Milestone & FDA “No Questions” Letter Put the Food Tech Startup in a Position to Sell Its Animal-Free Milk Proteins at Cost Parity to Traditional Dairy
SAN FRANCISCO & HAIFA, ISRAEL (January 17, 2024) – Today, Imagindairy, an Israeli-based food tech startup is trailblazing a new future for the dairy industry by producing sustainable, animal-free dairy proteins that are equally as delicious and nutritious as those from bovine sources, is announcing that it has acquired and is operating its own industrial-scale precision fermentation production lines focused on the production of dairy ingredients. Imagindairy has become the first company in the industry to achieve this milestone, fully owning and operating its own industrial-scale production lines dedicated solely to animal-free milk proteins. This news, combined with the startup’s advanced technology, puts Imagindairy in a position to offer animal-free products at cost parity to traditional dairy.
“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 been holding precision fermentation dairy back, including the production capacity bottleneck and ensuring that unit economics make sense across the supply chain,” said Dr. Eyal Afergan, Imagindairy Co-founder and CEO. “This will enable our customers to put animal-free dairy products on shelf at cost parity to traditional dairy, without compromising on quality. It’s a substantial breakthrough and important step that will allow us to support mass-market adoption, transition to an industrial company, and speed up the development of other milk proteins.”
The facility allows Imagindairy access to production at more than 100,000 liters of fermentation capacity, with planned capacity expansion to triple this volume in the next one to two years. At present, Imagindairy is already producing industrial-scale batches in the facility at a competitive cost structure to traditional dairy.
This achievement comes on the heels of another major company milestone, as Imagindairy received a “no questions” response letter from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration last month for the Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) notice submitted by the company. This signifies that the ingredient is safe to be used in food and beverage products, providing a regulatory ‘green light’ for food and beverage manufacturers to partner with Imagindairy. Imagindairy can now offer the most efficient manufacturing and end-to-end capabilities, extending through in-market product availability.
“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,” said Shmuel Chafets, Founder and Partner at Target Global, an investment firm that has backed Imagindairy since 2022.
“Imagindairy has an inherent culture of capital efficiency and achieving more with less,” added Jonathan Berger, CEO of The Kitchen FoodTech Hub. “As the earliest supporter of the company, we know it has the right technology and the right team to disrupt the dairy industry.”
Products made using Imagindairy’s animal-free dairy protein are expected to be launched in the U.S. in the coming year. To learn more, please visit imagindairy.com.
About Imagindairy
Imagindairy is trailblazing a new future for the dairy industry by producing sustainable, animal-free dairy proteins that have the same flavor, mouthfeel, functionality, and nutritional properties as those from bovine sources. The company, founded in 2020, utilizes more than 15 years of research for the advancement of high-yield protein expression and production. The use of both advanced computational biology and molecular biology technologies enables Imagindairy to develop cost-effective fermentation processes that overcome considerable barriers in the precision fermentation industry. Imagindairy is on a mission to bring a future of new possibilities and innovation to dairy lovers worldwide. For more information, please visit imagindairy.com.
