FrieslandCampina wants to expand farmless in protein

The proteins that both partners want to produce come entirely from a process environment, where yeasts do the work. Using sugars and other raw materials, but without milk or beans from members.

Fast selection of proteins
FrieslandCampina particularly sees value in the collaboration with Triplebar Bio because this company has developed a very fast method to select and produce the most suitable high-quality proteins. Once these coveted proteins have been found, yeasts can be put to work to produce these proteins on a large scale.

Triplebar Bio, for its part, sees prospects in the collaboration with FrieslandCampina because it already has a lot of experience with precision fermentation on a large scale. The Ingredients business unit has been using this technique since 2016 to produce human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) for use in, among other things, infant food. Many other companies are much less advanced in this regard, or are still investigating it in laboratories.

Installations are already there
For the time being, both companies (Triplebar and FrieslandCampina Ingredients) will simply work together and further explore their joint perspectives. FrieslandCampina expects to be able to make further announcements about activities and intentions later in the year. According to a spokesperson, the Amersfoort dairy group does not need to build large new factories to produce the new proteins. The majority of the installations are already in place. Therefore, investment amounts cannot yet be stated.

Wide range of proteins
The reason FrieslandCampina chooses non-dairy proteins is that it wants to meet the growing demand for high-quality protein solutions for a growing world population. According to the company, this requires a broader protein portfolio to be able to offer alternative proteins in addition to the existing dairy offering. “But we remain a dairy company first and foremost,” assures a spokesperson.