Israeli food tech startup Imagindairy reached a significant milestone today with the acquisition and operation of its industrial-scale precision fermentation production lines, which are dedicated to producing alternative dairy ingredients.
The company claims that this achievement positions Imagindairy as the first company in the industry to fully own and operate its own industrial-scale production lines exclusively for animal-free milk proteins. The company’s fermentation technology, combined with increased production capacity, enables Imagindairy to offer animal-free products to brands at competitive prices, at price parity with traditional dairy.
“We’ve overcome industry-wide hurdles that have previously hindered precision fermentation dairy”
Co-founder and CEO of Imagindairy, Dr. Eyal Afergan, comments, “Having just entered the landscape three years ago, this achievement is a big step forward for us. We’ve overcome industry-wide hurdles that have previously hindered precision fermentation dairy, including addressing production capacity constraints and ensuring cost-effectiveness across the supply chain. This will enable our customers to offer animal-free dairy products at cost parity to traditional dairy, all while maintaining quality.”
Boosting fermentation capacity
Imagindairy’s journey to this milestone was bolstered by a strategic investment from dairy industry leader Danone, which played a pivotal role in accelerating the startup’s growth and facilitating the acquisition of the new production facility. The new facility boasts a fermentation capacity exceeding 100,000 liters, with plans for expansion that will triple this volume within the next one to two years. Presently, Imagindairy is already producing industrial-scale batches in the facility.
In addition to the acquisition of the industrial-scale production lines, Imagindairy recently received a “no questions” response letter from the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) for the Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) notice submitted by the company last year, providing regulatory clearance for food and beverage manufacturers to collaborate with the company.
Paving a new future for dairy
Shmuel Chafets, founder and partner at Target Global, an investment firm supporting Imagindairy since 2022, commented, “We’ve always been passionate about investing in transformational technologies that support the planet and its people. Imagindairy is paving an entirely new future for the dairy industry, and these two great achievements demonstrate what that future will look like.”
Jonathan Berger, CEO of The Kitchen FoodTech Hub, an early supporter of Imagindairy, added, “Imagindairy has an inherent culture of capital efficiency and achieving more with less. As the earliest supporter of the company, we know it has the right technology and the right team to disrupt the dairy industry.”
Imagindairy’s animal-free dairy protein products are slated to launch in the United States in the coming year.
