Cultivated, Cell-Cultured & Biotechnology

Future of Foods Podcast: Svenja Dannewitz Prosseda, CEO of Senara, is Producing Cell-Cultivated Milk

Alex Crisp, host of Future of Foods, Interviews Svenja Dannewitz Prosseda, CEO and founder of German company Senara which is developing a better way of feeding the world. Senara says it is the first company in the EU to develop and produce cell-cultivated milk.

Founded in 2022 in Freiburg by Dr. Svenja and Dr. Philipp Prosseda, Senara claims to have developed a cost-effective platform for cultivating “real” milk at a pilot scale. Instead of using animal samples, Senara selects the best milk cells and grows them in bioreactors through a continuous, high-throughput process that reduces production costs.

The final product is real milk, not a plant-based alternative, which contains essential nutrients like lactose, casein, whey, and micronutrients. It’s also free from bacteria and yeasts and can be customized for better digestibility, higher fat content, or lactose-free options.

Below is a short clip from the podcast. Linguistic idiosyncracies have been retained and the transcript is verbatim.

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Alex: Do you think consumers will be happy to try cultivated milk?

Svenja: We are currently conducting a consumer acceptance survey to get more data on this based on the first interviews that we had. Yes, there seems to be a very big part of consumers who are very happy to switch. To using this type of milk. They are used to trying out different milks. There is lots of options nowadays for plant based milks and as long as they have been tested for health and safety and all these regulatory checks are in place, there should be no obstacle to switching to something that is, that has all of these benefits. You know, the environment benefits, the animal welfare benefits and also the milk quality. Because the production process is controlled, it is much more supportive of good health. So you do not have antibiotics that contaminate the milk. You don’t have any pharmaceuticals that get into the milk, which normally you would have. So the benefits are great. As long as the price is right and the taste is right and the governments are giving their approval, I do not see a major obstacle.

Alex: There has been some negative press around cultivated meat, but also around plant based meat alternatives and that sort of thing. I suppose the fear is that if the media don’t give it a positive angle, so perhaps the consumers might baulk at it.  Do you think that might be a problem?

Svenja: Well, the media, of course, can change the narrative of what we want to see. I think the consumers are clever enough to decide what really is behind this. The cell cultivated meat industry, they have been struggling with really high prices. They have waiting lists of people who really want to try this novel innovation but they cannot produce quickly enough to really help consumers form their own opinion, because you can only do that if you have a product in the market where everybody can taste it, everybody can see, OK, this something that really tastes good.

A girl drinking a glass of milk
© Senara

And the narrative, if you think about eating food you will always find something wrong. Also with traditionally produced food, you know, if you are thinking about having to slaughter an animal to get the meat, or the way in which milk is produced, I don’t want to go into the details, but you can look at how that normally takes place. It’s also not ideal. But we do need to eat and that will never change.

We are a growing world population. We need to feed all of the people on the planet. And why not do it in a better way? I mean, we can, I think. Sticking to tradition and traditional production, there is benefit to that but we need to be sensible in adapting to future challenges. So let’s keep what is good and let’s transform what is not so good. And in my view, milk is fantastic. Milk is a great product. But the way in which it’s produced is not ideal. So in that regard, I think we have to become better.

Alex: So one of the responses I often get when I mention to people I meet about cultivated milk and cultivated meat. One of the first things they say is ‘what will happen to all the animals’? You know, where will they go? They’ll have to find a new job. So obviously with cultivated milk, will there still be a requirement for cows? How do you see farming in the future?

Svenja: Well, we see a great potential for this to help the farming community to become self-sufficient, because if you look at a farm as a business model it just doesn’t work. It is something that people do, you know, as a hobby, pretty much. If they have a small sustainable farm it is not something that really brings in the big bucks. That is not what a farm is for. You do it because you love animals an, you want to provide food. And that is something where we can come in and help. We can make farming and sustainable farming in particular a profitable business model as well and not just something that you do because it gives you value – it gives you purpose.

Dr. Svenja-Dannewitz (L) and Dr. Philipp-Prosseda, founders of Senara
Image courtesy of Senara

We have dedicated reactors that we can provide for participating farms which are suitable to be operated on a farm. So we’re in development with this as well.

We have on our wait list, we actually do have farmers who want to diversify the milk that they produce. So for example, we have one farmer who produces standard milk and he said, well, you know, if I can produce a milk rich in A2 or, you know, a milk from a special animal, then I can sell this for a higher price. So we really want to come to a point where we have this holistic model of collaborating with farms. The farms have to adapt, they have to change the way that they produce, for example plant based sources can be plant based components that can be used for input for the cultivation media, for the cells and the nutrients the cells need. And they can be provided by farmers who are collaborating. We also need cells which is a constant source. And if those farmers adapt the farming practices they can really come to a model that works well economically and is good for the animals.

Now, in some countries, we already see that keeping too many animals is being punished, you know, on a tax level. In Denmark, there’s been some approaches to put a price tag on the cow that you keep. So what we can do is help reduce the amount of cows that have to be kept to produce the same output. And I believe that’s a great opportunity for the farming community.

Here is a link to the full YouTube video – https://youtu.be/Oqpm7JndFgY?si=Bh5UrbQq7R5gTl2U



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