The dairy-free cream cheese – which contains the same number of calories (80) and fat (7g) per serving and slightly less protein and sodium than Philadelphia original dairy cream cheese – deploys the firm’s flagship ‘Fy’ nutritional fungi protein, a Non GMO fungi strain that naturally produces high levels of complete protein when grown in a controlled environment.
Nature's Fynd - which is producing the ingredient at a pilot-scale facility in Chicago’s stockyard district and aims to open a large-scale production facility next year - is one of a series of startups seeking to disrupt the dairy aisle with ingredients made using microbial fermentation.
While some firms are genetically engineering microbes to express 'real' dairy proteins such as whey and casein, Nature's Fynd (fungi) and fellow startup Superbrewed Food (bacteria) are growing Non GMO microbial strains and harvesting the whole biomass, which can then be used in a wide variety of consumer products from cheese to meat alternatives.
Read more HERE about Nature’s Fynd, which also makes frozen meatless patties using its nutritional fungi protein, which the company says are "doing well at Whole Foods based on weekly velocities and buyer feedback."
“Consumers’ positive response to our Fy-based dairy-free cream cheese has exceeded our expectations.” Thomas Jonas, CEO and co-founder, Nature’s Fynd
Interested in dairy alternatives?
Check out our upcoming digital summit, Futureproofing the Food System (Nov 15-17), which delves into dairy alternatives in the opening session of day one:
FOOD TECH IN FOCUS: Sustainable Sourcing for Colors, Flavors, and Sweeteners; and plotting a future for dairy… without cows
PANEL: Biosynthesis: Fermentation and the future of flavors, colors and sweeteners Does it always make sense to extract flavors, colors, sweeteners and other food ingredients from plants if you can produce them more efficiently - and more sustainably – via microbial fermentation, ‘cell-free’ approaches or plant cell culture?
- Dr Joshua Britton, founder and CEO, Debut Biotech
- Nusqe Spanton, founder and CEO, Provectus Algae
- Dr David Welch, CSO and co-founder, Synthesis Capital
- Ricky Cassini, CEO and co-founder, Michroma
- Dr Erin Marasco, global biology lead, Cargill
- MODERATOR: Elaine Watson, senior editor, FoodNavigator-USA
PANEL: Dairy 2.0: Plant-based milks now account for more than 15% of the fluid milk market, while plant-based cheese, creamers, yogurts and ice cream continue to gain traction. So where is the market going next, where’s the white space in the category, and what is the potential of a new wave of ‘animal-free dairy’ products made with real milk proteins and fats, minus the cows?
- Miyoko Schinner, founder and CEO, Miyoko’s Creamery
- Dave Ritterbush, CEO, Califia Farms
- Matt Gibson, co-founder and CEO, New Culture
- Sonia Huppert, global innovation marketing leader, re-imagine protein, IFF
- MODERATOR: Elaine Watson, senior editor, FoodNavigator-USA
