September 27, 2022

Nestlé looks into technologies for creating animal-free dairy products

Nestlé announced that it is exploring emerging technologies for the development of animal-free and protein-based dairy products.

The move complements investments that the company has made in plant-based meat and dairy alternative offerings over the years to meet the growing consumer demand.

Nestlé will pilot a novel product through its newly established US R&D Accelerator, bringing it to the US market later this year as a test-and-learn. The product is made with animal-free protein from Perfect Day. According to Perfect Day, the protein, which is made through precision fermentation, is identical to the whey protein found in cow's milk, offers good nutritional and functionality benefits that is suitable for vegans and is lactose-free.

The product was developed by Nestlé R&D teams in Switzerland.

"As the world's largest food and beverage company, delivering foods and beverages that are good for people and the planet is a priority," said Heike Steiling, head of Nestlé's development center for dairy products. "We are exploring emerging technologies that can lead to animal-friendly alternatives that are nutritious and sustainable, without compromising on taste, flavour and texture. Bringing together our unmatched R&D expertise, innovation capabilities and scale, we are working to develop and test novel animal-free dairy protein-based products to complement our wide-ranging portfolio of plant-based alternatives."

The recently created US R+D Accelerator is focused on identifying opportunities and aims to bring highly differentiated product concepts to the market in only six months.

"We are excited to pilot Nestlé's first animal-free dairy protein-based products through our US R&D Accelerator," said Joanna Yarbrough, head of the R&D Accelerator. "While this category is still very young, we know consumers are looking for products that have a reduced environmental footprint and we are evaluating this avenue as a future growth opportunity for our business."

- The Cattle Site