DairyX develops animal-free dairy proteins using advanced biotechnology to create sustainable, authentic dairy alternatives that replicate the taste and texture of traditional milk products
Could you start by giving us an introduction to DairyX and the people behind this innovative company?
Dr. Arik Ryvkin earned his PhD in biology and soon after joined the Israeli Ministry of Economy as the Director of FoodTech and Circular Economy. It was during this time that the idea for DairyX began to take shape. As a vegan at the time, Arik recognized that existing plant-based dairy alternatives often lacked the taste and functionality of traditional dairy products. This insight inspired him to seek a better solution.He delved into the history of animal-free dairy products, noting the establishment of a soy milk plant near Paris in 1910.
While companies in 2014 started making authentic whey milk proteins using significant biotechnological advances, Arik realized that the industry still hadn’t fully replicated the dairy experience. Some companies progressed by producing caseins and even casein micelles. In order to create firm, stretchy, and creamy products desired by the industry, the next crucial step was to develop caseins that self-assemble into gelating micelles—replicating the exact process used by cows.
With this vision, Arik founded DairyX in 2022.
He teamed up with Dr. Maya Bar-Zeev, who investigated casein micelles during her PhD under the supervision of Professor Yoav Livney—a world-renowned expert on the biochemical properties of milk proteins and now DairyX’s Chief Scientific Product Advisor. Maya’s deep understanding of casein micelles has been instrumental in developing smart caseins that self-assemble into micelles and gelate like those in cow’s milk.
The team also brought on board Galit Kuznets, who has extensive experience in managing fermentation processes from her previous work at Sigma Aldrich. She further honed her skills in developing microorganisms at Lavie Bio and Remilk. Galit is highly motivated by the technical challenge of creating caseins in microorganisms, and her expertise has been invaluable to DairyX’s mission.
Together, they are pushing the boundaries of biotechnology to produce smart caseins that mimic the natural functionality of cow’s milk, aiming to revolutionize the dairy industry.
What was the driving vision behind DairyX, and how do you plan to achieve it in the coming years?
Our driving vision at DairyX is to help the dairy industry to reduce the sole reliance on cow’s milk as a raw material for dairy products and to free the cows (at least some of them).
I am a fan of cows—just not for producing dairy. As a scientist and former vegan, I didn’t eat plant-based dairy for a decade because I didn’t find truly tasty and additive-free products. To genuinely mimic traditional dairy, producers needed to start with different source ingredients. Together with my team, I had the vision and the scientific expertise to create sustainable smart casein proteins that are identical to cow’s milk proteins in structure and function. proteins that can self-assemble into micelles. Micelles are the primary building blocks of dairy products, such as cheese and yogurt.
In the coming years, we plan to achieve this vision by focusing on several key areas. First, we will continue to improve the efficiency of our yeast strains to increase protein yields and reduce production costs, aiming for price parity with traditional dairy. Second, we’re scaling up our fermentation capacity and refining our downstream processes to ensure large-scale production. Third, we are actively collaborating with dairy companies to test our gelling casein micelles, integrating our ingredients into their products using existing manufacturing processes. Lastly, we’re preparing for regulatory approvals under the GRAS framework, targeting commercial availability of our micelles by early 2027. Through these efforts, we aim to provide high-quality, animal-free dairy proteins that meet consumer demands while contributing to a more sustainable and ethical food system.
Who is your primary target audience, and how does DairyX address their specific needs?
Our primary target audience are dairy manufacturers and food companies seeking to produce high-quality dairy products without counting on animal-derived ingredients. DairyX addresses their specific needs by developing “smart casein” proteins that self-assemble into micelles and gelate just like those in cow’s milk. Currently, manufacturers of animal-free dairy products use additives, like stabilizers, emulsifiers and thickeners, which don’t perform as well as cow’s milk and can add unpleasant aftertastes. These fail to satisfy consumer cravings for a real dairy experience.
In addition, dairy companies do not want to change their plants to adopt new source ingredients, especially if the benefits aren’t compelling.
This allows manufacturers to create firm, stretchy, and creamy products using their existing dairy-making processes without requiring significant changes or the addition of artificial stabilizers or thickeners. By offering a drop-in replacement for traditional milk proteins that matches the functionality, taste, and texture of conventional dairy, we enable our partners to meet consumer demands for authentic dairy experiences while also addressing sustainability and ethical concerns.
What challenges have you faced in the development and growth of DairyX, and how have you overcome them?
DairyX faced significant challenges in developing its animal-free casein proteins, primarily because secreting casein from yeast is notoriously difficult and there’s limited existing research on the topic. The team encountered obstacles at nearly every stage—yeast designing, analytics, reconstitution, fermentation, and downstream processing. Caseins are hard to express in organisms other than cows, and replicating the necessary post-translational modifications (PTMs) was particularly complex.
The true challenge in microorganism-based casein production is to take it to the next step: to assemble them into micelles, which produce the gelling consistency that makes yogurt creamy and cheeses solid yet stretchy.Â
When we encounter a challenge, we brainstorm collectively, valuing every idea of team members and advisors with diverse backgrounds in biochemistry, microbiology, nanoscience, and computational biology. This collaborative approach has allowed us to turn these challenges into proprietary assets. Ultimately, DairyX succeeded in producing “smart caseins” that self-assemble into micelles, overcoming the hurdles to create highly functional, animal-free casein micelles.
What sets DairyX apart from other companies in the dairy industry, and what is your unique selling point?
DairyX has 4 proprietary technological pillars:
Biological design: Cutting-edge biological methods to genetically manipulate yeast to produce functional caseins.
Fast-tracked natural evolution: A screening process that simulates evolution to locate super protein secreters from among millions of yeast strains.
