19 March 2024
MEDIA ALERT
Cauldron Ferm spearheads precision fermentation advancements in Australia
Australia will soon be able to offer world-class and commercial capabilities for the precision fermentation sector.
Orange-based precision fermentation company Cauldron Ferm has secured an additional $9.5m in its series A funding round, bringing total funds raised to $20m.
Chris Liu of Horizon Ventures, who led Cauldron’s series A funding round told The Australian Financial Review, “To date, the technology has been hamstrung by its costs compared to conventional production methods, but Cauldron’s unique solution significantly improves the competitiveness of precision fermentation both in capital and operating expenditure.”
Cauldron Ferm is the only organisation approved to manufacture protein ingredients at scale using precision fermentation in Australia.
It was recently granted approval from the Office of the Gene Technology Regulatory to produce limited-scale production trials of protein ingredients up to 10,000 litre batches. The raise will enable them to accelerate their model of co-manufacturing and therefore accelerate the growth of other precision fermentation companies to reach commercial scale.
This development has the potential to offer dairy ingredients to food manufacturers that could eventually satisfy increased global demand for dairy proteins at a competitive price to existing supply.
There are five companies working on precision fermentation food in Australia—four are producing dairy proteins and one is producing fats.
Precision fermentation involves selecting, programming and manufacturing specific microbes to produce compounds such as dairy proteins or fats.
CEO of alternative proteins think tank Food Frontier, Dr Simon Eassom, said this is an important development for one of Australia’s newest food industries.
Dr Eassom said, “This development is not a new project or R&D experiment, it is a pathway to market success for Australia’s precision fermentation food companies who have needed access to larger facilities. This not only opens the door for Australian food ingredient manufacturers, but also opens the door for Australia to exploit brand new industry growth and become a world leader in the precision fermentation field.
“Food ingredients made from precision fermentation might be new now, but they will become the norm around the world for producing foods using dairy proteins and fats without the animal to improve performance and flavour in milk derivatives, cheeses, and products like plant-based meats. Cauldron Ferm has enabled the path forward for producing ingredients made from precision fermentation to be cheaper to use in food production than their animal-based counterparts and meet future protein demand in a much more environmentally sustainable way.”
The new infrastructure will also help to realise the CSIRO’s $1.45b by 2030 market value forecast for precision fermentation.
If Australia has enough capability and capacity, international manufacturers will have the option of sourcing ingredients from Australia.
“Our food systems are intrinsically linked to climate change and we need new solutions to feed a growing population. Precision fermentation can make proteins that are more sustainable, with less emissions, than current sources,” Dr Eassom said.
It was encouraging to see the Queensland Government recently demonstrate its understanding and commitment to emerging food industries—evident through its announcement of investment in bioenergy and biofood production, aimed at enhancing the value of sugar cane as a crucial input in the creation of precision fermented ingredients.
Media contact:
Kathy Cogo, Head of Communications and Marketing, Food Frontier kathy@foodfrontier.org,
0466 015 183.
About
Food Frontier is the independent think tank on alternative proteins in Australia and New Zealand. Funded by grants and donations, our work is growing our region’s protein supply with new, sustainable and nutritious options that create value for businesses, farmers and consumers.