Remilk Launches ‘The New Milk’ and Wins Canadian Approval for Cow-Free Dairy
- Industry News
- 3 hours ago
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Israel’s Remilk debuts The New Milk, made with fermented dairy proteins, as Canada gives regulatory green light to animal-free milk ingredients.
A quiet revolution is taking shape in Israel’s cafés and supermarkets, and this time, it’s not plant-based. Remilk, the Israeli foodtech known for its precision-fermented dairy proteins, has partnered with heritage dairy producer Gad Dairies to launch The New Milk: a lactose-free, low-sugar milk made without cows. In parallel, the company has secured Health Canada’s Letter of No Objection for its recombinant milk protein, which, together with the FDA's approval, opens the door to a new era of “animal-free” dairy across North America.
For the first time, consumers can order a cappuccino made with milk that’s molecularly identical to the real thing, yet produced in fermentation tanks instead of on farms. It looks, tastes, and behaves like dairy, but without lactose, hormones, or the environmental footprint of livestock.
“The New Milk doesn’t look like another ‘alternative’ product,” says founder and CEO Aviv Wolff. “It gives you the same experience as traditional dairy, only cleaner, lighter, and more sustainable.”
The launch marks a symbolic shift for precision fermentation, a technology that has long been hyped, cautiously regulated, and slow to scale. Now, it’s finally finding its way into mainstream markets.
From Lab to Latte
Unlike plant-based milks, which mimic dairy through emulsions of oats, nuts, or soy, Remilk’s approach starts with microbes. Using a process called precision fermentation, scientists insert the gene responsible for producing milk proteins into yeast, which then ferments sugar and converts it into β-lactoglobulin, the primary protein in whey. The result: a real dairy protein, bio-identical to what cows produce, but created without animals.
In The New Milk, this protein is combined with coconut and shea fats, vitamins D and E, calcium, and natural flavors. The lactose-free product boasts 75 percent less sugar than regular milk, a key selling point for Israel, where around two-thirds of consumers avoid mixing meat and dairy, making a kosher pareve milk particularly attractive.
The rollout began this month across Israeli cafés and restaurants, with major retailers to follow. Additional formats, yogurts, and cream cheeses are expected in the coming months.
Building a Global Fermentation Footprint
Founded in 2019 by Wolff and biochemist Dr. Ori Cohavi, Remilk has raised more than US $150 million to date, backed by investors including Hanaco Ventures, CPT Capital, and Rage Capital. The company initially planned to build a large-scale facility in Denmark, then pivoted to working with established co-manufacturers in North America and Asia to stay capital-light and scale faster.
This shift reflects a broader trend across the precision fermentation space. Capital is tightening, and few investors are willing to finance billion-dollar fermentation plants before proven demand. The focus now is on partnerships, agile production networks, and high-yield microbial strains that make unit economics work. “Our microorganism’s efficiency is unheard of in the industry,” says Wolff. “If you can unlock triple-digit titers, you’re not just making protein, you’re making it at a price that competes with cows.”
Remilk’s approvals now span Israel, the U.S., Singapore, and Canada, with further applications under review. That global footprint positions the company as one of the few precision-fermentation players ready to commercialize beyond pilot scale.
Fermented Dairy Finds Its Market
While Remilk is pushing precision fermentation toward the mainstream, its peers are quietly redrawing the competitive map, moving from novelty to infrastructure.
In the U.S., Perfect Day has pivoted from consumer products to an ingredient-as-a-service model, supplying whey protein to food giants like Nestlé and General Mills. Its joint venture with Zydus Lifesciences in India shows that the next frontier is manufacturing scale, not scientific proof.
Across Europe, Verley ( formerly known as Bon Vivant) is developing functionalized animal-free whey proteins that emphasize solubility, texture, and flavor. Instead of chasing commodity prices, it’s targeting higher-value applications for formulators and CPG innovators.
Meanwhile, Vivici, backed by DSM-Firmenich, is scaling through strategic partnerships, with Liberation Labs in Indiana for industrial capacity and with The EVERY Co. and Abu Dhabi Investment Office for a planned 4-million-litre facility in the UAE. Back in Israel, ImaginDairy is embedding its “cow-free” proteins into established Strauss Group brands like Yotvata and Symphony, leveraging consumer trust to accelerate adoption.
Together, these moves mark a transition from proof-of-concept startups to platform strategies: a distributed ecosystem of ingredient suppliers, licensors, and co-manufacturers shaping the industrial backbone of animal-free dairy. Analysts project the category could surpass US$25 billion by 2035, driven not by vegan demand but by a growing appetite for functional, lactose-free, and climate-positive dairy solutions.
This competitive clarity is now reshaping expectations across the value chain from consumer perception and pricing to how traditional dairies, investors, and CPG brands position themselves in a market where “milk” is increasingly defined by microbes, not herds.
The Consumer Equation
Taste and trust remain the real tests. Early consumer studies show curiosity outweighs fear — especially among younger demographics. Yet communication is delicate. “Fermentation-made” tests better than “GMO” or “lab-grown,” while “animal-free dairy” evokes the clean-label, ethical appeal consumers already understand from plant-based categories.
Still, scaling from a premium café product to a household staple will require more than just smart messaging. It depends on competitive pricing, clear regulatory frameworks, and consistent sensory performance. “You can have all the tech in the world,” one investor tells me, “but if the froth doesn’t hold in a cappuccino, it won’t sell.”
Investors and Incumbents Take Note
Remilk’s dual milestones, consumer debut in Israel and regulatory approval in Canada, are the kind of proof point the sector has been waiting for. It shows that fermentation can go from PowerPoint to product. It also raises deeper questions about how the traditional dairy industry might adapt.
For established players, the opportunity lies in collaboration rather than competition. Licensing protein technology, co-branding hybrid lines, or investing in fermentation infrastructure could extend product portfolios without alienating core dairy consumers. For investors, the signals are equally clear: while hardware-heavy biomanufacturing may still scare capital, demand for ingredient-level innovation that improves efficiency, sustainability, and supply-chain resilience is only growing.