Fonterra and Nourish Ingredients join forces to develop innovative new products

Fonterra has started working with Nourish Ingredients, a leader in specialty fats and precision fermentation, to accelerate the development of dairy products with innovative fats. The collaboration combines the Co-operative’s decades of dairy expertise, global scale and commitment to meeting global food demand with Nourish Ingredients’ scientific ingenuity in precision fermentation-based animal like fats.

Nourish Ingredients has pioneered unique dairy-type lipid solutions that deliver authentic creamy taste, aroma and mouthfeel of dairy foods. Their Creamilux product provides the rich, indulgent sensation of full cream that consumers get from premium dairy products.

Nourish Ingredients and Fonterra will kick off their joint efforts with a focus on product innovation. The first is exploring dairy applications across a range of dairy categories, including cheese, cream, butter and more. This will leverage Nourish Ingredients Creamilux as a key ingredient to unlock functionality while preserving the delicious taste of traditional dairy.

In addition, the companies will explore opportunities where Nourish Ingredients’ fats can provide enhancements to non-dairy categories such as bakery that traditionally rely on dairy lipids. By leveraging Nourish Ingredients’ innovative ingredients, the companies will seek to unlock new possibilities beyond core dairy applications.

The Fonterra team first tasted Nourish Ingredients’ Creamilux product in January 2024. Following this tasting Fonterra and Nourish Ingredients moved quickly to collaborate based on aligned missions and trusted reputation.

“Nourish Ingredients is taking a unique approach that aligns perfectly with Fonterra’s focus on leadership in dairy innovation science and being at the forefront of such innovative new food ingredients,” continued Dr Jeremy Hill, Chief Science & Technology Officer at Fonterra. “By partnering together, we can explore new ways to help meet the growing global demand for great-tasting, texturally appealing products, that deliver exceptional experiences to customers.”

“Dairy will always be at the core of our business, now and in the future. At the same time, ingredients produced through emerging technologies can work seamlessly in and alongside our dairy products, expanding the range of products and choices we can offer to customers and consumers.”

“This collaboration balances our passion for creating innovative ingredients with hard-nosed applications to unlock massive product opportunities," said James Petrie, CEO at Nourish Ingredients. "We are overcoming specific animal ingredient bottlenecks to optimise current animal-based food production capacity without losing quality. This allows us to enable our partners to meet demand with our potent lipids without sacrificing taste and experience. Fonterra is a great partner that lets us bring our vision to commercial reality as quickly as possible.”

By harnessing each other’s complementary strengths, Fonterra and Nourish Ingredients aim to meet the growing demand for novel ingredients across a wide range of food sectors. Maintaining a delicious dairy future for generations to come.

(Photo shows Jeremy Hill, Chief Science & Technology Officer, Fonterra and Anna El Tahchy, Chief Technical Officer, Nourish Ingredients)