Cauldron’s customers so far include livestock feed companies, food and dairy companies and start-ups.
These include:
– ULUU, a Perth-based company using precision fermentation to create a plastic alternative made from seaweed
– Eden Brew, a CSIRO-backed startup that is using precision fermented proteins to create dairy-free milk which has the same taste and nutritional benefits as traditional milk
– Loam Bio, an Australian biotech company that is developing microbial technology with the help of Cauldron to help capture carbon and store it long-term in agricultural soil
– All G Foods which is producing animal-dairy and other proteins for use and application in consumer products
– Nourish Ingredients, a company that is creating sustainable, animal-free fats for alternative protein food brands.
Precision fermentation is part of an emerging field called synthetic biology, a type of science that involves redesigning organisms for useful purposes by engineering them to have new abilities.
“Synthetic biology-enabled solutions have applications in sectors like health, agriculture, biosecurity and the environment and could help us solve some of Australia’s greatest challenges,” says Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO.
According to the agency, these solutions have the potential to be “globally transformative” and to create a $700 billion global opportunity by 2040.
Until now, precision fermentation has been mostly used in pharmaceuticals to create products like insulin but is increasingly being used to develop new ingredients such as proteins, fats and fibres.