IDM ¦ Ingredients
Nature-identical
milk proteins
The concept of LegenDairy Foods
Berlin-based start-up LegenDairy
Foods, which is working on the
fermentative production of milk
proteins, does not see itself as
a direct competitor of the dairy
industry. As the founder and head of the
company, Raffael Wohlgensinger, explained
in mid-February at a webinar "Cheese and
Co. from the Fermenter. How does it work?"
organised by the German Dairy Industry Association
MIV, original dairy will stand alongside
plant-based alternatives and natureidentical
milk ingredients from fermentation
in the long term. Which area will hold or
gain which market share is, of course, an
open question. A study by a packaging company
predicts a market share of between 2
and 50% for nature-identical proteins in the
long term, depending on further developments.
In any case, dairy farming as well as
dairies and cheese dairies will not disappear.
Market acceptance
LegenDairy Foods has launched its own market
acceptance study in which 6,000 consumers
in six countries were surveyed (the subject
of the question was a "LegenDairy Mozzarella",
the GMO production process was
mentioned in the introduction). In Germany,
according to Wohlgensinger, almost a quarter
of consumers will buy food with nature-identical
proteins, another 40% would "maybe"
do so. Only just under 8% declare themselves
definite non-buyers. The first products by
LegenDairy Foods are to be launched on the
market in 2022. The company is also looking
for cooperation with the dairy industry, as it
has the appropriate machinery and the necessary
market access. It is also planned to grant
licences to culture producers who will provide
the user, i.e. the dairy industry, with strains
developed by LegenDairy Foods with precisely
defined performance.
Approval
The focus of LegenDairy Foods is on casein and
whey proteins, initially mainly for use in mozzarella
and ricotta, but the range of applications
is to be expanded over time. For fermentation,
a very large number of yeast and fungal strains
are/were screened to select those that promise
the highest yield. Upscaling to industrial
scale is relatively complex, but will probably
be solved soon, according to Wohlgensinger's
forecast for a first market entry next year.
In any case, the proteins from LegenDairy
Foods must receive Novel Food approval
by the EU. According to Wohlgensinger,
this will take about 18 months. Once
the proteins are officially declared safe, this
will have a positive effect on consumer acceptance.
Nevertheless, the EU is not the
first place for LegenDairy Foods as far as
market introduction is concerned, because
in other, non-European countries there is a
A supply chain without cows (Source: LegenDairyFoods) Areas of cooperation between dairies and precision fermentation
(Source: LegenDairyFoods)
6 · March/April 2021 ¦ international-dairy.com
/international-dairy.com
