foods, Dave Bucca, established the company after wanting to find a way to address the dual issues of climate change and animal welfare. Queensland University of Technology Associate Professor Junior Te’o joined as co-founder to help develop the company’s fermentation techniques.
Bucca says Change Foods is focusing on cheddar and mozzarella cheese as its first products, with an aim to come to market by 2022.
READ MORE: Change Foods Creates Cheese Through Fermentation [The Spoon]