Milcobel launches pilot whey valorisation with startup

Whey permeate is now commonly sold as an ingredient for the animal feed industry, sometimes also for use in food products, such as sauces. Unlike milk permeate, which has been more readily exploited, whey permeate is not very effective, despite being rich in lactose. Whey permeate is truly a side stream. 

Lactose produces yeast oil
It's precisely this fact that makes it attractive for NoPalm Ingredients and its partner, Milcobel. NoPalm has developed a method to unlock side streams from the food industry using biotechnology. It uses precision fermentation to put the whey permeate to work in such a way that it produces oil: yeast oil.

Multiple benefits
This oil is a viable alternative to palm and coconut oil in the food industry, as it's deforestation-free. This is a key factor in the upcoming, and perhaps now final, European regulations for these types of products. Furthermore, yeast oil has a low carbon footprint and is available in large quantities. Combined with the current low price of whey permeate, this makes upgrading whey permeate an attractive business case. 

The plan is to start a pilot plant for yeast oil production in Wageningen next year, followed by a full-fledged factory two years later on the Milcobel site in Langemark, near the mozzarella factory.

Conversion factor
Crucial to the project's profitability is the question of how much yeast oil can be extracted from a ton of whey permeate: what is the conversion factor? NoPalm Ingredients refuses to divulge this information, as it's also the company's commercial secret, says business development manager Peter Roosink. He does, however, say that the commercial plant in Langemark is planned to produce 6.000 to 8.000 tons of yeast oil per year. 

Compared to the total volume of palm oil imported into Europe, this is of course a small fraction, but large volumes of whey permeate are also available elsewhere in Europe. NoPalm Ingredients' yeasts also know how to use other undervalued side streams rich in sugars. After the oil is extracted, these side streams can often still be used in the animal feed sector, albeit with a slightly lower energy consumption. 

Wei keeps giving and reverses trend
This development demonstrates that whey, as a residual stream from cheese production, is undergoing continuous development. Initially, it was sometimes simply discharged, later fed to livestock. It then proved rich in high-quality ingredients for infant nutrition, sports drinks, and health-promoting products, among other things, and the residual products were then disposed of as animal feed. Now, these streams are also being further exploited for any remaining beneficial substances for humans. What's remarkable about the use of NoPalm Ingredients is that this time, instead of replacing dairy with a plant-based product, as has been the trend in recent years, it's the other way around.