Nourish Ingredients

About

Nourish develops precision‑fermented fats using oleaginous microbes to replicate animal fat taste and cooking properties for plant‑based meats, partnering with CSIRO and universities while pursuing regulatory approvals and scale.

Mission

Nourish develops precision‑fermented fats designed to deliver an authentic animal taste, aroma and natural cooking reactions for plant-based meat products. Its first product is high‑potency and intended to work at very low inclusion rates (<1% of the meat end product). The company plans to launch that product in late 2024 and is already in conversations with potential commercial partners. Nourish is pursuing regulatory approvals, with FDA and Singapore Food Agency (SFA) submissions underway. The firm says it does not intend to build its own large‑scale fermentation facility but plans to build downstream and ingredients processing in a future round, location to be defined. It has research partnerships and fellowship programs with multiple Australian universities to foster talent in synthetic biology, precision fermentation and engineering. Nourish Ingredients develops fats and oils made with precision microbial fermentation to recreate animal fats for alternative protein products. The company focuses on replicating animal-based fat taste and performance that plant oils cannot match. Founders Dr. James Petrie and Dr. Ben Leita are former CSIRO scientists and Nourish works with several universities and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation to scale production. The startup has an R&D pipeline and is converting an MVP into realistic commercial quantities. Management says the product has delivered strong feedback from alt-protein food partners and expects launches in 2023 in Australia and other markets. Financially, Nourish completed a $14 million Seed last year and has now closed a larger Series A to accelerate production and product development. Nourish Ingredients engineers fats using oleaginous microorganisms (examples include Yarrowia) to produce triglycerides and lipids that replicate the taste and mouthfeel of animal fats. The company targets the plant-based meat market where current products rely on palm and coconut oils, aiming to deliver more sustainable and tastier fat ingredients. Founders James Petrie and Ben Leita, who met while working as scientists at CSIRO, combine backgrounds in crop development, omega-3 canola oil, chemistry, and bioplastics. Nourish produces both genetically modified and non-CRISPR cultivated optimized fats and already counts several customers in the plant and recombinant protein production space. The business is based in Canberra, Australia, and employs 18 people. Financially, the company has raised $11 million from strategic investors to support development and commercialization.

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