PFN - Alarm bells should be ringing on the board rooms of the planet's largest dairy protein producers following the announcement Australian based Change Foods is to establish its non-dairy fermented casein operations in the UAE.
The planned facility in Abu Dhabi will be the first of its kind in the region to produce animal-free milk protein, casein, the main ingredient in none- dairy cheesemaking.
Plant-based & None-Dairy Cheese - nutritioninvestor.com
Change Foods' describes its casein is bio-identical to the traditional dairy version but will be entirely animal-free, thus made with a fraction of the environmental impact of animal derived dairy.
The strategic location of the facility with multimodal connectivity would also provide a shipping and distribution network to serve the rapidly growing Middle East and Asia-Pacific region.
Change Food's output will replace the work of nearly 10,000 dairy cows !
"We are honoured to be a part of the UAE's NextGen FDI initiative and grateful for the strategic partnership with KEZAD Group," said David Bucca, Founder and CEO of Change Foods.
Source: Change Foods
" The strategic alignment behind our company's vision to help transition the world to more sustainable food systems by scaling new food production technology was clear from the start."
But what does this mean in real strategic terms?
With the expansion of the EV and the reduction in petroleum usage in order to meet a reduction of green house gas emissions, the UAE could in fact be looking to replace one necessity with another more critical necessity - consumable non-animal protein for global consumption.
Animal agriculture as the world has known it is being turned on its head and the Change Food's CEO is not short with his words.
“Raising animals for food is an inefficient and resource-intensive process that materially contributes to global greenhouse gas emissions,” said Bucca, “we think we can be an influence of positive transformation for this dynamic and growing industry. This will be a stellar example of how embracing new technologies can help us overcome regional food security challenges.”
Nestle is the largest producer of dairy products on earth with a turnover in excess of USD$94 billion annually. They are followed by:
Unilever -Netherlands
Danone - France
Dairy Farmers of America
Dean Foods - US
Lactilis - France
Yili Group - China
Mengnui Dairy - China
Fonterra - NZ
Friesland Campina - Netherlands
Fonterra, NZ recently signed a development deal with Netherlands based Royal DSM to accelerate the development and commercialisation of fermentation-derived proteins with dairy-like properties.
First starter advantage, not only developing technology to augment consumer based non-dairy products, but also establishing a strong brand position, will provide companies like Fonterra with the foundation for a transition away from land based industrial dairying. But they will need to ramp-up product development quickly. Time is not on their side as Middle East oil money is thrown at this emerging sector.
ENDS
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