Impossible Foods has always had impressive aspirations. A cutting-edge food innovator, they say they want to get rid of animal husbandry by 2035, although this may not go according to plan. on October 20, the company held a virtual press conference to demonstrate progress in creating a new prototype of dairy-free milk.
The company's founder, Dr Pat brown, said the current plant-based milk does not meet the standards of taste, aroma and texture. The new prototype is expected to be much closer to cow's milk than any of its plant-based competitors. Although it is unknown what the final base protein will be (probably soy) and whether microbial fermentation will be used in the process, lead scientist Laura Klieman said the milk they have experimented with so far is more creamy than other plant-based milk. A demonstration during a press conference showed how it mixes with hot coffee and stays mixed without settling on the bottom, and does not make the coffee grainy or cloudy. Kliman said that it also gives a good foam thanks to stable proteins.
There is no commercial launch date for the milk yet, as it will continue to be developed and improved until the mixture is suitable. According to Kliman, "We are not going to launch a product until it is of the same quality or even better than the version obtained from animals. This is just a demo, we are not announcing a launch at this time."
Impossible invests in R & d (Research and development), hoping to double its team and attract some of the world's leading scientists to a company that is happy to provide funding, facilities, equipment, and support for any research they want to conduct-provided it is consistent with the goal of accelerating the use of plant-based alternatives to animal husbandry.
VegNews reports that Dr. brown encouraged scientists to join the exciting development team during a press conference: "whatever you do, it's a drop in the bucket compared to the impact you can have here with our project ... Leave your work and join us."
This is certainly interesting to look at from the outside. Impossible broke into the market in the last few years, changing the rules of the game by creating a Burger based on soy and potato protein, which is surprisingly similar to real meat. Their goal is to convince meat-eaters that plant-based alternatives can be just as good, if not better, than real meat, and thus fight the environmental destruction caused by animal husbandry. If any company can make meat obsolete, Impossible can handle it as well as possible.