American company is investing heavily in cow-free milk

The American company Impossible Foods claims to have a prototype of cow-free milk. According to CEO Patrick Brown, this product has the same texture and taste as cow's milk. The company has no plans to market it yet, but wants to compete with both cow and plant-based milk. 

This is reported by various American media. Impossible Foods is a company that, like Beyond Meat, for example, develops food products that do not involve animals. For example, Impossible Foods offers vegetable meat substitutes based on soy. The company is now estimated to have a market value of $2 billion. Beyond Meat now stands for a market value of $4 billion.

In addition to meat substitutes, Impossible Foods is now also investing in a milk substitute. The company claims to have a prototype of artificial milk that approaches the properties of cow's milk, but does not want to comment further at this stage. "We want to make a milk that consumers will choose from cow's milk," said CEO Brown.

Competing with plant-based milk
Brown says he wants to recruit a team of 100 scientists to double the research capacity to accelerate the development of new products such as this artificial milk. For example, the company is also studying an artificial egg.

The replacement is not plant-based milk, Brown emphasizes. Not only does he hate the taste of soy milk, the vegetable substitutes also do not have the texture of cow's milk. For example, plant-based milk can curdle when added cold. "The plant-based milk substitutes out there now don't work well," Brown said. "The reality is if they were good, there wouldn't be a dairy market anymore."

No big worries
Frans Keurentjes, chairman of the FrieslandCampina cooperative, said in an interview with the Dutch trade press on Monday that he was not very concerned about the possible rise of artificial milk. "Until now, no one has succeeded in copying the special biological and natural process in a cow and I don't see that happening anytime soon. Despite all the efforts to do so."

He referred, among other things, to Those Vegan Cowboys, the project by Jaap Korteweg. The former CEO of De Vegetarische Slager is also trying to develop milk that does not involve a cow. In addition, he is offering €2,5 million in rewards to those who can find a fungus that can mimic the fermentation process of grass in the cow's stomach.

Eric the Thrush

Eric is a member of the editorial staff of Boerenbusiness. As a descendant of an arable family, farmer's blood flows through Eric's veins. He considers himself a generalist, but with a preference for economics, trends, markets and marketing.

e.delijster@boerenbusiness. Nl

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