Vegan Egg White

© The Every Co.

Cultivated, Cell-Cultured & Biotechnology

9 Global Food Tech Leaders Join Forces to Launch The Precision Fermentation Alliance

Today, nine leaders in precision fermentation announce they are coming together to establish the Precision Fermentation Alliance, a new trade organization to promote precision fermentation as a solution for a more resilient and sustainable food system.  Intended to serve as an industry voice for the precision fermentation industry, the group’s founding members include Change Foods, The EVERY Co., Helaina, Imagindairy, Motif FoodWorks, New Culture, Onego Bio, Perfect Day, and Remilk. Precision fermentation involves the process of creating nature-identical versions of popular products and ingredients (like dairy and egg proteins) by utilizing the natural ability of microorganisms to turn sugars into proteins and other complex organic molecules. According to the Alliance, its members have aligned on the following goals: Promote understanding of precision fermentation technology. Build …

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change foods sneak peak

© Change Foods

Manufacturing & Technology

Change Foods Reveals Plans For Animal-Free Casein Facility in Abu Dhabi

US-Australian alt dairy company Change Foods has announced plans to open a manufacturing facility for the production of animal-free casein in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE). The company reveals it has signed an agreement with Kezad Group to design the commercial plant with government support under the NextGen FDI initiative. David Bucca, Change Foods’ founder and CEO, commented: “We are honoured to be a part of the UAE’s NextGen FDI initiative and grateful for the strategic partnership with Kezad Group.”  “NextGen FDI is prioritizing the successful scaling of new sustainable food technologies like ours that offer significant environmental and economic development benefits. The strategic alignment behind our company’s vision to help transition the world to more sustainable food systems by scaling new food production …

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Change Foods raises $15.3 million

© Change Foods

Investments & Finance

Change Foods Raises $15.3 Million in Record-Breaking Seed Funding Round

Change Foods raises $15.3 million to develop animal-free dairy proteins. US-Australian company Change Foods has raised $12 million in its seed extension funding round, bringing its total seed investment to $15.3 million. This sum is the largest ever seed raise for a precision fermentation company. The round was led by Route 66 Ventures, with participation from Upfield, Blue Horizon, Sigma, British soccer player Chris Smalling, and more. Additionally, Change Foods has signed strategic collaboration agreements with both Upfield and Sigma. Transforming the cheese business Upfield is the world’s largest plant-based foods producer, with a focus on dairy alternatives, while Sigma is a global food company with over $6.7 billion in annual revenues. These collaborations will allow for more rapid product development and scaling up, as …

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Change Foods

Junior Te'o, Co-Founder & CTO and David Bucca, Founder & CEO ©Change Foods

Company News

Change Foods Chases the “Holy Grail” of Vegan Foods, Moves to State-of-the-Art Facility

US-Australian alt dairy startup, Change Foods, has set up R&D operations inside BioCube, one of the most decorated life science incubators in Silicon Valley. The move marks the next step towards commercialization for precision fermentation specialist Change Foods, as it looks to develop its animal-free dairy cheese.  After recently completing an oversubscribed seed funding round of $2.1 million, including investors from the dairy industry, Change Foods moves into BioCube’s modernized facility in San Jose to develop R&D on what it views as the “Holy Grail” of vegan foods; dairy cheese without cows. BioCube is already home to some of the most dynamic start-ups in Silicon Valley, including famous alumni like Impossible Foods.  Founded in 2020 and headquartered in Palo Alto, CA, Change Foods harnesses the …

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Change Foods

© Change Foods

Investments & Finance

Dairy Industry Backs Change Foods in $2.1 Seed Round, Signifying “Increasing Open-Mindedness” From Dairy Industry

Precision fermentation startup Change Foods has closed an oversubscribed seed funding round of $2.1 million, including investments from big players in the conventional dairy industry such as GERBER-RAUTH. “We realize that the dairy ecosystem cannot and will not thrive if it remains static … an investment in Change Foods is a sound investment in the future of our industry”- GERBER-RAUTH CEO The round brings the total capital raised by Change Foods to $3.1 million, to bring its animal-free dairy cheese to the US market in 2023. The cheese is made using precision fermentation, which allows the startup to create real cheese without the cows. “This signifies an increasing open-mindedness from the dairy industry” Change Foods founder & CEO David Bucca spoke with vegconomist today: “Conventional …

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Luis Espinoza © Change Foods

Interviews

Change Foods: “Our Technology Allows For Endless Potential Within the Dairy Foods Space”

Earlier this year vegconomist reported on the hiring of Luis Espinoza, former VP of Manufacturing at Eat Just Inc, as COO of US/Australian food tech startup, Change Foods. A month previously, the fermentation specialists also announced the onboarding of Irina Gerry, formerly of Danone, to bring to market its dairy products made without the cow. With these two strategic hires, the company is on track to change the future of dairy.

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Plantbased Business Hour

What Is The Future of Dairy? Irina Gerry, CMO of Change Foods

CMO of Change Foods, Irina Gerry, joins Elysabeth Alfano on The Plantbased Business Hour to converse on how the consumer feels about technology in their food.  How do brands communicate about the new technologies in their plant-based products in a way that is appetizing, while also conveying that tech in our food is not new and not bad? Irina and Elysabeth discuss: The David v. Goliath journey of upstarts going head-to-head with large corporations Precision Fermentation: What is it and is it novel? How do we communicate with the consumer about the advancements in technology that will ultimately transform the food supply system? What did Irina learn in her years at Danone as a Senior Brand Manager on Silk and So Delicious and why did …

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