Revolutionizing Cheese Production: Discover the Next Generation of Animal-Free Cheese with Breakthrough Moo Technology!

After three years of operating in secrecy, NewMoo is now ready to reveal its innovative strategy, as announced by Daphna Miller, the co-founder and CEO.

Unlike many other startups in the fermentation and plant molecular farming industry, NewMoo is not focused on developing protein or casein powder. Instead, the company is committed to creating a liquid casein base that can mimic the functionality of milk in cheese production.

Miller states, “Our objective is to create a product customized for dairy producers by producing all four caseins required for traditional cheese making.”

The Significance of Casein in Milk Composition Molecular farming technology enables the production of foreign proteins in plants, a method that has been used by the pharmaceutical sector since the 1980s to produce vaccines, antibodies, and medicinal proteins.

Recently, this technology has been increasingly utilized in the food industry. While some companies are generating pork proteins in plants and egg proteins in potatoes, NewMoo is concentrating on dairy alternatives, specifically cheese.

Cheese is recognized as the most intricate dairy product to replicate due to the absence of essential dairy proteins like caseins in current cheese substitutes. Caseins, which make up around 80% of the proteins in dairy milk, are crucial for accurately replicating the sensory characteristics of dairy cheese.

NewMoo believes that by producing animal-free caseins through plant-based methods rather than relying on cows, it can revolutionize dairy product manufacturing, starting with cheese.

Cheese is considered the most challenging dairy product to replicate. Image credit: NewMoo CEO Miller elaborates, “Our animal-free liquid casein replicates all the functional properties of real milk protein, enabling the traditional cheese-making process without the need for specialized equipment or modifications to existing machinery.”

Choosing Soy for Expansion Through molecular farming, proteins can be produced in various plants, including lettuce, potatoes, and soy, which is the primary plant choice for NewMoo.

Miller explains, “After evaluating multiple plant options, we determined that soy plants are the most suitable host for our desired outcome. The decision was based on factors such as soy's extensive research and regulation, cost-effectiveness, protein yield, and the soy industry's expertise.”

“Utilizing soy's advantages to express caseins in soy seeds was the optimal choice for us.”

NewMoo prefers cultivating plants in open fields rather than indoor greenhouse settings due to financial considerations. The company aims to improve cost efficiency, especially given the narrow profit margins in the dairy sector. Additionally, utilizing existing fields benefits farmers economically and contributes to environmental sustainability by reducing carbon emissions and energy consumption.

<p“Selecting open fields aligns with our goal of cost-effectiveness and sustainability.”

Producing Multiple Dairy Proteins in a Single Plant NewMoo's technology, based on research and intellectual property from Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science, enables the expression of two or more milk proteins in a single plant.

By incorporating molecular technologies from various genetic engineering disciplines, the NewMoo team has devised a unique approach that allows the introduction of multiple proteins, particularly caseins, into a single plant to target expression in the seeds.

NewMoo co-founder and CEO Daphna Miller believes it's the right time to emerge from stealth mode. Image credit: Tal Shahar The final product, 'NewMoo Liquid Casein Base,' is designed to be more cost-effective than traditional protein or casein powder production methods, as it eliminates the complex and expensive processes of manufacturing.