The BioMilk Team — Company pic by Libi Katan Naor
Biomilk is an Israeli foodtech company which produces dairy products from cultured milk. The Central Bottling Company, also known as Coca Cola Israel, is investing about $2 million in Biomilk which is publicly traded in Israel on the TASE as BMLK, which Globes reports will go to research and development to expedite the arrival on the market of products based on cultured milk.
The first $1 million of the purchase price will be paid upon the final signing of the deal. This will give Coca Cola Israel 522,000 shares in Biomilk.
Founded in 2018, Biomilk declares that they revolutionize the dairy industry by leveraging deep technology to allow the sustainable production of high value dairy products with the lowest carbon footprint.
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What we are talking about here is basically fake milk, or fake dairy, but one which is based on the real thing. The product is made by Biomilk from milk protein cells. Rabbis say that this is not only kosher, but that the dairy produced from this process does not count as dairy. This mean that under the laws of kashrut one can mix it with meat. Vegans will also be happy to use it as it is not really taken from animals.
Such advances are great for the environment too. Just think about it. If the whole world goes over to cultivated dairy, then all of the energy expended on dairy farms will no longer be wasted. There will no longer be a need to feeds all of those cows or clean up their waste. And no one will need to worry about animal cruelty anymore.
“We leverage deep technology to allow the sustainable production of high-value dairy products with the lowest carbon footprint.”
Fake food, or artificially produced alternatives to animal products which are as good as the real thing, is nothing new for Startup Nation. Israel has several firms offering artificial meat through the wonders of 3D printing. Redefine Meat is one such startup. Established in 2018, Redefine Meat applies its proprietary 3D printing technology, meat digital modeling, and advanced food formulations to produce animal-free meat with the “appearance, texture and flavor of whole muscle meat.”
New Israeli startup Chunk Foods develops meat-alternatives. Chunk Foods leverages cutting-edge fermentation technology to produce whole-cut plant-based meat products. Stray Dog Capital declares that it is considered a pioneer in the alternative-protein sector and has invested in similar companies such as Beyond Meat, among others.
Israeli meat alternative startup Aleph Farms grows steaks directly from non-genetically modified animal cells. Founded in 2017 and based in Rehovot, Israel, Aleph Farms cultivates steaks directly from the cells of a living animal. It has a platform for the cultivation of whole beef steaks.
Aleph Farms boasts that its cell-grown meat is close to conventional meat thanks to a proprietary 3D platform that uses various types of cells to form complex tissue, ensuring an end product that resembles the taste, texture, and structure of farmed meat.
So how does Biomilk do it? First they isolate mammary cells, the ones whose job is originally to produce milk in their natural setting, inside of the mammal. Biomilk then cultures those cells in their bioreactors and help them grow, “enabling them to continue performing their original mission.” Eventually the cells secrete milk, which can be used for making everyday dairy products.
