Nourish Ingredients: Crafting the Future of Taste From Canberra to Leiden

Courtesy: Nourish Ingredients

The story of alternative protein has always been one of ambition colliding with reality. For more than a decade, plant-based pioneers promised to reinvent the way we eat, yet consumers often walked away disappointed, intrigued by the mission, but underwhelmed by the experience. At the heart of that disappointment was flavour, or more specifically, the missing role of fat.

Enter Nourish Ingredients, the Canberra-born startup that has made fat its focus. Founded in 2019 by former CSIRO lipid engineers James Petrie and Ben Leita, the company has been quietly solving the sensory puzzle that others overlooked. Its precision-fermented fats are now making headlines for clearing regulatory hurdles in the United States, scaling through partnerships in China, and planting a European base in the Netherlands. Together, these milestones signal that Nourish may have found the formula for turning good intentions into products consumers actually crave.

The company’s flagship innovation, Tastilux®, is designed to deliver what has eluded many in the plant-based world: the authentic aroma, mouthfeel, and indulgence of meat. Produced using fungi in a precision fermentation process, Tastilux captures the tiny fraction of fat molecules responsible for the Maillard reaction, the chemical transformation that gives a steak its sizzle or a burger its unmistakable umami punch.

As CEO Petrie explains, “Only a small proportion of animal fat is actually interesting and provides that signature taste. By focusing on that, instead of replicating the whole thing, we can deliver flavour efficiently without competing with plants.” Tastilux requires less than 1% inclusion in a formulation to transform the eating experience of a plant-based burger or drumstick, making its economics as compelling as its flavour profile.

The company’s second major platform, Creamilux®, takes aim at dairy. From cheese to cream to butter, Creamilux is designed to mimic the emulsification, richness, and mouthfeel of traditional dairy fats. It has already drawn the attention of industry heavyweight Fonterra, which is exploring how Creamilux could preserve the indulgence of dairy while extending into non-dairy categories such as bakery and desserts.

Nourish Ingredients

In August 2025, Nourish achieved a critical milestone when Tastilux was granted FEMA GRAS status in the United States, opening the door to commercial sales with food manufacturers. It was a validation not only of safety but also of the company’s scientific credibility. “The FEMA GRAS process is strictly evidence-based,” says Petrie, noting that Nourish’s proprietary biomass is GM-free and derived from nature. “This approval positions us to move quickly from trials into market-ready products.”

The US designation also creates a halo effect internationally, smoothing the path for approvals in Europe, China, and other markets. In China, Nourish has already secured a strategic biomanufacturing partnership with CABIO Biotech, which will scale production of Tastilux and handle distribution into what is forecast to be a US$4 billion alt-protein market by 2028.

If the US is the launchpad, Europe may be the proving ground. In September 2025, Nourish announced it would establish a global commercial hub in Leiden, the Netherlands, scheduled to open in 2026. The choice of Leiden, home to BioPartner 5 and a thriving biotech ecosystem, is no accident. With its proximity to global dairy players, a strong regulatory environment, and access to European markets, the hub positions Nourish at the crossroads of science and industry.

The Leiden site will house R&D labs, a demo kitchen, and product development facilities, creating a space where culinary creativity and technical innovation can meet. Importantly, it will serve as a customer-facing base, enabling Nourish to collaborate closely with food manufacturers on tailored applications.

CTO and cofounder Anna El Tachy, who relocated to the Netherlands to lead European operations, calls it “a launchpad into a variety of markets.” Europe is home not only to some of the world’s largest dairy and food companies but also to increasingly sophisticated consumers demanding products that deliver on both taste and sustainability.

For Nourish, science is only half the story. The other half is gastronomy. Heading culinary innovation is Ernesto Vecilla, a graduate of the Basque Culinary Center with experience in Michelin-starred kitchens. Vecilla brings a chef’s scepticism, always demanding flavour first, to the company’s R&D. “Food isn’t software,” he says. “You can’t fix a bland burger with a Version 2.0 update. It has to be craveable from the start.”

His approach underscores the company’s philosophy: while fats are molecules, they are also memories, tied to culture and emotion. From the juiciness of a burger to the silkiness of chocolate, it’s lipids that define the sensory pleasure of food. Precision fermentation simply provides the tool to recreate those sensations in a way that aligns with modern values.

Nourish’s rise comes at a moment when the alt-protein industry is resetting. Once a darling of public markets, Beyond Meat has seen its value collapse by 96% since listing. The hype around first-generation products has faded, replaced by consumer fatigue and questions about overly processed ingredients. Against this backdrop, Nourish offers a different proposition: focus on what really matters, taste, and build it with tools that can scale.

From Canberra to Leiden, from Michelin kitchens to fermentation tanks, Nourish Ingredients is charting a new course for food-tech. By putting flavour at the centre and building a global infrastructure around it, the company is not just making plant-based foods better; it is quietly reshaping how the food industry thinks about fat.

In doing so, it may have solved the paradox that has haunted alternative protein since its inception. The lesson is simple but profound: people will choose sustainable food when it’s also irresistible. And for that, fat is the future.