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Did you know it takes up to 1,000 gallons of water and 6 pounds of feed to produce ONE gallon of milk (source)? Nobell Foods is setting out to make plant-based cheese that is just as delicious as regular cheese and that is better for you, the animals, and the planet.
Nobell Foods's goal is to create a plant-based cheese for the 99% that do not want to compromise on taste, price, stretch and meltability. Novell Foods states that while there are many vegan cheeses on the market, none of them satisfy the craving for a gooey grilled cheese or slice of pizza.
Founder Magi Richani learned that unique proteins found in milk make cheese stretchy, melty, able to be grated and give it delicious flavor. She pondered about how she could create these proteins but without cow’s milk, and so she set out to genetically modify soybeans to create "plant-based casein to make the best tasting and performing dairy, without a cow". Richani, an engineer by trade, and her team spent over four years developing a method of genetically modifying soybean seeds and growing plants with the same dairy caseins found in animal milk. By harnessing this plant-derived casein, they can create the most realistic plant-based cheese on the market.
With the brand's series B funding recently closing at $75 million, Nobell Foods emerges with over $100 million in funding from investors such as Andreessen Horowitz, Unovis Asset Management, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and Robert Downey Jr.'s venture capital firm FootPrint Coalition Ventures. Robert Downey Jr., who has been vocal about the environmental and health impacts of animal products, said about Nobell Foods, "Given the stresses our planet faces from population growth and climate change we need to find new ways to feed the world...Magi Richani and her Nobell team are putting the eco in queso... milking a crop instead of a cow. FPCV wholeheartedly supports the product and believes its quality will speak for itself." Nobell will use the funding from this latest round to expand its team and farming partnerships, scale production and bring the product to market.
Nobell cheese is expect to hit the market in 2022 or 2023. They're focusing on cheddar and mozzarella for now, as the two make up 60% of cheese consumed in the United States. To have the biggest impact on the environment, Novell knows they must go after the largest market opportunities.