Australian FoodTech company, Nourish Ingredients, and its partner, Chinese company Cabio Biotech, have successfully completed a commercial production run of the plant-based fat, Tastilux, saying they are the first fat company to achieve commercial-scale validation with a low cost of production.
Nourish Ingredients chief technical officer, Anna El Tahchy said it was a breakthrough.
“This revolutionises the economic impact and validates the commercial path for precision fermentation. We expect positive financial returns for Nourish Ingredients and our partners across the entire supply chain.
"This achievement validates the robustness of our fermentation process and solidifies our partnership with Cabio Biotech,” Tahchy said.
The companies signed a joint commercial agreement in November 2024, for Cabio to manufacture and distribute Nourish’s flagship product, Tastilux, throughout the Asia Pacific (APAC) region.
Tastilux, is a specialty ingredient derived from natural sources and produced through fermentation. It provides a meaty flavour, aroma and cooking experience to alternative proteins.
Nourish Ingredients co-founder and CEO, James Petrie, said, providing a “delicious animalic taste” is essential in winning over consumers to the plant-based market.
“Nourish Ingredients combines breakthrough science with a focus on the most potent fat molecules found in nature to transform the plant-based proteins market,” Petrie said.
He said customer feedback has confirmed the product delivers “exceptional flavour stability, maintaining its deep, meaty richness from the first bite to the last, and lingering on the palate like its animal counterparts”.
The commercial production is a 1700 per cent increase in Nourish Ingredients’ production capacity so far and meets 170,000t of end-product demand due to very low inclusion rates.
Partnership success
Nourish Ingredients and Cabio Biotech established the partnership as a commercial opportunity that would enable them to meet growing demand in China, while setting the stage for expansion into other APAC markets.
Cabio specialises in microbial fermentation and synthetic biology-based products. For more than 20 years, it has supplied long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (LCPUFA) functional ingredients for infant formula, dietary supplements, food for special medical purposes and animal nutrition.
It has established one of the world’s largest LCPUFA manufacturing plants, with capabilities ranging from bio-fermentation, non-solvent extraction, refining, winterisation, and microencapsulation.
Cabio Biotech vice president, Jimmy Wang, said the partnership will set new standards in the alternative protein industry.
“This collaboration aligns perfectly with our commitment to advancing biotechnology and delivering cutting-edge products,” Wang said.
The terms of the agreement outline a clear strategy for market expansion. Cabio will leverage its state-of-the-art facilities and expertise to manufacture Tastilux, ensuring efficient production with minimal waste.
Petrie said a key advantage of the collaboration was Cabio’s extensive experience in navigating China’s complex regulatory landscape.
“This expertise will facilitate rapid market access for Nourish Ingredients’ products in China and potentially other Asian markets, providing a significant competitive edge in these rapidly growing economies,” he said.
The first batch of Tastilux is ready to ship to customers across three continents, bringing them closer to the rich, animalic flavours and functionality that set our fats apart and allowing them to create plant-based products with unprecedented meaty flavour and texture.
