General Mills using Remilk's tech to produce animal-free cheese

Under the radar, the first product of Israeli foodtech startup Remilk is going on supermarket shelves in the USA. Calcalist has learned that the American food giant General Mills - one of the largest food companies in the world, which produces and markets brands such as Cheerios, Yoplait, Pillsbury and Haagen-Dazs, began marketing a completely vegan cream cheese with Remilk's protein. The company's proteins are identical to those produced by cows on farms, but without the use of animals and without animal components.

Remilk produces milk protein proteins with an innovative fermentation technology, fully imitating the cow's proteins within the walls of the laboratory. The DNA of the cow's proteins is copied into the fermented yeast without the use of animals or animal components. Remilk produces raw materials for the industry, with the aim of combining its protein in many and varied products - cheese, yogurt and ice cream. Until now, the company has focused on the first stages of product development, having raised, since its founding in 2019, about $130 million in two fundraising rounds. The last fundraising round in January of last year valued the company at $325 million.

Same taste, texture and cost

Remilk's innovative proteins can completely replace the milk proteins currently found in products, but do not require the development of a completely new product while incorporating industrialized additives. The company is now launching three types of cream cheese, after receiving marketing approval in the U.S in accordance with the Self Affirmed GRAS process of the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA). The product is now sold in the state of Minnesota after an initial launch, but its distribution is expected to expand throughout the year throughout the US.

This is the company's first commercial collaboration, and more are expected to be launched this year. Although Remilk is a raw material supplier, its logo is emblazoned on the product packaging, and it will also appear on the packaging of the products that will be launched in the future. According to Aviv Wolff, the company's CEO and co-founder: "We provide raw material that allows companies to produce a product with the same taste and texture, and it will always be easy for the consumer to identify the product packaging that contains our raw materials. The first product embodies our strategy: we connect with the largest companies in the world, and enter into the market in order to be able to reach every consumer in the world, and quickly. The first product we are launching is cream cheese, but General Mills is also looking at the production of additional products with our protein. With many partnerships on the table, we are looking at a number of products in various categories."

Although in recent years many vegan "cheese" products have been introduced to the markets, today there is a significant shortage of low-priced and high-quality products, and most of them are based on soy, oats and protein substitutes. That is why investors are flocking to companies that develop products that will succeed in "breaking" the markets and presenting high-quality and healthy alternatives to animal products. Remilk strives to replace traditional dairy products, which are based on animal farms that cause extensive environmental damage and damage to animals and their well-being, without consumers feeling any difference, and without additives.

"Our solids require 1% of land compared to regular milk, 4% of the emissions of pollutants compared to regular milk, and 5% of the water required to produce a liter of milk in the traditional industry," says Wolff. "We produce dairy products with the same taste, texture and cost as the traditional dairy industry. We produce milk that is 100% identical to cow's protein, without lactose, and without the negative environmental impact. Our product enables a full range of milk products, not just a one-off solution. Our goal is to change the milk market."