There are several precision fermentation companies globally, with a handful of big players in the dairy protein space. This technology has been used for years to produce high value, low quantity proteins or pharmaceuticals such as rennet and insulin. Today, the technology is being harnessed to produce bulk proteins like dairy proteins, to feed the growing population without the associated ethical and environmental consequences of the traditional dairy or agricultural industries.

What made you decide to open the start-up? Have you conducted a market assessment?

Irina Miller (Co-founder and CEO) had encountered this technology while working in the dairy industry and recognized it’s potential for New Zealand. Driven by a desire to explore its potential, she partnered with molecular biologist, Dr. Nikki Freed. Together, they decided to sponsor a student’s master’s thesis to prove the concept. Emily McIsaac then joined as the third co-founder, researching precision fermentation as part of her master’s degree.

Irina’s passion for precision fermentation stemmed from her awareness that New Zealand’s primary export is not whole milk, but individual dairy ingredients, like milk proteins. Adding to this, was the growing demand for food that is ethically and environmentally sustainable yet has the same nutritional and functional properties as animal derived proteins.

Life cycle analysis on similar processes suggest that precision fermentation for dairy identical protein can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 97%, water use by up to 99% and land use by up to 99%, when compared with traditional dairy.

Precision fermentation offers a solution for the increased demand in protein, without having to intensify our traditional dairy any further.

Irina Miller, Co-founder/COO - Dr. Nikki Freed, Co-founder/CSO -   Emily McIsaac, Co-founder/COO - Dr. Daniel La Grange, R&D scientist - Bhavesh Govind, R&D scientist - Kiara Cruickshank, R&D scientist - Nick McGrath, R&D scientist. Founded February 2021, Daisylab.co.nz.

Daisy Lab is a biotech start up that is developing precision fermentation for dairy equivalent proteins. We create strains of yeast that can produce the specific proteins we are interested in, such as beta-lactoglobulin or lactoferrin. We then develop the fermentation protocols as well as filtration and separation protocols to maximise yield and recovery of our target proteins. 

Daisy Lab is a team of incredibly enthusiastic individuals who are all motivated to work hard to bring better food outcomes to New Zealand.  We have a high level of expertise in molecular biology across the team which means we have a real focus on making our strains and processes as efficient as possible.  
We are the only precision fermentation company in New Zealand, the world’s largest dairy exporter. With that comes an extensive ecosystem of innovation, expertise and equipment. We have developed our strains to be able to use the existing processing infrastructure in New Zealand, reducing the CAPEX requirements for the uptake of this technology in New Zealand. 

New Zealand has very tight regulations around the use of genetically modified organisms. We have been lucky enough to receive EPA approval to ferment our GMO strains to 5000L which will enable us to develop a pilot plant and demonstrate our processes at scale.
This is the largest approval that has been given in New Zealand and is instrumental in facilitating the development of this technology here. 
As we are a start-up, another challenge is funding. We are currently raising our pre-series A round to build this pilot plant. 

Precision fermentation technology for dairy equivalent proteins is still in its infancy. However, experts agree that it has the potential to be very disruptive to the dairy industry and offers a solution to the protein shortage issues our planet will encounter as our population grows. Much like other deep-technology ventures, precision fermentation will inevitably reach an inflection point where the price will drop below traditional dairy and precision fermentation proteins will be ubiquitous in foods, changing the landscape of protein production globally.