Machine learning models: Models that simulate fermentation to rapidly determine optimal fermentation conditions.
Micelle recreation and gelation: Unique protocol to reconstitute micelles that can gel from 2 caseins.
This combination of superior functionality and affordability sets DairyX apart as an innovative leader in creating authentic, animal-free dairy proteins.
Could you share some insight into the upcoming developments or innovations DairyX has planned for the future?
DairyX has several exciting developments and innovations planned for the future. We are focusing on improving the functionality of our casein micelles and developing our super-secreter yeast strain to make our production process more efficient. This involves enhancing protein yields and reducing production costs to achieve price parity with traditional dairy products.
We are also scaling up our fermentation capacity. Our plan includes reaching a 100-liter production scale in 2025 and expanding to 10,000 liters by 2026. This scale-up will support larger production volumes and meet the growing demand for our animal-free casein proteins.
In addition, we are advancing collaborations with several dairy companies. We aim to co-develop technology and products over the next few years. By providing samples of our gelling casein micelles, we enable these companies to test and integrate our smart caseins into their existing manufacturing processes without significant changes.
Our regulatory plan includes filing for FDA approval under the GRAS framework. We intend to submit our application in 2026, target for regulatory approval by early 2027. This will allow us to commercially sell our micelles and make them widely available.
We are also committed to sustainability initiatives. We recently launched a pilot project to upcycle biomass from our fermentation process. This project reduce waste, benefit the environment, and save costs.
In summary, DairyX is dedicated to revolutionizing the dairy industry through ongoing innovations in strain development, fermentation scaling, industry collaborations, and sustainability efforts. We are working diligently to bring our high-quality, animal-free casein micelles to market in the near future.
How do you envision DairyX evolving over the next five years, and are there plans to expand into new markets or technologies?
Over the next five years, we plan to enter the market and become a leading provider of animal-free dairy proteins to dairy companies in the U.S., following GRAS regulatory approval. To achieve this, we will focus intensely on finalizing our R&D, specifically developing efficiently gelating casein micelles using our super-secreter yeast strain. We will complete scale-up, and begin production in a large fermentation facility with a joint venture partner. While we concentrate our efforts on the U.S. market, we also intend to initiate an EU EFSA novel food application to enter the European market. On the technological part, although our evolution-based platform for generating super-secreter strains could be applied to any target protein, we are currently focusing exclusively on caseins.
What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs looking to launch a startup in a competitive industry like dairy technology?
To entrepreneurs aiming to launch a startup in a competitive industry like dairy technology, my advice is to deeply immerse yourself in the field. Engage with everyone you can—potential customers, competitors, NGOs, and academics—to thoroughly understand the problems and needs of the industry. Read extensively to broaden your knowledge. Once you’ve gained a clear understanding, honestly assess your ability to address these challenges based on your strengths and weaknesses. Seek out a partner who complements your skill set. In such a crowded market, it’s wise to rely less on marketing and more on developing strong technological capabilities, as there’s always someone who can tell a better story, but proprietary technology will set you apart.
How does DairyX integrate sustainability into its business model, and why is this an important factor for your company?
At DairyX, sustainability is a key factor in our business model and mission. We integrate it by producing animal-free dairy proteins through precision fermentation, which is much more efficient at converting feed into milk proteins than traditional dairy farming. By eliminating the need for cows in casein production, we lower greenhouse gas emissions—dairy farming accounts for over 3.5% of global emissions—and reduce excessive land and water use. We also initiate projects like upcycling biomass from our fermentation process to reduce the heavy financial and environmental costs of disposing it, which accounts for approximately 40% of our expected GHG emissions.
We help dairy companies make the exact dairy products that consumers desire and keep the cows happy .
In what ways has your team managed to stay adaptable and innovative in an industry that is both traditional and highly regulated?
Our team has stayed adaptable and innovative by recognizing significant shifts in the industry over the past decade. Driven by consumer demand and ESG policies, leading companies are eager to bring animal-free products to market once they are tasty and affordable. Many have dedicated R&D teams specializing in formulating animal-free products and are awaiting new ingredients like DairyX’s smart casein micelles. Regarding regulations, companies like Perfect Day, Remilk, and Imagindairy have already received GRAS approval using similar technologies and organisms. This has paved a clear regulatory pathway for us, as the approval process is now well-established for dairy proteins and even other proteins like egg proteins (GRAS by The Every Company).
What are the most important lessons you’ve learned from running DairyX that you believe could benefit other startup founders?
Here are my 3 lessons:
Be prepared for the inevitable ups and downs of running a startup. It’s crucial not to get discouraged during challenging times or become overly exuberant during good times.
People are ultimately the most important part of your company, so trust your instincts about them, not just the numbers on a spreadsheet.
Connect with founders who were in your position a few years ago can provide advice that saves you time and misery.
With the rapid advancements in food technology, how does DairyX plan to stay at the forefront of innovation in the dairy sector?
At DairyX, we stay at the forefront of innovation by continuously monitoring the latest advancements in food technology and biotechnology. We actively keep up with new research that could enhance our yeast strains or improve the functionality of our casein micelles. We often engage with leading researchers and innovators to exchange ideas and explore potential collaborations.
Internally, we foster a culture of innovation where every team member is encouraged to contribute ideas, regardless of their position. We maintain an open environment that values diverse perspectives, creating a backlog of concepts that we test and implement when suitable. This collaborative approach allows us to adapt quickly to new technologies and integrate cutting-edge methods into our processes.
We encourage experimentation and learning from failure—as long as it happens in the lab.
Picture @DairyX
Thank you Arik Ryvkin for the Interview
Statements of the author and the interviewee do not necessarily represent the editors and the publisher opinion again.
