Imagindairy, an Israeli synthetic biology company, has scaled up milk protein production at prices comparable to traditional dairy products
One of the challenges for synthetic biology startups is choosing a product that has a large market volume but a low unit price, or a relatively small niche product that can command a higher premium.
Low unit price products can rely on policies or net zero demand to promote performance in the short term, but in order to compete with traditional suppliers in the long term, the problem needs to be solved is better cost control to its equivalent, typical is synthetic biology companies related to dairy products, cell culture meat and so on.
Imagindairy, an Israeli synthetic biology company, recently announced that it has started industrial-scale trial production at prices comparable to traditional dairy products.
Recently, the company will acquire an industrial-scale plant in the Middle East that will allow it to produce 100,000 liters, and it plans to triple this output in the next one to two years.
Products of Imagindairy
Founded in 2020, Imagindairy produces sustainable, animal-free milk protein beta-lactoglobulin through precision fermentation. Following a self-confirmation of Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) status in August 2023, the ingredient received FDA regulatory approval two weeks ago in the form of a “No doubt” letter.
Imagindairy’s β-lactoglobulin produced through an AI-led microbiome based production method, using a microbe called Aspergillus oryzae. It is a fungus of the genus Aspergillus, a microbe commonly used in both traditional brewing and modern fermentation industries (for example, Aspergillus is commonly used in liquor koji, and it is also used in soy sauce, tempeh and miso).
In addition to this, it is also studying other proteins, including casein (which makes up 80% of the protein content in dairy products) and other whey proteins, such as α-alpha-whey protein (which makes up about 25% of bovine whey content).
The secret to achieving cost parity with traditional dairy products
Dr. Eval Afergan, co-founder and CEO of lmagindairy, said: “Cost parity has always been the main goal of Imagindairy, and the new company’s existing dairy prototype formulations, based on the proteins we produce, are comparable to or even cheaper than traditional dairy products.
Low costs start with scaling up, with magindairy claiming to be the first company in the industry to fully own and operate its own industrial-scale production line (Perfect Day recently bought production facilities from a former biotech company in India, while Remilk has suspended plans to build its own manufacturing facility in Denmark).
Dr. Eval Afergan, co-founder and CEO of lmagindairy, said: “The owned facilities not only tailored to the products produced, but also give the company full control over the production process, the quality of the raw materials and the flexibility to expand according to our own conditions.
At the same time, this feat (reducing costs) not achieved by scaling up alone. One of the key advantages of our ability to optimize sustainable, non-animal milk protein development is the integration of our proprietary artificial intelligence platform into the precision fermentation process.
It has proven to increase protein production and support more efficient supply, and combining manufacturing facilities allows us to integrate optimized processes across the value chain to further reduce costs.
According to a study funded by Formo last year, precision fermented dairy products would account for a third of the total dairy market if prices were affordable. Even at a 25% price premium, it can capture 22% of the market.
Source of information:
- [1] https://www.dairyreporter.com/Article/2024/01/18/Imagindairy-on-FDA-nod-industrialization-and-cost-parity-with-dairy
- [2] https://www.greenqueen.com.hk/imagindairy-facility-precision-fermentation-dairy-price-parity/