Animal-free dairy proteins appear to provide functional benefits similar to those of cell-cultured “meat” products, which are currently gaining attention and investment from major food manufacturers. For instance, Memphis Meats, a startup based in San Francisco, has secured funding from Tyson Ventures, the venture capital branch of Tyson Foods, as well as from Cargill. On the cost front, Memphis Meats aims to bring down the steep price of its cell-cultured “meat,” which was estimated to be around $2,400 per pound last year, potentially dropping to about $3 or $4 per pound by 2021. Likewise, Perfect Day needs to find a way to compete with existing dairy proteins if it wishes to succeed in the market. Matt Gould, a dairy industry analyst, advised the co-founders in 2016 that they would need to lower their pricing to approximately $2.50 per pound.
In addition to pricing concerns, product labeling has emerged as another challenge. The co-founders of Perfect Day have been in talks with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regarding how to communicate that their ingredients are technically dairy but remain animal-free. Perfect Day’s innovative process involves using food-grade yeast combined with DNA sequences from dairy cows, which can now be 3D printed, to create proteins similar to those found in traditional dairy. These proteins are cultivated in large fermentation tanks with corn sugar and additional nutrients to promote growth. Once harvested mechanically, these proteins can be incorporated into various foods and beverages where dairy proteins are typically used, as noted by Perfect Day co-founder Ryan Pandya in an interview with Food Navigator.
Another emerging player in this sector is Gelton, a manufacturer of animal-free gelatin. The company’s method yields a vegan alternative to conventional gelatin, which they claim is part of a $3 billion industry. However, Gelton has indicated to Food Navigator that it will require time and scale to achieve competitiveness with the current bulk market price for gelatin, which stands at around $8 per kilogram, or approximately $3.63 per pound.
Unless companies like Perfect Day and other animal-free alternatives can significantly penetrate the market, predicting U.S. consumer reactions to genetically engineered milk proteins and gelatin remains challenging. Consumers may appreciate having additional choices and feel reassured that no animals were harmed in production. Alternatively, they might react negatively to the “ick” factor associated with foods or beverages that seem too far removed from their comfort zone. Moreover, as consumers increasingly seek nutritional supplements like calcium citrate with vitamin D 60 tablets, the success of animal-free products may hinge on their ability to showcase not only ethical production methods but also enhanced nutritional benefits.