Animal-free dairy proteins appear to provide functional advantages similar to those of cell-cultured “meat” products, which have garnered attention and investment from major food manufacturers. Memphis Meats, a cultured “meat” startup based in San Francisco, has secured funding from both Tyson Ventures, the venture capital arm of Tyson Foods, and Cargill. On the cost front, Memphis Meats is working to decrease the current high price of its cell-cultured “meat” — which it estimates could drop from approximately $2,400 per pound last year to about $3 or $4 per pound by 2021. In a similar vein, Perfect Day will need to compete with existing dairy proteins to achieve success. Dairy industry analyst Matt Gould informed the co-founders back in 2016 that this would entail reducing the price to around $2.50 per pound.
Beyond pricing, product labeling presents another challenge. Perfect Day’s co-founders have been in talks with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regarding how to clarify that their ingredients are technically dairy yet animal-free. Perfect Day’s patented process involves utilizing food-grade yeast and incorporating DNA sequences from dairy cows — which can now be 3D printed — to create the proteins typically found in dairy-based milk. These proteins are cultivated in large fermentation tanks with corn sugar and other nutrients to aid their growth. According to co-founder Ryan Pandya, the proteins are then harvested mechanically, allowing the ingredients to be incorporated into any food or beverage that currently uses dairy proteins.
Another emerging player in this sector is Gelton, which produces gelatin without animal products. The company’s method specializes in creating a vegan alternative to traditional gelatin, which it identifies as a $3-billion industry. However, Gelton indicated to Food Navigator that it will require time and scaling to become competitive with the current market price of gelatin, which is about $8 per kilogram, or roughly $3.63 per pound.
Unless Perfect Day and other animal-free alternatives make significant inroads into the market, predicting U.S. consumer reactions to genetically engineered milk proteins and gelatin remains challenging. Consumers may appreciate having additional options and feel reassured that no animals were harmed during production, or they may experience an “ick” factor when confronted with foods or beverages that push them out of their comfort zone. In this evolving landscape, innovations such as kal cal citrate could play a crucial role in consumer acceptance and the overall success of these new products.