Could you tell us a bit about Nourish Ingredients’ mission and how you hope to impact the plant-based food and beverage industry?

Nourish Ingredients is a deep-tech company creating potent, high-performance animal-type lipids that transform the plant-based food experience. We combine our expertise with global companies to create sustainable and delicious products for existing and emerging markets.

We unveiled our core product, Tastilux, in 2023: a world-first animal-free fat, derived from nature and scaled through precision fermentation, which is designed to provide global food and ingredient makers with an ingredient that cooks, smells and tastes just like traditional meat for consumers.

Our motivation lies in protecting the food supply for the future. As the global population grows, animal agriculture is not going to be efficient enough to meet demand; we need a transition to a more plant-based diet. We want to make sure that when consumers make this transition, it is by choice because the food tastes good.

How does the fermentation process work? What feedstocks are used, and is the process entirely free from animal inputs?

Looking specifically at the Tastilux product, we produce animal-type lipids through precision fermentation of single-cell fungi that are rich in long-chain omega-6 phospholipids.

These lipids have been identified as key contributors to authentic meat taste development, and our process is entirely free from animal inputs.

What are some of the benefits of the resulting fat ingredient for vegan food products?

On a molecular level, the lipids Nourish Ingredients is creating are almost identical to traditional animal fats but derived from a non-animal source. By creating the same potent molecules as those found in traditional meat or dairy, our lipids behave in the same way during the cooking process and result in an authentic, animalic experience.

Focusing on these potent fats means we can achieve high performance at a very low inclusion rate, allowing our partners to reduce their reliance on methods like hydrogenation or chemical additives and flavours, in favour of a more natural ingredient list.

What kind of plant-based (and wider food and beverage) industry trends/consumer demands can Nourish respond to with its solution?

Despite the rapid growth of plant-based alternatives, consumer preferences globally still favour the indulgent qualities of traditional meat and dairy products. Nourish Ingredients’ lipids are a mechanism to deliver on the authentic experience consumers are looking for while contributing to more sustainable food production. Our ingredients have applications in everything from plant-based meat alternatives, to the casein needed to create cheese and high-value fat replacements. We see Nourish Ingredients becoming a commonplace ingredient across the entire food and beverage industry.

What has been the company’s biggest achievement so far?

In 2023, we unveiled our core product - Tastilux - at SXSW Sydney.

To reveal the ingredient, Nourish Ingredients conceptualised a zero-waste ‘chicken wing’ handcrafted by head of culinary innovation Ernesto Vecilla, from textured vegetable protein (TVP) with a 0.5% inclusion of Tastilux. The presence of Tastilux delivered the wing’s authentic, meaty flavour and performance, and was a tangible demonstration of how it can be used by plant-based protein manufacturers to make products tastier.

We had an incredibly positive response through a series of tastings with key stakeholders, including media, investors and celebrity chefs. It is yet to officially launch in the market, however we expect to in 2025.

Have there been any particular challenges? If so, how have they been navigated?

While we had the vision, and knew how we wanted our ingredients to spearhead the future of food consumption and engineering, the main challenge encountered has been the lack of an enabling ecosystem, as is often the case with emerging innovative technologies.

This included access to food-grade fermentation facilities, and securing local specialist and synthetic biology talent in a competitive market. While the plant-based food sector is growing globally, access to manufacturing scale has been a challenge in Australia. This is due to the lack of infrastructure, and shortage of specialised local talent.

To overcome this, we began collaborating globally to access talent from all over the world. This has led to a team rich in diversity, bringing together different backgrounds and ways of thinking, to drive innovation and creativity. I also actively manage sponsorship for masters, PhDs and postdoctoral fellows, to help upskill and build the talent pipeline required in the sector here in Australia.

We have built our own critical internal capabilities, to enable faster development of our products and ongoing innovation, and established alliances with leading universities globally who are world-class in the fields of synthetic biology and precision fermentation. Partnerships like this build on the continued internal expansion of Nourish Ingredients’ R&D capabilities, further strengthening our IP position, and fast-tracking our product development.

Where is the company currently on its journey? How is Nourish working with industry partners to improve their products?

We are currently in the scale-up phase and have a pipeline of exciting product milestones and partnerships to be announced in 2024. We are also actively engaged in the regulatory processes essential for our products, and our goal is to introduce Tastilux to the market in 2025.

What’s next for the business? Any exciting plans on the horizon?

Our goal is to elevate products for consumers so they want to include plant-based proteins in their diet, rather than waiting for consumers to come to us.

Alongside Tastilux, we are developing an exciting dairy offering that will allow us to explore avenues of hybridisation rather than pure substitutes or alternatives.

Long-term, we do not have the inputs required to produce dairy at the scale needed. This will mean pure dairy can be reserved for premium products like formula, while Nourish Ingredients can provide the ingredients necessary to create authentic dairy by-products like cheese or chocolate.

And finally, for aspiring start-ups in the plant-based F&B sector, what valuable advice or insights would you share to help them navigate the challenges and opportunities in this dynamic industry?

In the start-up stage, for us it was crucial to assemble a team with deep expertise in relevant fields be that bioengineering, food science, culinary innovation or commercial experience. Getting the right foundation will equip you to innovate well and build a product that is fit for market.