The trend in alternative animal products has skyrocketed in recent years. Shoppers in today's supermarkets have a variety of plant-based options to choose from. Milk products are made from soy, oats, almonds, rice, coconuts, cashews, peas, and more.
The problem for certain consumers is that non dairy milks lack the same satisfaction that cows’ milk has to offer. Plant-based milks are made by the breakdown and reassembling of plants to shape their proteins into a creamy drink. The proteins casein and whey found in cows’ milk are the reason milk has a creamy yet refreshing quality, making it difficult for plant based milks to rise up to. This craving is in such high demand that Perfect Day, a new ice cream company, is creating animal-free milk in a lab that replicates the formation of cow’s milk.
Owners Ryan and Perumal at Perfect Day lead a diverse group of chefs, food developers, scientists, and engineers. Together, they strive to create animal-free milk with all of the aspects of its conventional competitor. First, they take milk’s essential genes and add them to a natural, yeast-like organism known as microflora. Microflora are too small to be seen by the naked eye, but yield substantial amounts of pure protein relative to their body size. Then through fermentation, plant sugar is converted into whey and casein. This process of fermentation is the same process to make many common food ingredients such as vitamins, probiotics, and natural flavors. To summarize, Perfect Day creates lactose-free dairy protein from the microflora instead of animals. Their vegan products are designed to taste identical to animal products but with minor amounts of energy.
In early July, Perfect Day released their first batch of limited-edition ice cream. Flavors included chocolate, vanilla salted fudge, and vanilla blackberry toffee. They quickly sold out, and now face the challenge of scaling up. Instead of selling directly to consumers, Perfect Day plans to sell its lab-made whey to ice cream-makers and dairy companies while reducing the cost of production. Perfect Day has recently partnered with Archer Daniels Midland, a company with industrial-scale fermentation infrastructure to try to meet market demands.
Perfect Day is currently in a developing process, looking for cost reducing ways and meet consumers demands. If interested in trying this new product, be sure to sign up on Perfect Day’s website to be put next in line for their next exclusive release. Is this the new upwarding trend in animal free products?
Written by: Payton Lum, U0 Concurrent Food Science and Nutrition
References:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/02/science/lab-grown-milk.html