Today Perfect Day and betterland foods announced the debut of betterland milk, a new cow-free milk using Perfect Day’s animal-identical whey protein produced via precision fermentation. According to the announcement, the new alt-milk will deliver “the same cooking, whipping, steaming, frothing, and baking functionality” as animal milk.
The partnership with betterland foods follows a familiar playbook for Perfect Day, which has previously gone to market with consumer brands incubated within The Urgent Company (TUC). Like Brave Robot ice cream and Modern Kitchen cream cheese brands, betterland milk will use Perfect Day’s genetically engineered whey (beta-lactoglobulin). However, unlike TUC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Perfect Day, it appears betterland foods is a young startup formed independently of Perfect Day.
That’s not to say that betterland founder Lizanne Falsetto, an experience consumer products founder who previously cofounded thinkThin (a maker of nutrition bars), didn’t create the company with Perfect Day’s cow-free proteins in mind. From the announcement:
“When I saw what Perfect Day founders Ryan and Perumal were doing to cultivate nutritious, more sustainable milk proteins, I felt the pull to not only get back into the industry, but to help build a portfolio of products that taste great, while being better for the planet,” said Falsetto. “That’s when betterland foods was born.”
While this is the first consumer-packaged retail alt-milk product featuring Perfect Day’s protein, Spoon readers might remember that the company has been experimenting with milk alternatives for the past year. Last fall word got out the company trialing a special 2% “barista-blend” version of its alt-milk for Starbucks. I ventured to the east side of Seattle to try it out and found it to be exactly like cow’s milk.
While we’ve seen plant-based milk become a major category in the past few years, most brands have centered around a key ingredient like oat or almond. With the arrival of Perfect Day’s animal-identical whey on the milk aisle, I am curious to see how they – and betterland – message this to stand out from the crowd. When I tried the Starbucks Perfect Day blend, it was clear the coffee giant was still workshopping descriptions and taking surveys to figure it out.
My guess is betterland and Perfect Day will get there, in part they have a CPG veteran who has helped launch a new better-for-you category in gluten free nutrition bars leading the charge.
Betterland foods will offer two varieties of in whole and extra creamy. They will debut the product as the large natural food trade show Expo West next month and will head to retail in the spring.
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