Yali Bio, a California-based food tech company, recently unveiled its precision-fermented dairy fat alternative at MISTA Growth Hack, a San Francisco event for food tech companies.
Rather than simply talk about the benefits of their new solid hard fat, the company debuted the product with delicious dairy-free ice cream that ran out in less than an hour. Yali Bio developed the demonstration ice cream with the help of MISTA supporters, including AAK, Ingredion and Givaudan.
“It was great that the ice cream was so popular, but we were especially pleased that so many people applauded the taste and texture. I got the same positive feedback over and over again,” said Yali Bio Founder and CEO Yulin Lu.
By default, the new fat has a pale, buttery color and neutral flavor, and thanks to Yali Bio’s precision fermentation technology, various qualities of the fat, like melting point, can be tuned to perfectly suit a given application. In addition to improving ice cream, the new fat can be used to improve the taste, texture, cooking performance, nutrition, and eco-credentials of entire food categories, including non-dairy butter and cheese, as well as baked goods and candies.
The nutritional profile of the new fat also makes it an attractive alternative to dairy fat and plant-based fat from sources like coconut. For example, Yali Bio’s product has half the saturated “bad fat” and five times the monounsaturated “good fat” of coconut.
Yali Bio’s new fat is also better for the environment than fat from sources like dairy or coconut. Using techniques and equipment similar to those used to brew beer, Yali Bio’s fat can be made extremely efficiently, with very low greenhouse gas emissions and very high supply chain transparency.
By contrast, the production of dairy has been associated with high greenhouse gas emissions, water pollution and overuse, and animal welfare issues.
Even innocuous-seeming coconuts are tied to significant deforestation and land use issues, high emissions associated with around-the-world shipping, and human and animal welfare issues related to harvesting.
With its impressive stats and tasty ice cream debut, Yali Bio’s new fat has proven itself as an excellent option for food manufacturers looking to create or improve products.
Yali Bio’s next step is to roll out its cultured fat with select partners who are seeking a competitive advantage.
