While the food tech investment sector underwent transformations last year, Miruku, a company based in New Zealand, took proactive steps to advance molecular farming technology, placing itself “three to four years ahead of emerging competitors,” according to CEO Amos Palfreyman.
“Miruku has not only aimed to navigate the challenges presented by the shifting climate impacting traditional dairy production, but has also broadened our focus to address critical issues of food security and nutrition,” Palfreyman said in an email interview.
In 2022, TechCrunch featured Miruku when it secured $2.4 million in seed funding to develop molecular farming technology. This technology enables the programming of plant cells to serve as miniature factories for producing proteins and other molecules, including fats and sugars, traditionally sourced from animals.
While Miruku is not the only company leveraging molecular farming technologies for dairy product creation—Mozza Foods and Nobell Foods are also in this space—Palfreyman highlights that Miruku’s focus is primarily on business-to-business operations. Additionally, Miruku modifies both proteins and fats within the same plant and has opted to utilize safflower as its primary crop due to its climate resilience.
Since completing its seed round, the company has made significant strides in advancing its proprietary dairy seed system. Initially, Miruku concentrated on programming plants to yield dairy proteins extractable from seeds. However, this approach has evolved to encompass the interplay between recombinant dairy casein and native plant proteins, accompanied by potential enhancements to fatty acid profiles.
“This breakthrough enables us to utilize a greater portion of the seed, transforming it into a diverse array of ingredients tailored for the food and beverage sector,” remarked Palfreyman. “We have now achieved several pivotal proof-of-concept milestones, showcasing the feasibility and promise of the dairy seed system.”
