"Change Foods" is on a mission to disrupt the dairy industry by teaming with KEZAD Group to bring the first precision fermentation facility to the UAE.

Change Foods, a US-Australian food tech company founded in 2019, is on a mission to revolutionize dairy production. They’re achieving this by recreating dairy foods sustainably and without animal exploitation using precision fermentation.

Change Foods has entered the Middle East with plans for dairy transformation. In 2022, they partnered with KEZAD Group with the support of the Ministry of Economy of the UAE under the NextGen FDI initiative, to design a dedicated commercial manufacturing plant in Abu Dhabi. This facility will produce animal-free milk protein (casein) and is set to launch by the end of 2025, making it the first of its kind in the Middle East.

H.E. Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, the UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade, praised Change Foods as an exemplary investment in novel food technology. He emphasized the company’s role in shaping a sustainable, secure, and affordable food system to meet local and regional demand. The UAE’s NextGen FDI initiative, which encourages advanced technologies, will further support this goal by enhancing local production and inspiring innovation

Precision fermentation enables us to produce animal-free foods that replicate the taste, texture, and nutritional qualities of their animal-based counterparts, all while significantly reducing the environmental impact. Take dairy products as an example—milk serves as a crucial ingredient in foods like cheese, yogurt, and ice cream. Traditional production methods for these foods are resource-intensive and environmentally harmful. Precision fermentation offers an alternative approach to creating the same foods.

Precision fermentation employs microorganisms as miniature factories to create specific ingredients, such as milk proteins, without relying on animals. It combines traditional fermentation methods (similar to those used for beer and kimchi) with cutting-edge biotechnology.

The primary advantage lies in its environmental impact: by bypassing animal farming, we significantly reduce the resources needed for production. For instance, milk proteins produced through precision fermentation require up to 10 times less water, 100 times less land, five times less energy, and 25 times less feedstock compared to proteins from cows.

Scaling up production, achieving competitive pricing for proteins, and gaining consumer acceptance are critical challenges for creating a sustainable food system.

This initial facility is designed with a fermentation capacity of 1.2 million liters, expandable to 2.4 million liters. It is estimated that this output will replace the equivalent of over 10,000 dairy cows.

This marks only the beginning. Successful commercialization of precision fermentation technology in the region will pave the way for further industry growth and development.