Nourish Ingredients Scales Animal-Free Dairy Fat in Europe
Nourish Ingredients partners with SD Guthrie to manufacture its precision fermentation dairy fat, Creamilux, in Europe, targeting hundreds of tonnes of
Australian precision fermentation startup Nourish Ingredients has signed a manufacturing deal to scale up production of its animal-free dairy fat in Europe. The company is partnering with specialty lecithin producer SD Guthrie to accelerate the output of its ingredient, called Creamilux, aiming for hundreds of tonnes per year.
Nourish Ingredients uses precision fermentation and enzymatic processing to create what it calls designer fats. These are intended to replace animal lipids in plant-based and blended food products. The partnership use SD Guthrie's manufacturing scale, lipid expertise, and European infrastructure to create a reliable supply chain.
Co-founder and CEO James Petrie stated the deal adds volume to the company's commercial operations. "Our customer demonstration and commercial teams now have commercially manufactured Creamilux to put directly in front of European food manufacturers," he told Green Queen.
Scaling Production to Industrial Volumes
The collaboration has already completed a 10-tonne industrial production run at SD Guthrie's facilities in the Netherlands. This run was completed in a matter of days. The existing infrastructure can be scaled to produce up to 20 tonnes per day.
Anna El Tahchy, founding director and CTO of Nourish Ingredients, called the 10-tonne run an important step for validating the process. She said the company expects to scale rapidly to 100 tonnes per year, followed by 500 tonnes and beyond within the next two to three years. The company highlights this scale as proof of the platform's robustness, avoiding lengthy scale-up times and contamination risks often linked to precision fermentation.
Creamilux is designed to mimic the mouthfeel, taste, and emulsification properties of conventional dairy fat. It comes in a powder form enriched with short-chain fatty acids and is effective at ultra-low inclusion rates.
A Dual-Market Ingredient Strategy
Nourish Ingredients produces another animal-free fat called Tastilux, which is designed for meat-like applications. The company has pursued different geographic strategies for scaling each ingredient. Creamilux production is centered in Europe with SD Guthrie, while Tastilux production is being scaled in Asia through a partnership with Chinese firm Cabio Biotech.
Petrie explained the rationale. He said Creamilux can already be sold directly into the European market from a regulatory standpoint. Also, SD Guthrie's lipid manufacturing infrastructure was the right technical fit for producing Creamilux. Similarly, Cabio Biotech was the right partner for Tastilux. "In both cases, we went with the partner who already ran the closest process at scale, and the geography followed from that," Petrie said.
The regulatory status of the two fats varies by region.
Path to Market and Future Funding
The startup expects its first consumer products to reach shelves within the next six months. Tastilux will be first, appearing in a plant-based chicken application. Creamilux will follow soon after in alternative dairy products. In the meantime, the company will also sell the ingredients directly through business-to-business channels.
Nourish Ingredients has broader market ambitions. It is eyeing entries into Singapore and the Middle East. It has partnership agreements for Tastilux in the US, Australia, New Zealand, and the Middle East. It has also teamed with New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra to develop products using Creamilux.
To support its commercial expansion, the company is working to close a new funding round. Nourish Ingredients has raised nearly $40 million to date and is seeking an additional $15 million. Petrie said that process is well underway and he hopes to close it within the next few months.
